I have plans to get Apple TV BUT...

**andykan** · 12-03-2012, 02:13 AM

I've been thinking of getting an Apple TV for quite some time already. But I've got a question that I couldn't find an answer anywhere, so I guess I'll just ask it here.

I know that with Airplay, I can mirror whatever's on my iPhone and iPad. But what about my iMac? Am I able to stream movies or TV shows I manually added to iTunes from my iMac to the Apple TV? Or does it only allows me to play movies and TV shows I've bought from iTunes that are stored in iCloud?

Will be great if I get an answer from some Apple TV expert.

**Peligro911** · 12-03-2012, 03:15 AM

Originally Posted by andykan

I've been thinking of getting an Apple TV for quite some time already. But I've got a question that I couldn't find an answer anywhere, so I guess I'll just ask it here.

I know that with Airplay, I can mirror whatever's on my iPhone and iPad. But what about my iMac? Am I able to stream movies or TV shows I manually added to iTunes from my iMac to the Apple TV? Or does it only allows me to play movies and TV shows I've bought from iTunes that are stored in iCloud?

Will be great if I get an answer from some Apple TV expert.

Not sure about mirroring Mac but I want to say yes I think so
But you can
Stream manual added movies or videos yes ..
It's called home sharing
You can select movies from your Mac using the Apple TV assuming your computer is on and iTunes is on

And yes if you purchased from iTunes it will show as purchased on Apple TV and you can stream from cloud

Sent from my iPhone 5 from a galaxy far far away (in the USA ) using Tapatalk !

**Karenkcoulter** · 12-03-2012, 06:48 AM

Home sharing works. You can also airplay from iTunes on the Mac depending in your iTunes and OSX versions. Mountain lion can mirror your Mac desktop.

**Fausty82** · 12-03-2012, 08:58 AM

Originally Posted by Karenkcoulter

Home sharing works. You can also airplay from iTunes on the Mac depending in your iTunes and OSX versions. Mountain lion can mirror your Mac desktop.

As Karen says, yes, airplay mirroring is possible IF you’re running Mountain Lion (OS X 10.8.x). I use it regularly to share stuff from my MacBook Pro. And our church has recently purchased several Apple TVs for expressly this purpose - for use in educational and conference rooms.

**andykan** · 12-03-2012, 11:30 PM

One more question, my home broadband speed is not the fastest, only 6MBps. Is that speed sufficient to download movies and stream videos from my iMac? I got a feeling the streaming of videos of be choppy and laggy and movies will take a long time to load...

**Karenkcoulter** · 12-04-2012, 06:52 AM

If the video is already on your iMac, then broadband speeds don't matter just you home network speed.

For movies that you are streaming I believe that 6 should be enough at least for 720p video. But I think the Apple site lists minimum suggested speeds, so you should check before purchasing.

**jclisenby** · 12-04-2012, 07:00 AM

Originally Posted by andykan

One more question, my home broadband speed is not the fastest, only 6MBps. Is that speed sufficient to download movies and stream videos from my iMac? I got a feeling the streaming of videos of be choppy and laggy and movies will take a long time to load...

I get about 5 Mbps average on my network and mine works great. The initial buffer before starting a movie takes 20-30 seconds, but there are no streaming problems after that. The only thing is that if you try to go to data-heavy sites or watch videos on the computer or iPad while watching a movie on the ATV, it can cause some buffering.

**andykan** · 12-05-2012, 08:37 PM

Is it equivalent to loading 720p YouTube videos? Cause I have no problem doing that on my PS3.

**jclisenby** · 12-06-2012, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by andykan

Is it equivalent to loading 720p YouTube videos? Cause I have no problem doing that on my PS3.

I think it's pretty close. The Apple TV does a little better job at compressing data and pushing it through than a computer and I would imagine it does a little better than the PS3, too. You shouldn't have any issues at all.

**Nilsz** · 12-10-2012, 04:10 PM

I'm also planning on getting it but is it also legal to jailbreak an Apple TV?

**Karenkcoulter** · 12-10-2012, 04:45 PM

There is no current jail break for the current generation (3rd) of Apple TV's. because they are jail breakable you can find people selling the previous generation (2nd) for a premium on eBay, Craigslist, etc).

The main difference between the two is that the 3rd supports 1080p and the 2nd only 720p.

Not sure on the legality though.

**bluenote** · 12-10-2012, 05:46 PM

Only the newer macs can use airplay with mountain lion; check your hardware.
For older macs, you could possibly buy an app called air parrot but it may be slow and not clear resolution depending on age of your hardware.

**Karenkcoulter** · 12-10-2012, 05:51 PM

Originally Posted by bluenote

Only the newer macs can use airplay with mountain lion; check your hardware.
For older macs, you could possibly buy an app called air parrot but it may be slow and not clear resolution depending on age of your hardware.

I thought that older Macs with Mountain Lion could use airplay from iTunes, but they couldn't use airplay to mirror their desktop.