Does AirPlay mirroring have any restrictions?

Question

I saw that mountain lion now allows full screen mirroring over airplay to an Apple TV.

For awhile when I want to play something on my tv from my computer I've just run an HDMI to DVI cable to my laptop, especially since some things I can't stream through my PS3 (doesn't like anything purchased in itunes) And I know the Apple TV would not stream just any file from my computer.

But since I can mirror audio and video am I now able to stream anything to the Apple TV by playing it on my laptop screen and using mirroring?

I just saw this thread which would imply that even if this would work, it won't since both my Mac Pro and laptop are pre 2011 macs.

Answer 1

There are restrictions on Airplay in Mountain Lion. It has to do with your video card that comes on the machines that you are using.

Your video card has to be powerful enough to do all the heavy lifting of streaming so that your CPU is unhindered and therefor you can smoothly still use your machine.

This question and answer should help you out and explain things and find an alternative, such as AirParrot.

Here is an Apple Support Article on the subject, listing the restrictions and giving more information on how Airplay Mirroring works.

Here is the excert from the article showing the compatible computers:

iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)
Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)
MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)
MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)

As for a Mac Pro, they are not listed as a compatible model that supports Airplay Mirroring, as discussed in this article here.

You can still connect a cable and mirror in that sense, that has not changed in ML. The mirroring feature of using a separate display is a completely different process than Airplay Mirroring.

I hope that this answer helps you out.