One of the novelties of macOS 12 Monterey is to allow us to share the screen of our iPhone or iPad through AirPlay to the Mac. A very useful mechanism for be able to view content on a larger screen without having to resort to a television, which is not always available, or cables to connect external displays. Let’s see how to use this useful function.
The ability to use AirPlay on your Mac is one of the many new features in macOS Monterey. An operating system that now allows us receive both audio and video from our iOS devices and quickly display it on a larger screen or play it on generally more powerful speakers.
Compatibility, configuration and recommended devices
Before entering the matter, let’s see which devices support this functionality. From the point of view of the Mac we will need to have a machine from this list:
- MacBook Pro or MacBook Air 2018 and later.
- iMac 2019 or later.
- iMac Pro from 2017.
- 2019 Mac Pro.
- 2020 Mac mini.
These computers are capable of being configured as an AirPlay reception point. So you can receive the signal that we share from our iPhone or iPad. By default AirPlay should be on on our Mac, but it is always a good idea to check that this is the case. We will do it by following these steps:
- In the Apple menu () we choose System preferences.
- We came in Share.
- If necessary, we touch the padlock at the bottom left and enter the password of our Mac to be able to make changes.
- We activate AirPlay receiver.
It is important that we note that, by default, only devices where we are signed in with the same Apple ID that in the Mac they will be able to use AirPlay with the computer. If we want to modify this configuration we can do it by tapping on Air Play receiver. We will see three options:
- Current user: only we can use AirPlay on our Mac.
- Anyone on the same network: All Wi-Fi-connected iPhones that the Mac is connected to will be able to use AirPlay.
- Everybody: Any device that comes close to the Mac will be able to use AirPlay.
Let us also note that in all cases we can set a password, to prevent unwanted emissions from occurring in certain environments.
As for the iPhone or iPad that we are going to use, practically all models will allow us to use AirPlay, although if we want to enjoy the maximum resolution we must go to the following:
- iPhone 7 or later.
- iPad Pro 2nd generation and later.
- iPad Air 3rd generation and later.
- 6th generation iPad and later.
- Fifth generation iPad mini and later.
A simple and very versatile system
Well. Given the technical requirements, let’s talk about how to use AirPlay on our devices, the process is very simple. If we want to share our screen, the steps are these:
- We access the Control Center on our iPhone or iPad.
- We touch the button in the form of two interlocking squares above the states of concentration.
- We select the name of our Mac.
If what we want sharing is the sound of our iPhone or iPad the steps are slightly different. Specifically these:
- We access the Control Center on our iPhone or iPad.
- We touch the fan-shaped button at the top right of the playback control.
- At the bottom we select our Mac.
That easy. Whether we want to share the entire screen of our iPhone or iPad or just the sound, we can do it very easily. A system that allows us to see certain content on a larger screen, and that only requires a couple of steps.