With the launch of Mountain Lion in 2012, Apple introduced to us AirPlay. It let you share your Mac’s screen with others through a TV hooked to Apple TV. But what about audio? Can you use an AirPlay enabled speaker system to simply beam the music from you Mac?
The answer is YES! And here’s how you do it.
NOTE:
- This setup requires that you to have a mid-2011 Mac or a newer model, and be running OS X Mountain Lion or higher.
- You’ll also need Apple TV or a speaker that’s AirPlay compatible.
- Ensure that your Apple TV/Speakers are ON and connected to the same Wifi network as your Mac.
Okay. Now that have everything, let’s get going!
1. Change the default audio output for your Mac. To do so, open up System Preferences and navigate to the “Sound” section. Click on “Output”, then select the appropriate speaker from the list provided.
If your speaker doesn’t show up on the list, restart your speaker. Then close and open System Preferences again.
2. Alternatively, press and hold the Option key and click on the speaker icon in the menu bar. From the drop-down menu, select the speaker of your choice.
And that’s it!
Now all the audio from your Mac will get streamed to the device you’ve chosen in the previous step!
To change the output back to your Mac, follow the same steps as above, except this time choose “Internal Speakers” as your output.
This neat little trick is helpful in situations where you’re throwing a house party and need to play songs for your guests, but the speakers on your Mac just don’t have the “oomph” to get the party kicking. Just pair your Mac to your TV and rock the house!
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET