Wirelessly stream video, photos, and audio from your iPad to a Mac

You can use a nearby Mac to watch videos, view photos, and play audio streamed from your iPad. You can also mirror your iPad screen to the Mac (macOS 12 or later required).

Set up a Mac to allow streaming from your iPad

On a Mac, do one of the following:
- macOS Ventura: Choose Apple menu > System Settings, click General in the sidebar, click AirPlay & Handoff on the right, then turn on AirPlay Receiver.
- macOS 12.5 or earlier: Choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Sharing, then select and turn on AirPlay Receiver.
Choose an option for “Allow AirPlay for:”
- To allow only devices where you’re signed in with the same Apple ID as on the Mac to stream to the Mac, select “Current user.”
- To allow others, select “Anyone on the same network” or “Everyone.”
To require a password to use AirPlay with the Mac, select the option, then enter a password in the text field.

If you choose the option “Anyone on the same network” or “Everyone,” and someone is signed in to their device with a different Apple ID than on the Mac, an AirPlay request initially requires acceptance on the Mac and verification on the other device. On the Mac, accept the AirPlay request. If the Mac displays an AirPlay code, enter the code on the other device.

Play video from your iPad on a Mac

While playing video in the Apple TV app or another supported video app on your iPad, tap the screen to show the controls.
Tap , then choose the Mac as the playback destination.

To show video playback controls on the Mac, move the pointer over the video playing on the Mac screen.

To change the playback destination, choose a different AirPlay option on your iPad screen.

Show photos from your iPad on a Mac

In Photos on your iPad, tap a photo, then tap .
Swipe up, tap , then choose the Mac as the playback destination.

To stop streaming photos, tap near the top of the iPad screen, then tap Turn off AirPlay.

Mirror your iPad on a Mac

On a Mac, you can view and listen to whatever appears and plays on your iPad.

Open Control Center on your iPad.
Tap , then choose your Mac as the playback destination.

To switch back to iPad, open Control Center, tap , then tap Stop Mirroring.

Play audio from iPad on Mac

On your iPad, open an audio app, such as Podcasts or Music , then choose an item to play.
Tap , then choose a playback destination.

To select the playback destination, you can also tap on the Lock Screen or in Control Center.

Note: AirPlay to Mac is available on MacBook Pro (2018 and later), MacBook Air (2018 and later), iMac (2019 and later), iMac Pro (2017), Mac mini (2020 and later), and Mac Pro (2019) and works with iPad Pro (2nd generation and later), iPad Air (3rd generation and later), iPad (6th generation and later), and iPad mini (5th generation and later). Older models may share content at a lower resolution to supported Mac models when “Allow AirPlay for” is set to “Everyone” or “Anyone on the same network” in Sharing preferences on Mac.

Helpful?

iPad User Guide