AirPlay Mirroring on Mac Just Got a Huge Update
I’m a big fan of screen mirroring my MacBook to Apple TV. This is how my partner and I researched and planned our wedding, and it’s what we use every time we need to make an informed purchasing decision. I love the stability of mirroring on my Apple TV, but now that AirPlay 2 is integrated into many modern displays, mirroring your Mac display to any TV is accessible and convenient.
For a long time, the only real downside to AirPlay mirroring was that you couldn’t control what parts of the screen you could share: you could either mirror the entire screen or do nothing at all. But now in macOS Sequoia 15.2 beta 3 (currently available in developer beta and will be available to the general public sometime in December), there are plenty of options for mirroring your Mac’s screen. You can choose to display a single window or application, or, my favorite, finally use the TV as an extended display, like a monitor attached next to your laptop.
How to Share a Single App or Window on Mac
As with a Zoom call, screen mirroring is nice about sharing just one app or window rather than everything going on on your Mac. This can save you from displaying the wrong notification, photo, or message thread when you’re in a large meeting or even when sharing information with friends and family.
If you’re only going to share your browser or perhaps a PowerPoint presentation, it’s best to just share it with your viewers. To get started, click Control Center in the menu bar and select Screen Mirroring .
Then select the TV or Apple TV you want to mirror to. If you’re doing this for the first time, macOS will ask you if you want to mirror the entire screen, just an app, or use your TV as an extended display. If you don’t see the pop-up window, click the Select Content button in the Screen Mirroring menu.
You will now see a pop-up window with the above mentioned options. Here, select Window or Application and click Start Mirroring .
Then switch to the app you want to mirror and simply hover over it. macOS will add a blue tint to the window to suggest that the window will be mirrored. Here you can choose whether you want to mirror that specific window or all windows from the corresponding application (so when you switch between all open windows from an application, they will still appear on the TV). Once you make a selection, the content will appear on the screen.
In the mirror window, a new Screen Mirroring icon will appear in the upper left corner instead of the usual window control buttons. You can use this button to control and stop screen mirroring. Alternatively, go to the Screen Mirroring drop-down menu and click Stop Mirroring .
This feature is not limited to one application or window. You can keep adding the apps you want to show on your TV, and when you switch between them, they will update on your TV accordingly. To add more apps or windows, go back to the Screen Mirroring menu and select Add Windows .
This feature is currently in beta and I’ve had mixed results with app stability and window mirroring. Sometimes the screen goes blank when I switch to another app, but most of the time it stays there. I hope this problem will not be present in the stable update.
How to Use Your TV as an External Monitor for Your Mac
If you want to keep a specific window or multiple windows pinned to your TV while you continue to work on other things on your Mac, you can use the Extend Display feature, an option I’ve been waiting for a while. When you use this mode, your TV essentially acts as an external monitor while your MacBook’s display remains at its original resolution. This way both displays can be used independently.
To use it, click Screen Mirroring , select your TV, then click Replace . Finally, select Advanced Display . Once set up, your TV will default to a blank desktop. You can hover your mouse over your TV to start using it as your new display. To set this up, go to System Settings > Display Settings > Arrange Displays and drag your TV to the desired position. I put the TV on top of the laptop because it’s more ergonomic. Click “Done” to confirm your choice.
Now you can drag any window or app onto your TV using the drag gesture and it will stay there.