Screen mirroring, also known as screen casting or screen sharing, allows you to wirelessly display the content of your smartphone, tablet, or computer screen onto your Samsung TV.
This is great for sharing photos and videos, watching movies, playing games, or giving presentations on a larger display.
Whether you’re using an Android or iOS device, Samsung makes screen mirroring a breeze.
Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to achieve this:
Does My Samsung TV Have AirPlay?
The best way to mirror your Mac’s screen to your Samsung TV would be through AirPlay, not just because it’s wireless but because it was built from the ground up to support Apple devices.
But your Samsung TV must also be AirPlay 2 enabled for wireless mirroring.
The easiest way to know if your Samsung TV has AirPlay 2 support is to see what model year that TV is from.
If it is from 2018 or a newer model, then it will have AirPlay 2 support.
If it is an older model, you’ll need to have an Apple TV connected to your Samsung TV and AirPlay to it.
Once you’ve established that your TV has AirPlay, you can start mirroring your Mac to it.
Don’t worry, we’ll see how you can mirror your Mac to your TV without using AirPlay 2.
1) Using AirPlay To Mirror Your Mac
Before you start mirroring your screen, you’ll need to change a few settings on your TV.
Once you do that, you’ll be able to use AirPlay to get your Mac’s screen on your TV.
To change the settings:
- Go to General in Settings.
- Scroll down to AirPlay Settings.
- Turn AirPlay on if it was off before.
After you do this, your TV will be ready to receive an AirPlay connection.
To AirPlay your Mac to your Samsung TV:
- Make sure your Mac and TV are connected to the same network.
- Open Control Center.
- Click Screen Mirroring.
- Select your Samsung TV from the list that appears.
- Confirm the prompt that appears to begin mirroring your screen.
If you’ve done everything correctly, you’ll be able to see the media you were playing on your TV now.
Remember to exit out of screen mirroring after you finish sharing your screen.
2) Using An HDMI Cable
Your Mac can also be mirrored to your Samsung TV using a wired connection.
This is good news if your TV doesn’t support AirPlay 2 and is fairly easy to set up.
A regular HDMI cable wouldn’t work, though, since Macs do not have an HDMI output port.
You’ll need a USB C to HDMI cable instead.
I recommend the uni USB-C to HDMI adapter since it also supports 4K output resolutions.
Connect the cable’s USB-C end to your Mac and the HDMI end to your PC.
Your Mac will automatically detect the new display, so set it up to display what’s on your Mac’s screen on the TV.
3) Using Third-Party Apps
For Samsung TVs that don’t have AirPlay, you can use third-party apps like Airbeam TV or JustStream to mirror your Mac to the TV.
They aren’t as good as using the native screen mirroring using AirPlay and might suffer when it comes to audio and video quality, with stutters and quality drops.
But they are still usable and can be relied upon if you want a quick way to mirror your Mac to the TV wirelessly.
If you always need to mirror your Mac’s screen, I suggest you get an Apple TV and use AirPlay to mirror your screen.
4) AirPlay vs. Other Methods
AirPlay is always the best method to mirror your screen because it is designed while keeping Apple devices first.
As a result, it works better with Mac and will let you have the best lag-free experience.
The second best thing is to use a wired connection, but if you want to stick to wireless and your TV doesn’t have AirPlay, apps like Airbeam TV can help you.
FAQs
Q: How do I mirror my Mac to my Samsung smart TV without Apple TV?
To mirror your Mac to your Samsung TV without an Apple TV, the TV needs to support AirPlay.
You can go around the Apple TV requirement and mirror the screen straight to the TV instead.
Q: Can you AirPlay to a Samsung TV?
You will be able to AirPlay to a Samsung TV if it’s a model from 2018 or later.
Go to the settings and check for an AirPlay settings menu to confirm that the TV has AirPlay.
Q: Is AirPlay and screen mirroring the same thing?
AirPlay is a service that allows Apple devices to share or mirror content from one device to another wirelessly.
This is done using streaming audio and video protocols which the receiver can get and display.