This article explains how to connect your MacBook computer to your TV, including using a cable to connect them or connecting wirelessly with AirPlay and a smart TV.. You can use many televisions as computer displays. To connect your Mac to your television, you need a video cable that connects your computer’s display port to the video input port on your TV. If you can’t find a cable that connects the ports on your Mac and TV, you may need an adapter for the cable. (You can also use AirPlay. See Use AirPlay to stream what’s on your Mac to an HDTV.)
If you have an HDTV and a Mac with a Thunderbolt port 
, Mini DisplayPort 
or HDMI port, you may also be able to play audio from your computer on your TV.
What to Know
- You can connect your MacBook computer to your TV using a USB-C or Thunderbolt-3 to HDMI or DVI adapter.
- If you have a smart TV, you can also use AirPlay to mirror your MacBook screen or extend the screen and use the television as a second monitor.
- Older model MacBooks may have a mini-Display port, but you can still use an adapter to connect your MacBook to your TV.
It’s nice to be able to connect your MacBook computer to a television screen for streaming, gaming or to have a larger screen for work. If you have a smart TV, the easiest way to connect your MacBook to your TV is using AirPlay.
Connect your Mac to your TV
- Connect one end of the video cable (or an adapter, if necessary) to the computer’s Thunderbolt port , HDMI port or DVI port , then connect the other end of the cable to the TV’s video input port.
- If you need to adjust the resolution on your TV, choose Apple menu
, then select Default for display to automatically use the best resolution or select Scaled to manually select a resolution. - If you want your HDTV to play audio as well as video from your Mac, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Sound
, then click Output.Select your HDTV in the list of devices. If you want to play audio on a different device (such as your computer’s speakers or an AV receiver that’s part of your sound system), select it instead.
Note: If your Mac has a Mini DisplayPort
, make sure you use a cable (and adapter, if necessary) that supports both audio and video.
Check whether you can play audio from your Mac on your TV
If your Mac has a Mini DisplayPort, it may be able to send audio to your HDTV.
Note: If your Mac has a Thunderbolt or HDMI port, it can send audio to your HDTV.
- Choose Apple menu
- Click Overview, then click the System Report button.
- In the sidebar, in the Hardware section, select Audio.A list of your computer’s audio devices appears. If HDMI Output or HDMI/DisplayPort output is listed, your computer’s Mini DisplayPort can send audio.
Can I Plug a MacBook Into My TV?
If you have an older model TV or MacBook that doesn’t have AirPlay capabilities, you can use a cable to connect to your MacBook. The type of cable you need depends on the model of MacBook you have and the connections on that computer. You also may have to choose between using a cable that connects directly from your MacBook to your TV; for example, you may choose to use a Thunderbolt to HDMI cable. Or, you may choose to use an adapter that plugs into your MacBook and provides adaptive ports. For example, a Thunderbolt adapter that connects to your Macbook and will accept HDMI or DVI cables.
Once connected, you may need to go to Settings > Display to adjust your display settings and resolution to get the best quality picture. The nice thing about making a wired connection to your TV is that once you’ve set it up, you can close your MacBook and continue to use it with a wireless keyboard and mouse and the TV as your computer monitor.
