With the release of OS X Mountain Lion yesterday, Apple introduced a lot of new features to their latest OS for Macs. One of those features is AirPlay Mirroring, which shows your Mac screen on your HDTV, if you have an Apple TV. That’s great, but what they don’t tell you upfront is that, even if this feature is available in the OS, it only works for mid 2011 and newer Macs.
FSM EXCLUSIVE DEAL Now, what’s the point of making an operating system compatible with a particular computer and then arbitrarily disabling the most meaningful features? Beats us. Well, we have general idea but we’re going to let you decide what it is.
One thing is certain… they absolutely need to compile a clear list of what will not be relevant to you with the equipment you are using for every update they push to the public. Mac and iOS. And, they need to make it available on the purchase page, not buried into ‘more info’ pages or discussion threads at Apple Support Communities.
If you’re one of those users with an ‘older Mac’ and you want to be able to enjoy AirPlay, there’s a workaround for that. AirParrot.
AirParrot is a 3rd party app, that lets you 1080p AirPlay mirror your Mac or PC’s screen to your Apple TV, wirelessly. The only setback is that this app costs $10. So basically you need to pay 50% of the OS’ price to enjoy a feature that is already in the OS, but it won’t work for you because you didn’t throw a couple of thousand dollars at Apple lately.
We encourage you to rate moderately and comment in the mac app store, and let other people know about some features that they might not be able to use. That way, they can make an informed opinion, and decide if the $20 dolars ( which is not a fortune let’s be honest ) is worth spending, or they will be perfectly happy with OS X Lion .
