How to Connect a Macbook Pro to a TV

Have you ever despaired when trying to connect your laptop to a video monitor to watch movies, or just to get a larger interface to work with? Bringing picture and sound from Macbook Pro to TV is really not that complicated or expensive. You can do it yourself without spending money on buying an Internet receiver.

Table of Contents

High Definition TV

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You need to know that this method only works with TVs with HDMI ports (flat screen TVs and LCD TVs). If you want to connect an old TV to your Macbook Pro, see the next method.

Buy the necessary components if you don’t already have them. To connect your Macbook Pro to your HDTV, you need:

HDMI Cable

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Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cable. There are two things to note:

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- MacBook Pro Retina Display has an HDMI port, so you don’t need an extra cable.
- Some Mini DisplayPort to HDMI cables support audio signals. If you use these devices, you don’t need an additional audio conversion cable.
Cable to convert 3.5mm jack to 3 RCA AV Audio port to connect audio from laptop to computer.

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Connect the HDMI cable and the Mini DisplayPort – HDMI converter cable together.

If you use a Macbook Pro Retina Display, you can connect an HDMI cable directly from the Macbook to the HDMI port on the TV.

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Connect the Mini DisplayPort cable to the Macbook Pro.

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Connect the adapter of the HDMI cable (male) to the HDMI port (female) on the TV.

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Audio connection. If you don’t use an audio-enabled Mini DisplayPort cable, you need to plug the 3.5mm jack into the Audio Out port or the headphone jack on your Macbook Pro, and the other end into the TV’s audio jack.

When connecting audio, you need to change the settings of the TV. If your HDMI cable does not support audio, do not set up audio from the HDMI (digital) cable. Change the setting from digital to video to enable sound.

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Turn on the TV and set the HDMI input. You will be able to watch video with sound from your computer on your TV screen.

VGA port

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This method is used to connect Macbook Pro to a TV that does not have an HDMI port. These TVs are usually old models, however, if you want, you can still apply them to connect to newer TVs.

Buy the necessary components if you don’t already have them. To connect Macbook Pro to TV via VGA port, you need:

Mini DisplayPort to VGA converter cable.

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VGA to VGA converter cable (both male jacks).

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Cable converts from 3.5mm jack to 3 RCA AV Audio port to connect audio from laptop to computer.

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Connect the Mini DisplayPort – VGA cable and the VGA – VGA converter cable together.

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Connect the Mini DisplayPort cable to the Macbook Pro.

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Plug the VGA (male) end of the cable into the blue VGA (female) port on the TV.

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Audio connection. Plug the 3.5mm jack into the Audio Out port or the headphone jack on the Macbook Pro, the other end into the TV’s audio jack.

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Turn on the TV and set up the VGA input. You will be able to watch video with sound from your computer on your TV screen.

Advice

Do not set the screen resolution too high as the TV may not display properly.

Warning

Don’t buy an HDMI converter for MacBook Pro Retina! Although the connector is compatible, this is not necessary because the MacBook Pro Retina has an HDMI port.
Avoid confusion between Mini DVI and Firewire 800 ports!

Steps

High Definition TV

VGA port

Advice

Warning

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