One idiosyncrasy to be aware of: when using HDMI or DVI to connect your Mac to your TV, you might have to change your TV’s display settings to turn off overscan.

Most Macs made between 2006 and the end of 2008 will need two cables, one for video and a second for audio. Because Apple switched to Mini DisplayPort connectors in 2009, most Macs can now use just one cable to carry both audio and video from the Mac’s MiniDisplay Port to the TV’s HDMI port. For this reason, I recommend using a TV’s HDMI port whenever possible. VGA and DVI cables only carry video signals while HDMI cables can carry both audio and video. I’m only going to address VGA, DVI and HDMI ports since they are the most common types. Important Note About Cables and TV Ports – The types of ports on flat-panel TVs vary from model to model.

Be aware of idiosyncrasies and variations for various Mac models that I list within each Method.

Buy one or two cables and maybe an adapter as specified in Method 1 or Method 2.

Determine your Mac’s Model Identifier, which lets you figure out if you should follow Method 1 or Method 2.

You’ll only need to read part of it. All you need to do to connect your Mac is this:

Would you like to stream a movie from Netflix to your computer and watch it on your TV? Would you like to show iPhoto pictures on your TV? If so, you’ll want to read about how to connect your Mac to your flat panel TV to send both audio and video to it.ĭon’t be intimidated by the length of this article.

Macbook air to tv cord