How to Connect Your iPhone to a TV (Wirelessly) (2024)

Don't get stuck watching videos or playing games on a small screen—connect your iPhone or iPad to your TV wirelessly instead. There are a few ways to mirror your iPhone or iPad screen to your TV, including AirPlay, Chromecast, and physical adapters for when wireless screen mirroring isn't an option.

There's also a difference between mirroring your iPhone screen and streaming video to a TV. The latter lets you use other apps on your iPhone while watching a video on the TV. Here's how everything works.

1. Wirelessly Connect Your iPhone to Your TV With AirPlay

AirPlay is Apple's proprietary wireless streaming technology. It allows you to send an image, song, or video from your iPhone to an AirPlay receiver connected to your TV. The most popular AirPlay receiver is the Apple TV, despite its hefty starting price of $149.

Though, you can also find lots of cheaper AirPlay receivers to use instead.

The Apple TV connects to your TV via HDMI and functions as a set-top box with its own apps and App Store. It has other neat functions too, like displaying your recent iPhone photos and playing music from Apple Music.

If you want to connect your iPhone to a computer display instead, you can do so with an app called AirServer, which costs around $20. You can also buy audio equipment compatible with AirPlay for streaming music.

How to Screen Mirror Your iPhone to Your TV With AirPlay

When you use screen mirroring, an image appears on your TV that exactly matches your iPhone or iPad screen. It even shows up in the same aspect ratio as your device, which often means the image doesn't fill the entire TV screen. Anything you do on your iPhone or iPad immediately shows on the TV screen.

To screen mirror your iPhone or iPad's screen to a TV:

1. Swipe down from the top-right corner to open Control Center. On an iPhone 8 or earlier, swipe up from the bottom of the screen to open it instead.
2. Tap the Screen Mirroring button and choose your AirPlay receiver. On your phone's lock screen, a blue bubble with a TV inside appears at the top of your screen to show that you're mirroring your iPhone or iPad screen to the TV.
3. To stop screen mirroring, return to the Screen Mirroring option in Control Center and tap Stop Mirroring.

How to Cast Video From Your iPhone to Your TV Using AirPlay

Unlike screen mirroring, casting a video to your TV fills the entire screen. This is the best way to watch movies or view photos on your TV, since they aren't limited to the aspect ratio of your device. You can also use other apps on your iPhone while casting videos to a TV, without them showing up on the big screen.

To cast video from to your TV without screen mirroring:

1. Load the content on your iPhone that you want to send to your TV.
2. Look for an AirPlay button in the app, which might be in the Share menu. If you can't find it, open the Control Center and long-press on the Media Controls item in the top-right corner.
3. Tap the AirPlay button and choose your AirPlay receiver. A blue bubble appears at the top of your lock screen to show that you're casting a video to your TV.
4. To stop casting video to your TV, tap the blue AirPlay bubble, then tap the AirPlay button and choose to play the video on your device instead of the TV.

Since AirPlay is wireless, you might find that radio interference, slow Wi-Fi networks, and older Bluetooth devices can impact performance. You'll also notice a slight delay between your iPhone or iPad and what you see on the TV.

Unfortunately, this means AirPlay isn't always lag-free when playing games. But it's still a great choice for watching videos, listening to music, giving presentations or sharing photos on the big screen.

2. Mirror Your Screen With a Wired Adapter

To avoid delays between your iPhone or iPad and the TV screen, consider using a wired adapter to connect your iPhone to a TV. There are a few drawbacks to wired adapters, but the latest models are better than they once were.

Most problems stem from the fact that Apple didn't design the Lightning port on the iPhone and iPad to output video signals. As a result, you need to buy a clunky adapter to go from your Lightning connector to an HDMI or VGA connector.

The first batch of Lightning-to-HDMI adapters topped out at a resolution of 900p. And while the latest Apple Lightning-to-HDMI adapters promise 1080p, the reviews still aren't great. Users mention frequent black screens and sudden hardware failures.

You can also get Lightning-to-VGA adapters or USB-C-to-HDMI adapters, depending on your device and TV inputs. And USB-C to HDMI adapters will currently output up to 4K HDR at 60Hz.

For the $49+ price tag, these adapters don't provide a good value and start to make the wireless convenience of an Apple TV look well worth an extra $100. What's more, you can only use wired adapters to mirror your device screen.

To mirror your iPhone or iPad screen to a TV using an adapter:

1. Connect your adapter to the Lightning or USB-C port on your iPhone or iPad.
2. Use an HDMI cable to connect your TV to the adapter.
3. Switch to the correct input source on your TV to see the screen mirroring from your iPhone or iPad.

3. Cast Video to Your TV With Google Chromecast

You can also use Google's wireless “casting” technology to connect your iPhone to your TV wirelessly, though it works a little differently than AirPlay. Chromecast is Google's answer to the Apple TV, and for as little as $29 it is a much cheaper way to wirelessly connect your iPhone or iPad to your TV.

Each app handles Chromecast integration a bit differently, so there's no single way to stream video or other media from an iOS or iPadOS app. Just look for the Cast button in the app you're currently using, then select your Chromecast from the list of options.

Chromecast is compatible with the most popular video and music apps, like YouTube, Netflix, Hulu, and Spotify. There's even a list of supported Chromecast apps on Wikipedia.

Related: How to Use Chromecast: A Guide for Beginners

How to Mirror Your iPhone Screen With Google Chromecast

Apple doesn't make it easy to mirror your iPhone or iPad screen to the TV using Chromecast, but it is possible. To do so, you need a computer on the same Wi-Fi network that's running the Google Chrome browser. You also need an app that lets you cast video to your computer, like ApowerMirror or AirServer.

Download: Google Chrome for macOS | Windows (Free)

Download: ApowerMirror for macOS | Windows (Subscription required)

Download: AirServer for macOS | Windows ($19.99, free trial available)

To mirror your iPhone screen using Chromecast:

1. Install and set up ApowerMirror or AirServer on your computer.
2. Open Control Center on your iPhone or iPad and select Screen Mirroring, then choose your computer from the list of devices. This should open a window on your computer that mirrors your device screen.
3. On your computer, open Google Chrome and click the three-dot menu. Select Cast, then choose your TV as the destination with your Desktop as the source.
4. Return to the ApowerMirror or AirServer screen-mirroring window on your computer to cast it to your TV.

Find the Best Way to Mirror Your iPhone Screen

AirPlay is the best way to connect your iPhone or iPad to your TV, but it's also the most expensive. Wired solutions are inelegant and problematic. And given the way the Lightning standard was designed, still comparatively costly.

Google Chromecast offers the cheapest way to cast video to your TV, but it's difficult to mirror your iPhone or iPad screen, especially if you don't have a computer to use. Fortunately, you can use AirPlay connectivity at Chromecast prices if you already have an Apple TV.