Many people today are equipped with iPads and iPhones and use these devices both to play and to watch streaming videos or full movies. If we notice that the screen is too small to fully enjoy the details of the film, it may be a good idea to use one of the methods to connect the iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch to the TV, so that you can play and watch. multimedia content, photos and videos stored on Apple devices, on the big screen of the TV . Let's see together all the methods we can use to connect the iPad or iPhone to the TV, via cables or wirelessly . The use of one method or another depends on the TV you have at home, therefore, before buying the right cable, you need to see what they are for.
How to connect iPad or iPhone to TV via wireless
The most convenient method to connect iPad or iPhone to the TV is to use the home Wi-Fi connection or proprietary wireless technologies, which will allow you to view all the streaming video from the Apple device to the television without having any dangling cables.Apple TV
The best wireless solution to connect an iPad or iPhone to the TV is to connect an Apple TV 4K (€ 199).
To use it, simply connect the HDMI cable to a socket of the same name on the TV, connect the Apple TV to the Internet on the same Wi-Fi network as the Apple devices at home and proceed with the association of the personal Apple account.
Once everything is ready, just start the video you want to watch on iPhone or iPad, press the AirPlay button at the top (in the shape of a TV with a triangle) and select the Apple TV just configured to watch the video streaming.
The video stream will be managed directly by the Apple TV at the highest quality and we can use the portable Apple device as a sort of remote control to stop, pause or continue playback. The AirPlay functionality can also be used to listen to music from streaming apps and watch photos and videos saved in the internal memory of the iPhone or iPad, just use the File app and share the content to AirPlay.
To learn more about the use of the Apple TV Box, please read the guide When the Apple TV 4K pays off: pros and cons .
Google Chromecast
If we want to save something compared to the Apple TV, we can focus on the Google Chromecast (€ 39) to add the support needed to wirelessly view the contents of the iPhone and iPad.
To use this method we connect the Chromecast to an HDMI port on the TV, connect the power supply then follow the necessary steps to configure it on the home Wi-Fi network, as seen in our guide Turn any TV into a Smart TV with Chromecast . As soon as the Chromecast is connected, make sure that the iPad or iPhone are connected to the same Wi-Fi network, then open the streaming content to be displayed on TV and press the Google Cast button, which will appear at the top right.
In the new window, just select the name of the Chromecast to start the stream directly on the TV, leaving the playback controls on the Apple device (like a sort of remote control). In this regard, we can also read the tips and recommended apps in the guide How to broadcast on TV from iPhone and iPad with Chromecast .
How to connect iPad or iPhone to cable TV
If we are close enough to the TV we can also use a cable to connect the iPhone or iPad to the TV, so as to avoid all interference and obtain the highest possible quality (even if we will have to endure the cable hanging in the living room or near the TV).Lightning / HDMI cable
If we want to use a simple HDMI cable to connect the iPad or iPhone to the TV, we recommend using an Apple certified cable such as the MPIO HDMI Cable for iPhone iPad 6.6FT / 2M (16 €).
By connecting the Lightning socket to the Apple device, the USB socket to a wall charger and the HDMI socket to the TV, we can send the screen of our iPhone or iPad to the TV in Full HD quality, while simultaneously recharging the connected device.
Obviously we will have to be close enough to the TV and we will have to get up every time we want to pause or change streaming content, making it quite uncomfortable to use.
Type-C / HDMI cable
If we own a modern iPad Pro we will no longer have the Lightning port but a new USB Type-C port, which we can use to connect iPad or iPhone to the TV via the Bauihr USB C HDMI cable (€ 16).
By connecting the Type-C socket on the iPad Pro and the HDMI socket to the TV, we will be able to stream content also in 4K UHD quality, so that we can view the contents of Netflix and Amazon Prime Video transmitted in this quality without the aid of apps or other expensive devices. Compared to the cable seen previously, it is not possible to get recharged during use, so we will have to have an iPad 100% charged to be able to watch a streaming movie.
SCART adapter
We have a very old TV without an HDMI port "> GANA HDMI to SCART adapter HDMI to Scart 1080P converter (17 €).
Although the procedure may seem laborious, using this adapter is very simple: we connect the iPad or iPhone via Lighting-HDMI cable to the adapter ( INPUT socket), then we connect a SCART cable between the adapter ( OUTPUT socket) and the TV, making sure to supply electricity to the adapter via a wall charger. As soon as ready we press on Power and turn on the TV on the SCART source, so that we can watch the streaming video from the iPhone and iPad even on very old televisions.
Conclusions
As we have seen, the connection of an iPad or an iPhone is really very simple, especially if we use Wi-Fi connections (much more comfortable). For those who want the highest quality or decide to use a cable, we have offered you some good solutions to connect Apple devices to both new Smart TVs and old televisions without an HDMI socket.In another article we talked about how to connect the laptop to the TV, which is still very useful despite the widespread diffusion of smartphones and tablets.
If, on the other hand, we wanted to watch videos on the Wi-Fi network or from the Internet on the iPhone or iPad, we recommend reading our article See videos via the WiFi network or from the Internet on the iPhone and iPad .
