Easy Steps for Casting MKV Files From Your Computer to Apple TV Using AirPlay

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How to Stream MKV from Mac/PC to Apple TV

Written by Kaylee Wood | Last update: April 28, 2020

MKV is a commonly used video format due to its fascinating high efficiency compressing and restoring the original video quality (video, audio, subtitles). But unfortunately MKV is not natively supported to play on Apple TV as well as the mainstream mobile devices. In order to stream MKV to Apple TV with best quality remains, here are a few solutions worth trying.

2. Stream MKV to Apple TV – AirPlay Mirroring

Mac natively support mirror Mac display to Apple TV if you updated the OS to Mac v10.8 or later. You can use AirPlay to mirror or extend everything on your Mac display. Just click the AirPlay icon in the menu bar and then choose Apple TV under “Use AirPlay Display To“, then you will get your whole Mac screen displayed on Apple TV and you can just simple play the MKV files with a MKV player on your Mac, the MKV playback will surely be streamed on Apple TV as well.

For mirroring your display or extending your desktop, any of the following Mac computers with OS X Mountain Lion v10.8 or later:
iMac (Mid 2011 or later)
Mac mini (Mid 2011 or later)
MacBook (Early 2015 or later)
MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or later)
MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or later)
Mac Pro (Late 2013 or later)

How to Play MKV Files on Apple TV 4/3/2?

Apple’s AirPlay technology does not support streaming MKV files to Apple TV or any other devices which makes any other third party AirPlay server like 5KPlayer , Airserver, AirParrot unable to AirPlay MKV from Mac/PC to Apple TV as well. But there surely exists some workaround.

One is to convert MKV to AirPlay friendly video formats, say MP4, MOV, M4V and then stream the converted MKV to Apple TV which is applicable on both Mac and PC. The other way is using AirPlay mirroring to mirror Mac display to Apple TV which is only applicable on Mac Mountain Lion or later and basically on modern Mac.

1. Stream MKV to Apple TV – Convert MKV to MP4

Don’t blame Apple, don’t blame Matroska, cuz a good strong MKV converter like WinX HD Video Converter Deluxe supports to convert MKV to AirPlay compatible video formats like MP4, MOV and M4V. Just load the MKV file into the converter, and then select MP4 as the output profile, and at last run the MKV to MP4 conversion. You will get a same video clip stored in Apple TV compatible format within seconds and with maximally reserved quality.

When you have successfully converter MKV to Apple TV, this is where 5KPlayer comes into use. A powerful AirPlay sender and receiver to Airplay MKV, MP4, AVI, MP3 and surely will stream converted MKV files from Mac and Windows/10 to Apple TV.

Tutorial on How to Stream MKV to Apple TV:

Step 1: Install 5KPlayer on your Mac or PC and launch it.

Step 2: Click the AirPlay icon on the top right corner on the main interface to enable AirPlay function, and then select “Apple TV” to connect your Mac/PC with Apple TV thru 5KPlayer.

Note: Do make sure your Apple TV and Mac/PC are connected to the same Wifi, or else 5KPlayer won’t be able to reach it.

Step 3: Play the converted MKV files with this best free MKV playe r on your computer and you can see the desired video is instantly streamed on Apple TV. You can minimize the playback window and do other stuff with your computer while still watching the MKV videos on your big HD TV.

We’ve talked about the solution that works perfectly on both Mac OS and Windows, but if you are using a Mac, you may as well try AirPlay Mirroring.

But this solution is exclusive for Mac, for Windows users, you still need to follow the workaround. To make sure your MKV playback will be successfully streamed to Apple TV, you also need an MKV player to be able to play MKV video files on your Mac. Don’t worry, download this best free MKV player for Mac , all the problem can be solved immediately. Better still, this MKV player also support to download MKV videos from YouTube, Dailymotion, Metacafe, etc.

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