Whether you want to show off a massive photo album to your extended family, watch a downloaded movie on a big screen in a hotel room, or present a keynote presentation without a laptop, you will eventually need to connect your iPhone to a television.
There are two primary ways to achieve this: using a physical cable for a rock-solid, lag-free connection, or using Apple’s wireless AirPlay technology for maximum convenience. The method you choose will depend entirely on the age of your television and the equipment you have available.
Method 1: Connect Wirelessly Using AirPlay
AirPlay is Apple’s proprietary wireless casting technology. If you own an Apple TV set-top box, or a modern Smart TV manufactured after 2019 (such as newer models from Samsung, LG, Sony, or Vizio), AirPlay is likely built directly into the television itself.
This method requires both your iPhone and your TV to be connected to the exact same Wi-Fi network.
- Turn on your television.
- Ensure your iPhone is connected to the same Wi-Fi network as the TV.
- Swipe down from the top right corner of your iPhone screen to open the Control Center (or swipe up from the bottom if you have an older iPhone with a Home button).
- Look for the Screen Mirroring button. It looks like two rectangular screens overlapping each other. Tap it.
- A list of available devices on your network will appear. Tap the name of your television (e.g., “Living Room TV” or “LG webOS”).
- If this is your first time connecting, your television will display a 4-digit passcode on the screen. Type this passcode into your iPhone.
Your TV screen will instantly change to mirror exactly what is happening on your iPhone. If you turn your phone sideways (landscape mode), the TV image will rotate to fill the screen.
Method 2: Connect Using an HDMI Cable
If you are staying in a hotel, visiting a conference room with an older projector, or dealing with incredibly slow Wi-Fi that causes AirPlay to stutter, you must use a physical cable. Because iPhones do not have HDMI ports built into them, you will need a special adapter.
- If you have an iPhone 14 or older: You need an Apple Lightning to Digital AV Adapter.
- If you have an iPhone 15 or newer: You need a standard USB-C to HDMI Adapter.
- Plug one end of a standard HDMI cable into an empty HDMI port on the back of the television.
- Plug the other end of the HDMI cable into your Apple adapter.
- Plug the adapter directly into the charging port on the bottom of your iPhone.
- Use the television’s remote control to change the Input or Source to match the HDMI port you plugged the cable into (e.g., HDMI 2).
The connection is instant. There are no menus to navigate or passcodes to enter on your iPhone. The image will simply appear on the screen with zero lag, making this the best option for playing mobile games on a TV.
Troubleshooting AirPlay Audio Issues
A common issue when using AirPlay to cast a video is that the video plays perfectly on the TV, but the audio continues playing through the tiny iPhone speakers.
To fix this, you do not use the “Screen Mirroring” button. Instead, open the specific app you are using (like YouTube or Photos), start playing the video on your phone, and look for the specific Cast icon (a rectangle with a Wi-Fi symbol in the corner) built directly into the app’s video player. Tapping this icon will cast both the video and the audio directly to the television.