How To Connect My Iphone 5 To My Tv

How to connect your iPhone to a TV using AirPlay, screen mirroring, or a simple cable

Updated

2021-03-11T20:12:33Z

man at home watching streaming from phone to TV laptop — It's easy to connect your iPhone to your TV in a few different ways.

You can connect your iPhone to a TV using an AV cable, AirPlay, or screen mirroring.
To AirPlay or screen mirror your iPhone, you also need to have an Apple TV or AirPlay 2-compatible smart TV.
With AirPlay, you can stream content directly from video apps like Hulu and HBO Max.
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No matter what your reason, it's easy to connect your iPhone to a TV or computer monitor. Photos and videos display at full resolution — much better than the limited resolution of your iPhone — so connecting an iPhone to a larger screen can be a viable substitute for a smart TV.

There are three ways to connect your iPhone to a television or monitor: via an AV cable, using your iPhone's built-in screen mirroring feature, or using AirPlay from directly within third-party apps like Hulu .

The process is essentially identical to connecting your iPad to a TV, and in fact, you can use the same adapter or Apple TV for both your iPhone and iPad.

Here's how to do it.

Dave Johnson

Freelance Writer

Dave Johnson is a technology journalist who writes about consumer tech and how the industry is transforming the speculative world of science fiction into modern-day real life. Dave grew up in New Jersey before entering the Air Force to operate satellites, teach space operations, and do space launch planning. He then spent eight years as a content lead on the Windows team at Microsoft. As a photographer, Dave has photographed wolves in their natural environment; he's also a scuba instructor and co-host of several podcasts. Dave is the author of more than two dozen books and has contributed to many sites and publications including CNET, Forbes, PC World, How To Geek, and Insider.