Mountain Lion AirPlay Mirroring: Older Macs Not Welcome

And, by older I mean more than a year old. Although OS X Mountain Lion AirPlay mirroring works with a second generation (i.e. 2010) Apple TV or newer, you will need a mid-2011 or newer iMac, Mac mini, MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. Sadly, Apple doesn’t list a single Mac Pro model that is compatible with Mountain Lion AirPlay Mirroring.

Looking forward to broadcasting movies, music and more from your less-than-fresh, though still OS X Mountain Lion compatible, Mac using AirPlay Mirroring? If you don’t have a mid-2011 or newer mofrl, just put that thought out of your mind right now.

Apple’s OS X Mountain Lion specifications and requirements page offers the following guidance for AirPlay Mirroring aspirants:

Feature-Specific Requirements: AirPlay Mirroring:

Requires a second-generation Apple TV or later. Supports the following Mac models:

• iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)

• Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)

• MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)

• MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)

What’s up with that? My best guess is that these Macs ship with Intel chips (Sandy Bridge) containing the latest and greatest version of Intel Insider, which allows streamed DRM encrypted Hollywood content to play — just guessing…

What’s your take?