How to connect to a Raspberry Pi using a Mac

A step by step guide to connect to a Raspberry Pi using Rapbian via VNC

I recently got a Raspberry Pi for testing, and to build some projects ideas I have.

I installed Raspbian, the Linux version of Debian specifically made for the Raspberry Pi.

Then I attached the Raspberry Pi to the TV, using the HDMI cable, and I attached an USB mouse and USB keyboard to install the OS and get all “wired up”.

I then set up the VNC Server on the Pi to be able to connect to it from the Mac. I didn’t really want to keep it attached to the TV all the time.

So I clicked the menu, went to Preferences -> Raspberry Pi Configuration:

Then I pressed the Interfaces tab:

and I enabled the VNC option:

After doing so, I pressed OK and the “VNC” icon appeared in the toolbar.

In the screenshots above it’s already there, but it’s because I made them after I enabled VNC.

Clicking that icon showed me the VNC Server panel, which shows me the IP address of the Pi.

Using the Mac I downloaded the VNC Viewer from https://www.realvnc.com/download/viewer/ and I entered the IP address of the Pi.

I entered the username (pi) and the password of that username, and I was ready to go, with a nice window showing me the content of the Pi desktop!

The only problem I had was sound. That’s not supported with VNC, so I connected my stereo to the Pi audio jack, to hear if it had something to say.