Can you cite a source for that? Experience suggests that is not the case.
* iMac (Mid 2011 or newer)
* Mac mini (Mid 2011 or newer)
* MacBook Air (Mid 2011 or newer)
* MacBook Pro (Early 2011 or newer)
I remember reading that AirPlay mirroring uses the video encoding capabilities of SandyBridge CPUs, but I can't find a source for that now.
Anecdotally, http://airparrot.com really taxes my 2010 MacBook's CPU.http://www.google.com/search?q=airplay+mirroring+mountain+sa...
http://www.mindofthegeek.com/2012/07/05/airplay-mirroring-in...