Can You Connect a PS4 to a MacBook With & Without HDMI?

It’s a lazy Saturday afternoon, perfect for a PS4 game, but the little ones are glued to the TV.

It doesn’t look like your teen is about to ditch their weekend gaming session. Still a week, but you’re determined to break your record for longest gaming session.

Upstairs TV isn’t an option either because Mom is watching the new murder mystery show on Netflix.

You are all alone with your Mac computer left to play. That’s when you realize that you may need to connect your PS4 to the Mac with HDMI.

But you wonder if this is even possible.

Luckily for you, we’ve solved that mystery. See the steps we followed to connect a PS4 to a Mac, with and without HDMI.

Can a PS4 be connected to a MacBook with HDMI?

No, it can’t be used HDMI to connect a PS4 to a MacBook directly.

If it were a monitor, 100% yes, it would be. But the Mac is not a monitor. It’s a much more complex device.

The HDMI port on a monitor is designed to recognize incoming signals and translate them into images, while the HDMI port on your Mac doesn’t recognize any incoming signals. It is a video output port.

When you connect an HDMI cable, your Mac understands that it needs to send certain information over the cable and waits for the commands you give it to do so.

Says, for example:

Do you want to play music? Great, select the playlist you want and I’ll send it directly to the monitor via HDMI.

But when you connect PS4 to Mac via HDMI cable, your Mac doesn’t react. It will give you a confused blank look, wondering what to do with this new cable because it doesn’t recognize the connection.

On the other hand, the PS4 will be busy sending the video signal over the HDMI cable. But when the signal hits the HDMI port on your Mac, it hits a dead end. You cannot access the computer. And so there’s simply no communication between the PS4 and the Mac.

To connect a PS4 to a Mac, you need a completely different setup, not a direct HDMI connection.

How do you connect my PS4 to my Mac using HDMI?

The only way to connect a PS4 to a Mac with HDMI is to use a capture card, as shown in this video.

To a seamless connection, you need a capture card that is compatible with your MacBook. The Elgato HD 60 S capture card has a USB 3.0 interface that connects to the Thunderbolt port and is compatible with Sierra and newer versions of macOS.

If you are using a capture card that is not compatible with your Mac’s USB specifications, you will need an adapter to act as a bridge. The USB-C to USB-A adapter works with Type-A capture cards.

You also need software video recording. Most capture cards come with their own software, but you can use any other video capture software.

• Download the macOS version of your chosen video capture software to your computer.
• Connect the HDMI OUT port on your PS4 console to an HDMI cable.
• Connect the other end of the HDMI cable to the HDMI IN port on the capture card.
• Plug the video capture card into the Thunderbolt port on your Mac.
• If your capture card does not have a USB-A port, use the USB-C to USB-A adapter to connect to the port USB-C from your Mac .
• Launch the video capture software.
  1. Go to Sources, then click the plus sign to bring up the list of buttons
  2. Select Display Capture and click Click OK. This will open the screen capture device menu.
  3. Select USB Device

The screen capture home of your PS4 will be displayed on the Mac screen. Enter full screen or adjust the screen size as you like. You can now play PS4 games directly from your computer.

Sound output can be a challenge with this setup. Your PS4 should naturally output audio via HDMI, but the maze of connections could affect audio output. You can only hope that your cables are up to the task and successfully transmit audio.

Video quality can also be lower when using this connection method, with delays being the main challenge you can face. find.

How to connect a PS4 to a Mac without using HDMI?

This is a different way to connect your PS4 to your Mac. This second method does not use HDMI and offers much better results.

You’ll need to use PlayStation’s remote play feature, Remote Play, and a wireless controller to make the connection. Currently, PS Remote Play is the only app that allows you to stream or play PS4 games on a MacBook.

1. Download the app from the App Store and follow the installation instructions.
2. Go to the function area on your PS4 home screen. To access the function area or screen, press the up button while on the home screen.
3. Go to Settings, then Remote Play connection settings and Enable Remote Play.
4. Go back to the functions area and then to Settings again. Go to Account Management, then Activate as your primary PS4, and select Activate.
5. Go to Settings one more time, then Power saving settings, and then Set features available in rest mode. Select the Stay connected to the Internet and Enable PS4 power on from the network checkboxes. This will allow you to start PS Remote Play while the PS4 system is in rest mode. Only perform steps 1-5 once when doing initial setup. For subsequent connections, you’ll need to follow steps 6-9 each time you want to access your PS4 console from your Mac.
6. Turn on your PS4 console. You can also set it to rest mode. Remember that you turned on the availability of features in rest mode in Step 5 above, so your Mac will be able to access the PS4 console even when it is in rest mode.
7. Use a USB cable to connect your controller to your Mac. You can also use Bluetooth to pair them.
8. Launch PS Remote Play on your Mac and select Sign in to PSN. Use the login credentials of the account you use for your PS4 console.
9. Select PS4. PS Remote Play will search for and connect to the PS4 console.
10. Your PS4 console screen is displayed on the Mac. You can now play PS4 games from your Mac.

Use your PS controller to navigate the PS console. This video shows you how to do it without interfering with the remote connection.

Although this may be a limitation, you can also use Control Panel on your Mac to control your PS console. The Control Panel displays the Share, Options, and PS (Start) buttons. It also shows microphone status and battery level.

Note that you can’t use Share Play, Share Screen, or stream your gameplay when running Remote Play, even though the Share button is available.

To stop playing, click the X button in the upper left corner of the screen displaying the game. This disconnects the console from the computer without turning off the console. There is also an option that allows you to put the PS console to sleep.

Things to keep in mind when connecting your PS4 to your Mac with Remote Play

First, PS Remote Play needs at least 40 MB of storage space.

You also need a high-speed Internet connection. Speeds of 5 Mbps are sufficient, but 15 Mbps or higher will give you the best performance.

Your PS4 and Mac must be on the same network, and you must use the same PlayStation Network (referred to as PSN in setup). device) you use for your PS4 console.

This setting allows you to enjoy playing your PS4 remotely, which means you can access your PS4 games while you’re away from the console.

You want to make sure that your Mac is successfully connecting to your nearby PS4 before attempting a remote connection.

This way, you can fix any issues that might be preventing your devices from of CONECT. And you’ll be sure that the connection will work when you try to access your PS4 remotely.

In addition, you can adjust the video quality settings for Remote Play from the Settings menu on your Mac.

Note that when you run Remote Play, you cannot:

• Play PS VR in VR mode.
• Play a DVD or Blu-Ray Disc.
• Play music on Spotify.

Lastly, not all PS4 games support PS Remote Play, so you may not be able to play some games when you run the function.

Conclusion

As we’ve already established, you can’t connect your PS4 to your MacBook directly using an HDMI cable. The HDMI port on your Mac is not designed to receive video signals. Instead, he sends them.

So when you connect the HDMI cable to your computer, there will be nothing to show on the Mac’s screen because no signal is coming in.

Fortunately, there are ways to do it indirectly. There are also ways to connect the two that don’t involve the use of an HDMI cable.

You can use a video capture card in conjunction with streaming video software.

Or you can use the PlayStation Remote Play service.

Both of these methods turn your MacBook into a monitor for your PS console and allow you to play PS4 games just like you would on any other monitor.

.