Although it would be great if you could simply connect your PlayStation to your Mac with HDMI, unfortunately, it is not as easy as that.
You cannot use the monitor of a Macbook Air or Macbook Pro to connect to your PlayStation with HDMI.
There are some other solutions, however, that will achieve similar results.
Please see: Using my Mac Laptop as an external monitor (via casting) and PS Remote Play on the Macbook.
Can you connect PlayStation to iMac via HDMI?
Yes, you can use your iMac as an external monitor for your PlayStation console through an HDMI connection.
How to connect PlayStation to iMac with HDMI?
If you want to use your iMac as an external monitor for your PlayStation, you will need a mini-display-to-HDMI adapter. You can pick these up from Amazon for a reasonable price.
I would, however, recommend that your try PS Remote Play (scroll down) first before you opt for a wired connection.
Step 1: Connect the Mini Display to the back of your iMac
Step 2: Connect the HDMI cable from your PlayStation to the adapter HDMI slot
Step 3: Once everything is connected, press COMMAND + F2 on your iMac to choose the PlayStation as the desired screen output
This is a really simple process however the process may differ slightly between iMac models. Some iMac models require an adapter box such as the Elgato HD60 S.
This process of using a third-party adapter box is covered in the video below.
I want to use my Macbook as an external monitor for PlayStation
As mentioned above, although you can’t use your laptop screen as an external monitor via HDMI, there are other solutions.
Use PS Remote Play on your MacBook
If you have a PlayStation Remote Play subscription, you can play select titles on Mac by downloading the PS Remote Play app.
How do I use PS Remote Play on a Macbook?
Simply head over to the PlayStation Remote Play site and log in using your PlayStation login credentials.
There is a download button that allows you to download the PS Remote Play app to your Mac device.
Once the download is completed, fire up the app and login into your PlayStation account.
You will also need to connect your PlayStation controller to your Mac through the Bluetooth settings.
PS Remote Play Pros:
- Easy Setup
- Ever improving
PS Remote Play Cons:
- Still experience input lag at times
- The video quality is can be poorer than your traditional native gaming setup
Why can’t I use my HDMI to connect my Macbook to my PlayStation?
The HDMI port on your MacBook laptop can only send a signal out to another device (output only) and cannot accept an incoming connection.
Conclusion
Connecting your PlayStation to the HDMI of a Mac is only viable for iMac devices. You can use third-party services to achieve the same result.
Luckily, now that PS Remote Play has been released, streaming your PlayStation game library on your iMac or Macbook is definitely the way to go.
The performance of streaming games is improving quite rapidly and helping to reduce issues such as lag and latency issues.
We hope that this article helps you achieve PlayStation gaming on your device.
Happy gaming!