How to Use a Firestick With a MacBook

Are you looking for a way to connect a Firestick to your MacBook? Although Firestick doesn’t support AirPlay, so you can’t use AirPlay with Firestick, there is a way to physically connect your Firestick to your MacBook. Read on to learn more. 

Can You Use a Firestick with a MacBook?

Well, can you use a Firestick with a MacBook? 

The truth is that you can’t plug a Firestick directly into a MacBook. That’s because your Mac doesn’t work as an external monitor. While it can output video to an external monitor, it can’t receive input video and be used as an external monitor itself. 

However, there is a workaround. If you use a video capture device, you can capture video from your Firestick and play it on your Mac’s screen. You will need a software that can play video from a video capture device as well. 

Read on to learn the technical details of how to do this. 

How to Connect a Firestick to a Mac

To connect your Firestick to your Mac, you will need the following devices:

• Firestick
• Mac
• HDMI video capture device
• Firestick extension (comes with your Firestick)

If your Mac only has a USB-C port, you will also need a USB-C to USB-A extender.

You can get the HDMI video capture device from Amazon here. It usually costs around $15.  

You will also need to download and install OBS Studio on your Mac. OBS Studio is a free software that allows you to display content from external sources such as a video capture card. It also allows you to take a video recording of your screen. You can download it here.

Once you have downloaded and installed OBS Studio, and you have the necessary equipment, follow these initial steps: 

1. Connect the Firestick to a power source using the power cable. 
2. Connect the Firestick to the extender, and plug the extender into the HDMI video capture card. 
3. Plug the video capture card into the USB-A port on your Mac. If your Mac only has a USB-C port, plug the video capture card into the USB-A to USB-C extender, and plug the other end of the extender into your Mac. 

Once you have completed the initial steps, it’s time to launch OBS. Open OBS on your Mac and follow these steps: 

1. Under the “Sources” section, click on the plus (+) icon. 
2. Select Video Capture Device and click OK. 
3. Select “USB Video” as the device option in the drop-down menu and click OK. 
4. In OBS, navigate to Settings > Audio (you can find Settings in the bottom-right corner of OBS). 
5. For the “Mic/Auxiliary Audio” option, choose “USB Video Audio” from the drop-down menu. In the same screen, select “Built-In Output” in the “Monitoring Device” drop-down menu at the bottom. Then, click OK. 
6. On the main screen, click on the gears icon under “Audio Mixer.” Click on “Advanced Audio Properties” and select “Monitor and Output” from the “Audio Monitoring” drop-down menu. 
7. Right-click on the grey space next to where the Firestick screen is showing and hover over “Fullscreen Projector (Preview)” and select the option it brings up to switch to full screen. 

Troubleshooting Firestick and MacBook Connectivity Issues

If you are experiencing issues, follow these tips: 

• Make sure all the devices are connected properly. Try a different adapter and make sure your Firestick is connected to a power source. 
• Upgrade your Mac to the latest version of macOS. 
• Uninstall and reinstall OBS Studio. 
• Go through the guide above and make sure you selected  all the settings correctly, as forgetting one setting could interfere with the whole process. 

Conclusion

The best and only way to connect a Firestick to a MacBook is to use an HDMI video capture card. We hope this guide was useful. It might sound complicated at first, but once you get the hang of it, it’s pretty easy! 

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