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Jun 26, 2023

The 7 Best Capture Cards for Mac

If you're a Mac gamer, you can share your gaming with the world through one of

If you're a Mac gamer, you can share your gaming with the world through one of these Mac-compatible capture cards.

Windows may be the king of PC gaming, but Macs can just as easily be an option for playing your favorite titles, especially if your model features the M1 or M2 chip. And what better way to enjoy gaming than with an audience? For the best setup, you'll need a capture card for your Mac.

Instead of putting unnecessary strain on the system running recording software, a capture card is a wonderful middleman that does the brunt of the work. All those resources are better spent running your favorite games, anyway.

While the selection of capture cards for Mac is a bit slimmer, you'll find no shortage of options. If your Mac can handle gaming and you love the idea of streaming, check out seven of the best capture cards for Mac below.

By using USB 3.0 and HDMI, Epiphan Systems Inc. AV.io 4K offers one of the best experiences for you and your audience thanks to its ability to capture uncompressed UHD video quality.

What's impressive is that you don't have to jump through a thousand hoops to get it working. The Epiphan Systems Inc. AV.io 4K has a plug-and-play design—no additional software required—making it one of the most stress-free and beginner-friendly options. You can even save yourself the trouble of learning new software considering the Epiphan Systems Inc. AV.io 4K is also compatible with OBS.

With the Epiphan Systems Inc. AV.io 4K, you can record at 4K 30fps, provided you have the hardware. However, if you neither have the setup nor the capacity for 4K, it also allows 1080p at 60fps, which is still excellent video quality and is usually what many streamers strive for, anyway.

The Elgato HD60 S+ is a small, compact video capture card that's easy to transport and even easier to get started with. This is the ideal place to start for streamers looking to upgrade their bargain bin capture card for something substantial and accommodating.

While the Elgato HD60 S+ is impressive due to its max capture resolution of 2160p at 30fps, it also easily supports resolutions below that. It comes in handy if you like to vary the games you play. For example, the Elgato HD60 S+ can capture 480p, which is perfect for retro games. Of course, it's just as helpful to have a variety of resolutions to choose from that best serve the hardware you own and available bandwidth, in which case 1080p and 720p become equally useful.

Let's not forget the bundled software 4KCU is also an excellent asset for both experienced and newcomers to the world of streamers. It's lightweight yet still has bonus features like Flashback Recording for saving epic moments.

Everyone has to start somewhere, right? Though it's unfair to assume that the Genki Shadowcast is a "beginner" capture card. A more apt description of the Genki Shadowcast would be a quick-and-easy solution to capturing video for your streams. It's one of the tiniest capture cards available, yet it still packs a punch.

For starters, the Genki Shadowcast can capture footage at a 1080p resolution; the standard many streamers strive for. While it's admittedly limited to 30fps, don't let that be a deal-breaker. All it requires is you plug it directly into its source and feed a USB 3.0 cable out the other end—that's it!

Besides being barely bigger than a flash drive, the Genki Shadowcast's most impressive trait is the variety of software it's compatible with. Are you not a fan of OBS? That's okay; it plays just as nicely with XSplit and StreamLabs or, if you love simplicity, its own software Genki Arcade.

The AVerMedia GC513 is a portable capture card that allows 1080p streaming at 60fps without needing a computer. When hooked up to your Mac, however, you can unlock its full potential by installing its intuitive software RECentral and gain access to features like overlay text and instant highlights.

What makes the AVerMedia GC513 such a great travel companion is its size, which isn't much bigger than a king-sized candy bar. More importantly, the AVerMedia GC513 doesn't require a computer to function, so long as you have a microSD card to slot in.

Lastly, the AVerMedia GC513 doesn't force you to reduce visual fidelity for the sake of your audience. The AVerMedia GC513 allows a 4K signal to pass through but captures and streams at 1080p at 60fps. If you attend gaming events often or flip-flop between different systems—like console and Mac—the AVerMedia GC513 is a lifesaver for its portability and performance.

Who said capture cards had to be strictly for capturing game footage? If you have a fancy DSLR camera—or any DSLR camera that's better than a bargain bin webcam—you can take that DSLR's ability to capture high-quality video to the other end of the stream with the Elgato Cam Link 4K.

The Elgato Cam Link 4K works like this: plug in the device to your Mac using USB 3.0, then run an HDMI cable from the camera to the capture card. It's no slouch in performance either: the Elgato Cam Link 4K can record up to 4K resolution at 30fps or, if you prefer a smoother framerate, 1080p at 60fps. Equally impressive is the ultra-low latency technology, which ensures that what's happening on your stream is happening in real time.

All things considered, the Elgato Cam Link 4K's plug-and-play design can turn your DSLR camera into a high-quality webcam that instantly improves the overall production value of your stream. If you've got one lying around and want to improve the quality of your Facecam, this is one of the best capture cards for Mac.

There's always room for a capture card that does everything it needs to do, with performance being of utmost importance. For those who desire to stream in 4K or lack the hardware to do that in the first place, the AVerMedia Live Gamer Mini offers one of the best experiences for you and your audience.

The AVerMedia Live Gamer Mini is a small, compact capture card that can capture your gameplay in crisp 1080p resolution. It also captures said content at 60fps, which is smoother overall and should be the target framerate for every streamer. Best of all, the AVerMedia Live Gamer Mini ensures your own experience isn't hindered by extra signals thanks to 1080p@60fps passthrough and zero-lag technology.

Finally, the AVerMedia Live Gamer Mini plays well with various software like OBS and Streamlabs. However, its proprietary software, RECentral, shouldn't be ignored, given that it's incredibly user-friendly and supports macOS 12. If 1080p is your target, the AVerMedia Live Gamer Mini is one of the best capture cards for Mac.

Gathering the necessary hardware can quickly shrink your budget when you're just getting your feet wet in the world of streaming. Having a few devices that serve multiple purposes can be a godsend, which is exactly why the Extenuating Threads 4K Capture Card secured itself a position.

For starters, the Extenuating Threads 4K Capture Card has a maximum passthrough resolution of 4K at 60fps, which is quite impressive for such a small device. While capture quality is reduced to 1080p at 60fps, this capture card at least allows you to enjoy the best quality possible without reducing it for the sake of your audience. Best of all, it reaches the 60-frames-per-second target that every streamer should strive for.

The Extenuating Threads 4K Capture Card isn't just good for capturing gameplay footage; if you've got a good DSLR camera, the capture card can instead raise the resolution of your Facecam, ultimately improving the overall production value of the stream. And with the added benefit of solid low-latency technology, the Extenuating Threads 4K Capture Card ensures your stream continues streaming in real time.

Capture cards that can record in 4K have their benefits but, ultimately, aren't worth it.

It's useful because, if you have the budget, you can set yourself up for the future; however, the average viewer hasn't even jumped to 4K, let alone 1440p. Twitch scales content down to 1080p at 60fps, anyway.

With that said, if your Mac is built to game in 4K, and that's what you plan on doing, consider a capture card with a 4K passthrough. This allows you to continue gaming in 4K but reduces the stream's resolution and recorded footage to something easier to manage, like 1080p or 720p. Be mindful that some capture cards are limited to 4K at 30fps, while others can maintain 4K at 60fps.

No, but capture cards drastically reduce the strain on your Mac.

Without a capture card, you'd have to rely on software to do the recording and streaming; however, that soaks up valuable resources that would otherwise be better spent on a game. Capture cards are built with hardware to handle that strain instead.

No, they're nearly identical, with only one slight difference.

Windows can accept a wider variety of external and internal capture cards; Mac is limited to external USB capture cards, even for Macs with available PCIe slots that support UVC protocol. Luckily, almost any external capture card you come across will be small and compact, so it shouldn't be difficult to make space for it.

Brady has been crafting buyer's guide for MakeUseOf since 2021, though his professional writing experience stretches as far back as 2018. He focuses primarily on gaming, using his background as a video game journalist to help readers find the right gadgets, accessories, and hardware to get the most out of their setup.