In this guide we’ll cover how to stream your PlayStation 5 console to a Mac.
A few things to note. This works best if your PS5 and Mac are both on the same home network on a wired Ethernet connection. WiFi can work but just make sure the signal is strong enough for whatever device is connected wirelessly.
As of this posting, streaming doesn’t work properly beyond 720p. There’s no reason why, but 1080p is supposed to be available but doesn’t work properly. This has been an ongoing issue since streaming PS4 to other devices.
Requirements
You’ll need a Sony PlayStation network account (this is free). This login will need to be used on the PS5 you’ll be streaming from. You’ll also need the Remote Play app, you’ll be installing on your Mac and a PS5 controller. Details on how to get the Remote Play app are below.
PS5 Setup
1. On the main console screen to “Settings” – “System” – “Remote Play” on the left and then turn on “Enable Remote Play”.
2. While still under the “System” page, select “Power Saving” on the left – select “Features Available in Rest Mode”.
3. In this section, make sure “Stay Connected to the Internet” and “Enable Turning on PS5 from Network” are both on.
Step 3 means that if you ever put your PS5 in rest mode, you can activate and turn on PS5 streaming from your Mac.
Mac Setup
1. For you to use your PS5 controller, you can use a wireless connection by pressing and holding the “PS” button and “Share” buttons together on the controller until the controller light starts to flash (this means it’s in pairing mode). On your Mac open then “System Preferences” menu, then “Bluetooth” and select “DualSense Wireless Controller”. If the wireless method doesn’t work, then connect it using the USB cable that came with your controller.
2. To download and use the Sony Remote Play software, navigate to this Sony Remote Play website and scroll down to the section to stream PS5 to a Mac. Alternatively you can Google search “PS Remote Play” and it’ll most likely be the first search result.
3. A new window might open, and you’ll have to select “Control your PS5 console from a Mac” (or something similar if Sony update’s their site in the future).
4. On this page navigate to the “Install the app” section. Agree to the terms and install the app on your computer.
5. The first time you use the app, you’ll be prompted to enter your Sony credentials. Make sure you enter the same one as used on your console. You’ll then be prompted to select how much data you want to share with Sony, you can modify your option.
6. On the left side is a small gear icon. In this settings menu you can just quality of streaming (for some reason 720p is the cap as I mentioned earlier) and you can adjust frame rate.
7. You’ll then get prompted to select your PS5 console to connect to. If this fails, reboot your Mac, and try again. It could fail because you just installed the software for the first time on your Mac. I had an issue connecting to my console, after rebooting my Mac it worked just fine.
8. Go back, connect to your console. After successfully connecting to your PS5, it’ll open in a program window. You can maximize the window or make it full screen by hovering your mouse over the window.
9. After connecting to the console, the picture might be rather blurry. It can take 2-3 minutes for the picture to become clear.
Connecting Controller to PS5
To connect your PS5 controller back to you PS5, see this guide.
Conclusion
While the above method works, it’s not a great experience (as of this writing). The picture quality looks good at 720p but the frame rate dropping makes the experience terrible. While testing The Last Of Us Remastered and trying to have my character Joel aim his gun, I was constantly missing and could barely control him because the frame rate was terrible.
