How to Capture iOS Screen in OBS Studio on Mac

This guide provides a straightforward, step-by-step tutorial on how to capture your iPhone or iPad screen directly into OBS Studio on a Mac. By leveraging macOS’s native hardware integration, you can easily mirror your iOS device’s display and stream or record high-quality mobile gameplay, app tutorials, or presentations without needing expensive capture cards or third-party wireless casting software.

Step 1: Connect Your iOS Device to Your Mac

1. Use a physical Lightning or USB-C cable to connect your iPhone or iPad directly to a USB port on your Mac.
2. Unlock your iOS device. If prompted with a “Trust This Computer?” alert, tap Trust and enter your device passcode.

Step 2: Enable iOS Audio (Optional but Recommended)

To capture game or app audio from your iOS device alongside the video, you must enable the device as an audio input on your Mac: 1. Open the Finder on your Mac, go to Applications > Utilities, and launch Audio MIDI Setup (or press Cmd + Space and search for it). 2. Locate your iPhone or iPad in the sidebar on the left. 3. Click the Enable button directly beneath your device’s name.

Step 3: Add the iOS Screen to OBS Studio

1. Launch OBS Studio on your Mac.
2. In the Scenes box, select the scene where you want to add the feed, or click the + icon to create a new one.
3. In the Sources box, click the + icon and select Video Capture Device.
4. Name the source (e.g., “iPhone Video”) and click OK.
5. In the properties window, click the Device dropdown menu and select your connected iPhone or iPad. Your iOS screen should instantly appear in the OBS preview window.
6. Click OK.

Step 4: Add the iOS Audio to OBS Studio

If you enabled your device in the Audio MIDI Setup during Step 2, you can now add the digital audio feed: 1. In the Sources box, click the + icon and select Audio Input Capture. 2. Name the source (e.g., “iPhone Audio”) and click OK. 3. In the Device dropdown menu, select your iPhone or iPad. 4. Click OK.

Step 5: Configure and Fit to Canvas

• Resize the Screen: iOS screens typically have different aspect ratios than standard desktop monitors. To fit the screen to your canvas, right-click the video source in the preview window, go to Transform, and select Fit to screen or manually drag the red bounding box corners to resize it.
• Lock the Source: Click the padlock icon next to your iOS video and audio sources in the Sources list to lock them in place and prevent accidental movement during your stream or recording.