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I have two MacBooks (a Pro and an Air). Both are modern and have USB-C. I would like to run the video output from one MacBook into the other, using USB-C, and then use the second Mac to stream the video using OBS. Is this possible without putting some converter in the middle? It feels like it should be...

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No, target display mode doesn’t work over USB-C.

You’ll want to screen share over point to point network for this.

The latency for screen sharing is very good now. You might have better luck with an iPad for this and sidecar or dedicated hardware to get it into OBS.

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  • Thanks! Can I set the point to point network over the USB-C link? Any chance you could add it to your answer if so!
    – tomh
    Dec 21, 2020 at 9:35
  • I don’t think USB offers a network interface. Thunderbolt does as does ethernet and WiFi - I would need to test this to make sure drivers and bandwidth works. Be careful. USB-C is mostly a connector. The protocol could be USB 3 or Thunderbolt 3 or USB 4 for that physical connector type. @tomh
    – bmike ♦
    Dec 21, 2020 at 13:01
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Have you tried just connecting the two computers together by a USB-C or Thunderbolt cable to see if they network? I know Thunderbolt supports this, a USB-C port lacking Thunderbolt might not. Even so just as long as there is a network between the computers there is software to share the screen from one to the other. The faster the network the better. Built-in to the macOS is AirPlay and VNC for sharing the screen so there should be no need to buy any hardware or software. The network can be WiFi, Bluetooth, Ethernet, or whatever.

There are USB "transfer cables' that are petty much just two Ethernet adapters in a single cable. These are often faster (5 Gnps) and cheaper (under $40) than two Ethernet adapters so consider looking for that if other options are too slow or simply not available. I mention the term "transfer cable" since that is a common name for them. Another common name is the genericized trademark "LapLink cable", and there is a company called LapLink that has been making cables like these for decades.

There's general purpose video capture devices you can try, if all else fails. These are USB 3.x devices that take an HDMI input. These will cost something like $200. Just using WiFi and screen sharing that's built-in is free, but there can be issues of quality that drive people to spend over $200 on getting the best video.

You are correct that this is possible without some converter in the middle. Getting the best results might require some hardware though.

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