Screen Capture with Audio is impossible on macmini

I had no idea till I called Apple, but you cannot record audio from your mac mini without a microphone. I bought this computer for video editing, but also for screen recording online lectures and I am now finding that to be impossible. Other users have suggested downloading third party apps, but this is a hardware issue it seems, not a software. Does anyone have experience with this issue and has found a hardware workaround? Really don't want to buy a mic to put up to the speakers of my mac mini... that seems absurd and there's going to be a degradation of quality, but if that's the only fix, I'd love to know so I can try and get rid of this mac on ebay.

Posted on Oct 29, 2025 11:59 AM

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Posted on Oct 29, 2025 7:00 PM

Yes, you can record audio on your Mac without a microphone. There are at least 2 ways to screen capture video with audio - use a screen capture app or use an audio routing app.


My preferred way is to use an app designed for screen video capture, such as Screenflow. I have it and it works great. I have done amazing captures using Screenflow. And it includes video editing capabilities.


If you want to DIY, then install Blackhole Audio app (free) and use it to configure a "Multi-output device" to route audio to apps such as Quicktime ... in order to capture screen video+audio using QuickTime. See the Blackhole Help pages & Wiki for instructions on how to do this. See this thread for additional tips on using Blackhole audio -> how to record screen with audio on mac mi… - Apple Community


For more robust audio routing, consider Rogue Amoeba's Loopback app.


ps. It's not a hardware issue. Macs have never come with "built-in" streaming video+audio capture.


4 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Oct 29, 2025 7:00 PM in response to dbau12

Yes, you can record audio on your Mac without a microphone. There are at least 2 ways to screen capture video with audio - use a screen capture app or use an audio routing app.


My preferred way is to use an app designed for screen video capture, such as Screenflow. I have it and it works great. I have done amazing captures using Screenflow. And it includes video editing capabilities.


If you want to DIY, then install Blackhole Audio app (free) and use it to configure a "Multi-output device" to route audio to apps such as Quicktime ... in order to capture screen video+audio using QuickTime. See the Blackhole Help pages & Wiki for instructions on how to do this. See this thread for additional tips on using Blackhole audio -> how to record screen with audio on mac mi… - Apple Community


For more robust audio routing, consider Rogue Amoeba's Loopback app.


ps. It's not a hardware issue. Macs have never come with "built-in" streaming video+audio capture.


Oct 30, 2025 5:08 AM in response to Ian R. Brown

Ian R. Brown wrote:
There is another way to record the screen audio . . . as the mini has not got a webcam, most users will have one clipped to the top of their monitor.

All webcams contain a mic so simply select that in the QT screen recording options.

Hi Ian,

You are correct about using a webcam mic to record audio but it wouldn't be screen audio (as in a streaming lecture or video).


The OP wants to capture the audio from streaming videos, not from a mic. Technically it's called system audio or application audio. Blackhole & Loopback are audio routing apps that enable that to be done with Quicktime. Screenflow is a single app that does it all without needing any routing app.

Oct 30, 2025 1:19 AM in response to MartinR

Thanks for the info Martin.


When I first read the question my first instinct was to shout, "Rubbish!" (or something similar).


However, I desisted and on investigation discovered he was correct.


There is another way to record the screen audio . . . as the mini has not got a webcam, most users will have one clipped to the top of their monitor.


All webcams contain a mic so simply select that in the QT screen recording options.


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Screen Capture with Audio is impossible on macmini

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