I'll say that there's more options, and tools to play games on Linux which translates to having the ability to play more games, but the user experience is by far superior on the Mac then Linux.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
A gamer's lament: Apple please let us game on the Mac!
- Thread starter groove-agent
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
Well, if you mean the commercial games, than no, they aren't cheaper. However, there are also many free(ware) or free opensource games out there...
BTW: I meant the Windows operating system license, that normally ain't cheap. Yes, you can buy a 5 USD Windows key on ebay or elsewhere, but the legality of these is questionable.
As is usually the case, it depends greatly on the games you wish to play. If I remember correctly, Linux support exists for modern id Tech games, like Doom 2016, and Doom Eternal, whereas you’re out of luck on the MacOS side ot things.
Even if you shelf all the other benefits of Apple acquiring Sony or building a broad strategic alliance with them...like all the glorious games, all the devices, and potential Sony Macs (if they bought Vaio which would should be dirt cheap now)
FORTNITE MONEY and for that matter any other iOS game needing an outside cash transaction portal as a result of the Epic lawsuit, Apple acquiring Sony would be HUGE.
A Playstation/Playstation Store that Apple would control/have some control over for microtransactions on any iOS game that would be outside of iOS and thus legally compliant, untouchable, iOS game purchases happening form Playstation would remove a large monkey from Apple's back for the games they already serve.
The Epic litigation was narrowly focused on mobiles. Neither (MS)Xbox, (Nin)Switch, Epic nor (S) Playstation want console microtransactions happening outside of their consoles/console stores. Looping Apple's iOS game microtransactions would save Apple a lot sleepless nights from Epic lawsuits and bring a potenital jolt of innovation from new Apple products consumers have been wanting for years.
Last edited:
Japanese regulators would probably stop any foreign corporation from buying any of the prominent japanese companies. So, all these rumors/fantasys about Apple buying Nintendo, Sony etc. is utter bollocks.
I think I'm doing an about face with my opinion on the state of gaming and the Mac. I think the state of gaming on the PC is such, that it could very well play into more people looking at Macs and just as importantly, developers may start noticing. Especially if Apple chooses to further entice game publishers.
What I mean is this:
GPUs going for 2k? That's ridiculous and I personally refuse to overpay, I suspect many people are on the fence and are making due with what they have. Now comes apple swooping in, and shows their M1 Macs have just as good if not better cpu and graphic performances of a RTX 3080 and that should start turning heads, both consumers and publishers.
What I mean is this:
GPUs going for 2k? That's ridiculous and I personally refuse to overpay, I suspect many people are on the fence and are making due with what they have. Now comes apple swooping in, and shows their M1 Macs have just as good if not better cpu and graphic performances of a RTX 3080 and that should start turning heads, both consumers and publishers.
My current gameplan, after waiting for a proper gaming Mac for 15 years, is to get an M2 Mac mini, and get most of my gaming done over Geforce Now. I am done waiting.
But how long until we actually see movement from Apple showing off all this awesomeness?
I think March's presentation may very well be a step in the right direction. Still, its not going to be a night and day, flipping of a switch type of thing. They'll show off their M2 (or what ever they'll call it), with generic but impressive benchmarks. Its more that as the PC industry struggles, and Apple's Mac line doesn't, more and more eyes will be opening.
No, the M1 Macs do not have as good GPU performance as a RTX 3080 or even the 3070, at least for gaming. In the Anandtech review the M1 Max is closer to a 3060. High GPU prices are just pushing people towards consoles or buying pre-builts. Why spend $3000 on a Macbook Pro with an M1 Max when it won't even play half your steam library and there's a 30% chance it'll even play the new title you want, there's no Mac version of Elden Ring, no Mac version of Lost Ark, no Mac version of Cyberpunk 2077. And Apple has already shown that killing half your library to depreciate some thing is more important as we've already seen multiple times with the death of Rosetta 1 and the removal of 32 bit support. At least on Linux there is Proton so even if a game doesn't get a native Linux port it still has a decent chance of working.
Maybe we will see. A game like Elden Ring would be a nice win to show off running on a Mac.
My point isn't that Mac as a gaming platform is written in stone, but rather my opinion has taken a 180 degree turn. I was completely a doubting thomas, but seeing the struggles and costs being incurred for PCs. Its conceivable to see things turn around for macs.
I've been toying with the idea of building a PC just for gaming for the past couple of years. I started considering it a few months before the shortages hit, prices spiked and MSRP became meaningless. Even if the global supply situation improves, there are chronic issues like using GPUs for profit through mining, inflationary pressures due to currency devaluation, the resultant higher interest rates, along with the substantial increase in the price of energy.
On top of that, the current conflict in Eastern Europe is having a substantial impact on the future of semiconductor production. As the general tech press has started reporting, 90% of the neon imported into the U.S. comes from the Ukraine, and many metals used in electronics, such as barium, iridium, platinum, nickel, rhodium, copper, palladium and boron, among others, are mined in Russia. To top that off, a number of important "rare earth elements", such as cerium and neodymium are mined in China. We all know what would happen if the CCP decided it was time to take Taiwan.
Even if the supply chain wasn't disturbed by global tensions, and inflation and energy prices became stable, Nvidia has been doing what they can to keep GPU prices high. AMD has tossed out a few bones with the 6500 XT, but the days of quality $200 graphics cards might be over, with $400 being a realistic starting price for a halfway decent entry level card, and that's assuming prices ever normalize.
Yes, there are a lot of unknowns involved here. What does seem to be certain is that Apple and Tim Cook are very good at managing their supply chain and keeping prices stable on their products. As you pointed out @maflynn, the cost of entry into the PC gaming market is ridiculous and may stay that way for some time, assuming that these prices aren't the new normal.
All Apple Silicon Macs ship with decent graphics. They may not match a 3080 in many games, but certainly get the job done. Apple's GPUs are far superior to the iGPUs shipped with Alder Lake and even AMD's best APUs. It would be nice if Intel and AMD copied that strategy, but that would eat into their discrete graphics card businesses, which they have no interest in doing. The PC GPU may sound more impressive on paper, but the comparisons are ridiculous when the street price of a performant graphics card costs the same or more as an entire Mac. It is also notable that the GPUs inside Apple Silicon have no value to miners, hence that market along with scalpers don't put additional pressure on Mac pricing.
If that is the case, Apple may gain market share and win over game developers through inertia, simply because PC gaming got priced out of the mainstream. I have the knowhow and resources to build a quality gaming machine, but I refuse to pay the ridiculous prices for what is available. I enjoy my gaming hobby, but it isn't worth the asking price, even though I can afford it. While there are a lot of question marks involved in this scenario, it might make economic sense to purchase an Apple Silicon Mac which feature competent GPUs, while supplementing it with streaming services or other methods as @T'hain Esh Kelch suggested in their post above.
Regardless, I think it makes more sense than getting burned on crazy markups, competing for stock with miners and scalpers, and trying to navigate the global shortages. That doesn't even include the hidden cost of having high-end PC hardware that guzzles electricity, particularly with the current cost of energy. It's just unfortunate that a number of horrible events have made it so that the Mac could potentially become a realistic alternative to PC gaming, at least to some degree.
Seeing as I mostly play indie games, macOS on the M1 has been pretty fun. Celeste plays perfectly fine now without any hacks, though rumble on controllers just stops working randomly. Maybe I should boot up Slime Rancher and see how well that plays too.
More demanding games are pushed onto Stadia and GFN, which I have positive experiences with.
More demanding games are pushed onto Stadia and GFN, which I have positive experiences with.
I game on Windows, but my situation has been pretty good since I just want to run games at 1080p to 1440p resolutions, 60fps, and medium level settings. This covers a lot of indie games, and AAA games from 10 years ago. I have no interest in the latest and greatest (e.g. Elden Ring)
dGPU street price valuation has been going down since end of last year but the Ukraine-Russia conflict threw a wrench with crypto currency valuation increasing due to some foreign currency tanking so expect dGPU valuation to also increase.
M1 isn't going to save PC gaming unless you want to suffer with 20fps or spend $3K+ on M1 Max. True savior will be AMD RDNA2 APU. Here's mobile RDNA2 APU surpassing previous gen desktop Vega APU performance so desktop RDNA2 APU can negate the need for pricey dGPU.
M1 isn't going to save PC gaming unless you want to suffer with 20fps or spend $3K+ on M1 Max. True savior will be AMD RDNA2 APU. Here's mobile RDNA2 APU surpassing previous gen desktop Vega APU performance so desktop RDNA2 APU can negate the need for pricey dGPU.
Nobody outside the strawman you have in your head said the M1 is gonna save pc gaming.