This is a fair point. Then again, Metal made this situation much better. The API itself is less complex and more predictable, which simplifies the drivers and dramatically increases their stability. Driver bugs are still a thing of course, and Apple is actively working with the developers to fix them.
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A gamer's lament: Apple please let us game on the Mac!
- Thread starter groove-agent
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This is a fair point. Then again, Metal made this situation much better. The API itself is less complex and more predictable, which simplifies the drivers and dramatically increases their stability. Driver bugs are still a thing of course, and Apple is actively working with the developers to fix them.
Smoking with what? Games that don't exist and won't run on macOS?
If your 13" M1 makes the 16" feel slow, then you never needed the the 16" in the first place. Many people reporting the same, all never needed a fully maxed 16". The GPU is still faster in the 16". The display is bigger and better. And how exactly can 32 or 64GB of data fit into the 16GB shared memory of the current M1? Answer, it doesn't work. The 16" is still better when it comes to the above. The next generation will likely change it. It won't change a thing for gaming though, as long as games are not available.
As someone who wants native MacOS and iOS apps to be separate and tailored to their own platforms(Catalyst apps are terrible, IMO), I believe that is a bad direction to take.
The UI/UX of these platforms is simply too different. Especially since Apple is vehemently against adding touch support to MacOS.
I don't see it ending well.
With the exception of increasing GPU power in subsequent revisions of Apple Silicon, Apple is not going to any of this. It’s simply not something Apple believes is worth the investment.
Apple is not in the market for producing GPU’s that have a big emphasis on gaming. While their chipsets are very impressive, they do not have the complex architecture and engineering to support software. Game developers are not going to suddenly start developing their titles for Mac’s based on good benchmarks and word of mouth. It would require much handle and care, investment and risk, all for a tiny market that is also missing charge from Apple or anyone in the graphics and software industry.
It’s a pipe dream. In order for it to work, Apple and either AMD/NVIDIA must work together. If it were just Apple, there would be no way these software companies would take such a risk, especially since Apple has no clear intentions of going that route.
And what’s more laughable is that the Xbox one had trouble with FHD too. Some popular games were 900p up scaled.
Yep. I didn’t realize Final Fantasy X was 30 FPS and I can clearly tell 60fps vs 144 FPS on my 144hz monitor on games like Doom 2016. FFX just felt right at that 30 FPS. I am pretty sure I heard Persona 5 on PS 4 is 30fps, but I couldn’t tell you I notice it.
I do not understand what this means. Apple GPUs are clearly designed with games in mind. If they only targeted compute/pro workloads, they could have saved themselves a lot of hassle.
Apparently by "software" you mean something much more specific, the lack of which you consider "game over."
So you didn't Enjoy Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart? Or Control? That is a shame
Those games might be fun for some people, but lately I agree that AAA games are not good. I am getting about 10 times the playtime on indie games that cost less than a AAA game at $60+ with only a 6-12 hour single player experience.
There is more to gaming than the Call of Duties and Cyberpunks. Mac has a very nice selection of games available. Most of the time, I can game on my Mac - Factorio, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Minecraft, Tomb Raiders, Blizzard titles, Fortnite, Civilization games, and plenty more.
Will Macs get Final Fantasy 7 Remake when it comes to PC? I pretty much guarantee it won’t. Doesn’t mean Macs suck for gaming though. Just like PlayStation can’t get Halo games. Doesn’t mean PlayStation can’t run Halo.
The technology is there, Macs have the tools and hardware to support gaming. Heck if the devs found a way to have the Nintendo Switch run Doom 2016 and other titles, they can find a way to make the iMac with a 5700xt run just as well as my windows pc with a 5700xt.
Will Macs get Final Fantasy 7 Remake when it comes to PC? I pretty much guarantee it won’t. Doesn’t mean Macs suck for gaming though. Just like PlayStation can’t get Halo games. Doesn’t mean PlayStation can’t run Halo.
The technology is there, Macs have the tools and hardware to support gaming. Heck if the devs found a way to have the Nintendo Switch run Doom 2016 and other titles, they can find a way to make the iMac with a 5700xt run just as well as my windows pc with a 5700xt.
So you didn't Enjoy Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart? Or Control? That is a shame
I agree with @xWhiplash that the quality of modern AAA games is… lacking. I did buy Control after reading all the enthusiastic reviews, but I just couldn’t get into it. The gameplay was just so generic and shallow, run to the next room, Dispatch the exact same group of enemies, rinse, repeat, ugh…
Of the “big” games I played recently, Total War: Three Kingdoms showed a lot of promise, but was ultimately mismanaged by the studio (abs now they dropped support after landing another buggy patch, wonderful), Cyberpunk was just a dumpster fire spoiled by too many cooks, Control was boring. Death Stranding was one of the most interesting experiences though.
Stardew Valley for one, I have 300 hours in that game. Factorio is another. About 500 hours in there. Terraria is another, more than 500 too.
The Xbox 1 line is also saddled with a CPU&GPU arch from 2013. So that isn't saying a whole lot.
I think I remember some PS5 and Xbox Series S issues too. Not running at 1080p minimum.
I have Stardew Valley in my car. It is a fun game. My son plays Terraria, I guess it is a 2d Minecraft? It looks like the genre's you like don't require "real hardware" to run. Is that an accurate statement?
Bethesda was ok 10 years ago. Stuff that Todd Howard pulled recently is appalling.
I know it’s a broad brush I’m painting with, but in this context I mean “PC gamers”, which have significant overlap with “PC tech enthusiasts”. Console and mobile gamers are different altogether, since one is less hostile to Apple and the other has no reason to care since Apple doesn’t make a console.
And yes, the PCMR community is heavily involved with the DIY-ethic. That’s part of the reason they’re anti-Apple. I don’t think I have to say that Apple is not DIY-friendly at all. I agree with that sentiment.
I’d like to point out that the last two points are unlikely to change. The PCMR people are unlikely to dissociate themselves from their “build your machine” attitude, and Apple is highly unlikely to give is a box with slots. And even if they did, it would be approached with the same hostility as other prebuilts are.
The last point about iOS devs moving to MacOS, I think is a given.
PS5 is easy, it is running games in straight BC mode so whatever the resolution the dev set for the PS4 version is what you get on the PS5.
I know some Series S games run at lower than 1080P but that seems to be due to Ray Tracing, right?
That is a shame that you found Control boring. I would say try Spiderman: MM or Horizon Zero Dawn but I am afraid you would say those are boring as well.
Yep, I agree. And all the “NVIDIA or no games” people need to realize not everyone chases the top speed every year. Yeah, I’m bummed that I can’t get any NVIDIA cards, but my AMD 5700XT plays games just fine. Just like my old Mac did with Bootcamp. The top #2 or #3 GPU from Steam is a GTX 1050, which the M1 competes with.
I have been rather interested in Horizon Zero Down but I didn’t buy it yet because of reports that the PC port was a bit lackluster. Is it a good time to get it?