Apple CAN’T do AAA gaming [Merged Megathread]

[theorist9]

For $650, why would a gamer purchase a mac mini over a much more capable PS5 or XBSX with much bigger game libraries?

If they wanted it just for gaming, they wouldn't. They'd buy a PC or a console.

I don't like working in Windows, yet if I wanted to buy a computer just for gaming, I'd get a PC (better performance/$ for gaming, vastly larger selection of native games; and if you're just gaming, you're interacting with the game UI much more than the OS UI, so the quality of the OS UI becomes less important).

But, for the most part, that's not what this discussion is about. It's about users who've bought an AS Mac for general use also being able to play AAA games on it.

 

[senttoschool]

This again, Apple never has or ever will embrace gaming in the more traditional sense of PC and console gaming.
Also without Nivida forgetaboutit.

Wow, another post that states: It didn't happen before, it's not happening now, therefore it will never happen in the future.

Here's what's different today:

• Every single Apple Silicon from the M1 will be capable of playing AAA games at decent graphics settings. This has never happened in Mac's history.
• The gaming market is significantly larger than before and continues to grow substantially every year.
• Gaming is what is driving high-end PC upgrades today. Games continue to push hardware every year. Tasks like web browsing don't. Even video editing isn't going to drive people to upgrade often. Therefore, it would be smart for Apple to get support from AAA game developers.

Like I said. Just wait until 2023 to start seeing the first native AAA games. That's 3 years of time for AAA developers to retool their engines to support Apple Silicon and it will be ~100m Apple Silicon macs sold.

All it takes is one financially successfully native game on Apple Silicon to make other developers want to jump in.

 

[jav6454]

Developers have been given the gift of the M1, probably the most important thing to happens since like Core i7 and no one seems to care? It at last is a capable integrated solution that doesn't throttle and doesn't use much battery.... But again no one seems to care. Apple don't seem to care either, they should be the ones making the push and they've done nothing. If anything they've just pushed developers away with the whole Epic Games thing....

Is gaming on MacBooks ever gonna happen? We used to be able to do the whole Bootcamp thing, but not anymore.

I have never seen the Mac as a platform for gaming. I mean, you can as several decent Macs can support it, but I have always seen the Mac as not that type of platform.

That's me.

 

[MayaUser]

Apple has macOS that doesn’t run on a phone, afaik. Maybe Apple can have the device run something like iOS off the dock and like macOS on the dock but, afaik, that capability doesn’t currently exist.

“Legacy OS.” How old is Windows 11?

Blizzard isn’t under MS yet, although that’s the plan if it’s approved.

I‘m not saying don’t develop for Mac, but there’s a looooong way to go to catch up to PCs and it isn’t going to be solved with just a better SoC.

windows 11 is the same OS underneath as the windows 8 in general
Like i said...dont develop for the mac...make games for the iOS platform and after port it for the mac, it takes a couple of month only
Im saying mobile platform is the future..windows will remain for the older generations...kids nowadays are born with phones and tablets in hands unfortunately

 

[MayaUser]

Apple doesn’t even allow proper monitor support on the iPad so external gpu support is easily decades away.

that can be fixed within 1 year...maybe its at this year at WWDC...its very easy to proper support their own external monitors
So IF Apple wants...they can do that this year already
If Apple doesnt want to..then yes, it will be easily decades or never

 

[MayaUser]

I just canceled my founders subscription because no game I am interested in is on GFN.

i thought geforce now is for every windows PC game

So geforce now doesnt support all games? Why does exist then ?!

 

[MayaUser]

Wow, another post that states: It didn't happen before, it's not happening now, therefore it will never happen in the future.

Here's what's different today:

• Every single Apple Silicon from the M1 will be capable of playing AAA games at decent graphics settings. This has never happened in Mac's history.
• The gaming market is significantly larger than before and continues to grow substantially every year.
• Gaming is what is driving high-end PC upgrades today. Games continue to push hardware every year. Tasks like web browsing don't. Even video editing isn't going to drive people to upgrade often. Therefore, it would be smart for Apple to get support from AAA game developers.

Like I said. Just wait until 2023 to start seeing the first native AAA games. That's 3 years of time for AAA developers to retool their engines to support Apple Silicon and it will be ~100m Apple Silicon macs sold.

All it takes is one financially successfully native game on Apple Silicon to make other developers want to jump in.

That i can agree with. In 2023 if the mac will have 20% of the market share and at least half will play that native game then Apple probably will buy that game dev company and move forwards from there

 

[tmoerel]

Investing in gaming on mac is a dead end because the average gamers tend to have very strong opinions:

• They traditionally hate all things Apple
• They want to tinker and tune their machines to optimise the latest little thing
• They like gaudy RGB lights not clean designs
• They want Windows, not macOS
• Ah yes, and they hate all things Apple as they hate walled gardens

Investing in those that do not like your product is dumb!

 

[MayaUser]

Is not about investing in mac...they need to invest in iOS gaming and from there is far more easier to port that game into the mac platform
Not investing in mobile platform is a very bad move now from profit margins prospects...x86 platform is no longer the money grabber
Is no surprised that we are starting to see AAA games on mobile...the hardware is now good enough for great 1080p and even for 1440p
And yes, even those "Apple haters" have smartphones in their pockets , android smartphones if they hate Apple
So the haters and all the Apple lovers ...they all have mobiles.
Blizzard was the first to start this trend now...in 2022 , first make a game for mobile and AFTER if you have the time, make it for PC
This trend we will see from the others more sooner than later

 

[senttoschool]

Investing in gaming on mac is a dead end because the average gamers tend to have very strong opinions:

• They traditionally hate all things Apple
• They want to tinker and tune their machines to optimise the latest little thing
• They like gaudy RGB lights not clean designs
• They want Windows, not macOS
• Ah yes, and they hate all things Apple as they hate walled gardens

Investing in those that do not like your product is dumb!

You’re referring to the PC master race nerds. Most gamers aren’t like that.

Apple doesn’t need them to succeed in macOS gaming.

 

[thenewperson]

Apple doesn’t need them to succeed in macOS gaming.

And they'd be much better off not appealing to those people in any way.

Anyway, I'd definitely love if some of that TV+ money (not necessarily shared, just an amount similar) were used to juice up gaming on Apple's platforms in a more serious fashion than Arcade.

 

[jmho]

And they'd be much better off not appealing to those people in any way.

Yep, this is the reason Microsoft operates as Xbox and Sony operates as Playstation in gaming. They want to protect their extremely valuable main brand from the constant drama and bad press that gaming generates.

If Apple wants to get into gaming properly, they'd probably want to spin off into a sub brand, and that's not something you can do by half.

 

[Xiao_Xi]

If Apple wants to get into gaming properly, they'd probably want to spin off into a sub brand,

Apple could use Beats brand for gaming.

 

[diamond.g]

Like I said. Just wait until 2023 to start seeing the first native AAA games. That's 3 years of time for AAA developers to retool their engines to support Apple Silicon and it will be ~100m Apple Silicon macs sold.

All it takes is one financially successfully native game on Apple Silicon to make other developers want to jump in.

Apple had the opportunity to buy some historic gaming IP (Tomb Raider/Deus Ex) and passed on it. If it takes 3 years and the clock started in 2020 why have we not heard of any (other) AAA titles even hinting at coming to the Mac (aside from Baldurs Gate 3).

So geforce now doesnt support all games? Why does exist then ?!

They have to get buy in from publishers if I am not mistaken. You also have to own the games you are playing on the service as well. GFN itself doesn't offer games (it used to).

 

[diamond.g]

Apple could use Beats brand for gaming.

Ew no, Beats as a brand doesn't scream gaming at all (it doesn't even whisper gaming).

 

[senttoschool]

Apple had the opportunity to buy some historic gaming IP (Tomb Raider/Deus Ex) and passed on it. If it takes 3 years and the clock started in 2020 why have we not heard of any (other) AAA titles even hinting at coming to the Mac (aside from Baldurs Gate 3).

I think you'll start to hear the first AAA game having an Apple Silicon native version in 2023. We're still in 2022.

Again, all it takes is one AAA game to have commercial success on macOS to draw in other developers. Heck, it might not even need to be a financial success. It might only take an announcement of a game native to Apple Silicon to get other developers to jump onboard too.

 

[diamond.g]

I think you'll start to hear the first AAA game having an Apple Silicon native version in 2023. We're still in 2022.

Again, all it takes is one AAA game to have commercial success on macOS to draw in other developers. Heck, it might not even need to be a financial success. It might only take an announcement of a game native to Apple Silicon to get other developers to jump onboard too.

When you say hearing, do you mean announced or released?

 

[senttoschool]

When you say hearing, do you mean announced or released?

Announced.

 

[MajorFubar]

Even more confusing for me is why gaming is so important to so many (presumably adult, male) people. I mean it's worth millions of dollars so I accept I'm in the minority, but I started to grow out of gaming when my pubes sprouted, same as I grew out of watching childrens' TV programmes where the presenter talked to a puppet with someone else's hand up its ass (Muppets aside...that's on another level).

Last time I loaded-up a game on any computer would have been 1998 for my youngest nephew to play. My own kids got consoles and handhelds, I never felt the need to buy them a PC for gaming. And they're now young adults and, like me, no longer 'game'.

Is it escapism for non-creators?

 

[diamond.g]

Announced.

Ah so really no native AAA AS games until 2025/2026 then?

 

[satcomer]

Investing in gaming on mac is a dead end because the average gamers tend to have very strong opinions:

• They traditionally hate all things Apple
• They want to tinker and tune their machines to optimise the latest little thing
• They like gaudy RGB lights not clean designs
• They want Windows, not macOS
• Ah yes, and they hate all things Apple as they hate walled gardens

Investing in those that do not like your product is dumb!

Most gaming is done on TV from Sony and Nintendo! Even PC gaming is slowly dying today!

 

[l0stl0rd]

Most gaming is done on TV from Sony and Nintendo! Even PC gaming is slowly dying today!

PC gaming was fine for a while, not I just cant be bothered with the hassle and it is easier to turn on a console and play something.

Which made it very easy to go fully Mac OS finally

 

[quarkysg]

That i can agree with. In 2023 if the mac will have 20% of the market share and at least half will play that native game then Apple probably will buy that game dev company and move forwards from there

All Apple Silicon Macs are capable of playing games with decent graphics, if the game is optimised for it. In 2023, all Macs sold will be Apple Silicon Macs. That theoretical 20% market share means of all those Macs sold in 2023, all of them, not half, will be very capable gaming machines.

 

[StudioMacs]

Is it escapism for non-creators?

I’m sure you enjoy things others don’t. Why do you like to do things other people don’t like to do? It doesn’t mean they are smarter for not liking what you do, so it’s a mistake to assume the inverse.

 

[4743913]

Surely you meant Crystal Dynamics or Eidos right?

no, we need ports not limited devs.