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TJ82

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 8, 2012
1,262
908
Studio will be my first non Intel Mac in over a decade and I do like to try games now and again. Is it worth trying gaming on Parallels or just give up and get a PS5?
 

iStorm

macrumors 68020
Sep 18, 2012
2,023
2,426
Yeah, I don't think your gaming experience will be good on the Apple Silicon Macs. You cannot run x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) Windows on an Apple Silicon Mac, even in Parallels. You would have to use the ARM version of Windows, which means you cannot run 64-bit apps/games. Windows on ARM does have an x86 emulator for 32-bit apps, but I imagine there would be a performance hit. Are newer games even available for ARM or 32-bit anyway?
 
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LonestarOne

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2019
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McKinney, TX
It depends of whether you’re just somebody who likes to play games or a Gamer [tm].

The Gamers will tell you that you need the latest overclocked PC with Nvidia graphic cards or you can’t possibly enjoy any game.

But people played games and enjoyed them on the Apple II and Commodore 64. People played games for thousands of years before computers were invented.

Figure out what games you want to play and go from there. And don’t let the Gamers intimidate you.
 

ADGrant

macrumors 68000
Mar 26, 2018
1,689
1,059
It depends of whether you’re just somebody who likes to play games or a Gamer [tm].

The Gamers will tell you that you need the latest overclocked PC with Nvidia graphic cards or you can’t possibly enjoy any game.

But people played games and enjoyed them on the Apple II and Commodore 64. People played games for thousands of years before computers were invented.

Figure out what games you want to play and go from there. And don’t let the Gamers intimidate you.
The OP was asking about Parallels so it appears he wants to run Windows games. An Apple Silicon Mac is not a good choice for that. An Intel Mac would be better or if you want to play AAA console games, a PS5 or Xbox Series X.

If you want to play iOS games OTOH, an M1 Mac might be an excellent choice.
 

LonestarOne

macrumors 65816
Sep 13, 2019
1,074
1,426
McKinney, TX
The OP was asking about Parallels so it appears he wants to run Windows games. An Apple Silicon Mac is not a good choice for that.

Again, it depends on which games he wants to play. There are Windows games that require the latest monster hardware and others that will run on 200 MHz PC’s with 64 MB of RAM.

An Intel Mac would be better or if you want to play AAA console games, a PS5 or Xbox Series X.

He did not specify “AAA games”. That is your assumption.
 

ADGrant

macrumors 68000
Mar 26, 2018
1,689
1,059
Again, it depends on which games he wants to play. There are Windows games that require the latest monster hardware and others that will run on 200 MHz PC’s with 64 MB of RAM.

He did not specify “AAA games”. That is your assumption.

Well if he just wants to run Solitaire, I am sure there are plenty of alternatives available on App Store.
 

ADGrant

macrumors 68000
Mar 26, 2018
1,689
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There are plenty of alternatives besides Solitaire or “AAA games”. Just because you are unaware of them, or pretend to be…
And there are plenty of non-AAA games that run on MacOS too. Just not very many AAA games. For those you need a console or Windows 10.
 

TJ82

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Mar 8, 2012
1,262
908
Was reading this list today and it looks like all the games listed on Steam are playable. Cam I interpret that meaning that all games on Steam for Mac will run on the Studio?

 

Lihp8270

macrumors 65816
Dec 31, 2016
1,139
1,601
It depends of whether you’re just somebody who likes to play games or a Gamer [tm].

The Gamers will tell you that you need the latest overclocked PC with Nvidia graphic cards or you can’t possibly enjoy any game.

But people played games and enjoyed them on the Apple II and Commodore 64. People played games for thousands of years before computers were invented.

Figure out what games you want to play and go from there. And don’t let the Gamers intimidate you.
What a load of rubbish

Most “gamers” don’t have crazy hardware. The most popular hardware for gaming is 3 generations old.
 
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