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JouniS

macrumors 6502a
Nov 22, 2020
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Every Apple Silicon Mac is capable of AAA gaming from low to high settings. This was not the case during the Intel era.
Macs with 8 GB RAM are no longer capable of AAA gaming. New releases often have 16 GB as a minimum requirement.

Additionally, Macs with a 256 GB SSD are only capable in a narrow technical sense.
 

senttoschool

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 2, 2017
2,626
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Macs with 8 GB RAM are no longer capable of AAA gaming. New releases often have 16 GB as a minimum requirement.

Additionally, Macs with a 256 GB SSD are only capable in a narrow technical sense.
Resident Evil 4 works with 8GB. Sure, you're not going to get max settings. But it works ok in 1080p with MetalFX on.
 
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salamanderjuice

macrumors 6502a
Feb 28, 2020
580
613
Resident Evil 4 works with 8GB. Sure, you're not going to get max settings. But it works ok in 1080p with MetalFX on.
Resident Evil 4 also came out on PS4, a machine from 2013. Can a base model M1 run something like Alan Wake II or Avatar Frontiers of Pandora?
 
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jeanlain

macrumors 68020
Mar 14, 2009
2,462
956
"Apple hopes that once there’s a large enough install base of Macs with Apple silicon (and iOS devices that share the same architecture), publishers would be foolish to ignore it (and leave money on the table)."
I think it is Apple that is being foolish here. The percentage of gamers among Mac users is probably much less than that of gamers among Window users. Mac users simply aren't gamers.
And it's not just a question of install base anyway. It's also a question or reputation and perception.
If Apple wants to be taken seriously, they must invest in gaming specifically. They must send a clear signal to game developers. For most people, it's not clear at all that Apple SoCs are built with "gaming in mind". Many believe their GPUs are tailored for content creators.
Has Apple ever held or attended a gaming-specific event? That would be a good place to start.
 

GrumpyCoder

macrumors 68020
Nov 15, 2016
2,126
2,706
I think it is Apple that is being foolish here. The percentage of gamers among Mac users is probably much less than that of gamers among Window users. Mac users simply aren't gamers.
I've been playing Mac games since the 1980s and every decade or so there's a push towards gaming and how the revolution is going to happen. Rinse and repeat... and here we are again, while the situation is still the same percentage wise. You'll find a new thread on MacRumors in 2030 saying the same thing.
Has Apple ever held or attended a gaming-specific event? That would be a good place to start.
Doing what? Apple isn't producing content. They're a hardware provider, taking a percentage from others' sales. Their most profitable market is mobile phone games which are usually pay-to-win, hence the massive profit.

At gaming events, you usually see studios/distributors showing off their games. The exceptions are Sony/MS/Nintendo, which are hardware manufacturers, but also create games. Further exceptions are Intel and Nvidia, which sometimes sponsor gaming (E-sports) events like Gamer Days, Extreme Masters, etc.

What would Apple do? "Hello and welcome, we have a game here and think you're going to love it! Goodbye everyone." Or have Tim play Fruit Merge on stage? Apple would have to create some games in order to show something off at such an event. They have the occasional game being shown at their own events, which happened on/off for ages.
 

senttoschool

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 2, 2017
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Resident Evil 4 also came out on PS4, a machine from 2013. Can a base model M1 run something like Alan Wake II or Avatar Frontiers of Pandora?
Can a 1050 GeForce?

I think it is Apple that is being foolish here. The percentage of gamers among Mac users is probably much less than that of gamers among Window users. Mac users simply aren't gamers.
And it's not just a question of install base anyway. It's also a question or reputation and perception.
If Apple wants to be taken seriously, they must invest in gaming specifically. They must send a clear signal to game developers. For most people, it's not clear at all that Apple SoCs are built with "gaming in mind". Many believe their GPUs are tailored for content creators.
Has Apple ever held or attended a gaming-specific event? That would be a good place to start.
3 years later, you’re still missing the point. Apple has never, in its entire history, had the hardware in enough volume to make AAA developers care.
 
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diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
Can a 1050 GeForce?


3 years later, you’re still missing the point. Apple has never, in its entire history, had the hardware in enough volume to make AAA developers care.
Oh, both games can "run" on a GTX 1050...


EDIT though AW2 probably has graphical issues because it doesn't support Mesh Shaders.
 

jeanlain

macrumors 68020
Mar 14, 2009
2,462
956
What would Apple do?
If they attended a gaming event, they could at least see what AAA gaming is about. Because it seems they have no idea.
If they held such an event or presented something at an even, that would mean they have something worth presenting. Since they don't, they should stop wondering why gaming on the Mac is in such a poor state.

Game developers won't come to your platform en masse just because you make such nice ultrabooks.
 
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jeanlain

macrumors 68020
Mar 14, 2009
2,462
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3 years later, you’re still missing the point. Apple has never, in its entire history, had the hardware in enough volume to make AAA developers care.
The whole point of my post was that Apple Silicon Macs are not enough. Game developers don't care and won't care, for the reasons I stated.
 
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senttoschool

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 2, 2017
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If they attended a gaming event, they could at least see what AAA gaming is about. Because it seems they have no idea.
If they held such an event or presented something at an even, that would mean they have something worth presenting. Since they don't, they should stop wondering why gaming on the Mac is in such a poor state.

Game developers won't come to your platform en masse just because you make such nice ultrabooks.
Did they do that before they became the largest platform for game revenue and profit?

Or did the fact that developers saw a huge opportunity in iPhones and just organically came?
 
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senttoschool

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 2, 2017
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At the very least, some of you have finally been convinced that Apple does want AAA games. Some of you still seem skeptical of achieving the desired goals but that’s ok.

That was one of my main original arguments.

Goal post has been moved though. Time will tell the rest.

But it’s quite clear that what I wrote 3 years ago was indeed the same thoughts Apple have. No, I don’t work at Apple.
 
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jeanlain

macrumors 68020
Mar 14, 2009
2,462
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Or did the fact that developers saw a huge opportunity in iPhones and just organically came?
Smartphone games aren't PC games. They cost much less to develop and their monetization are completely different.
Smartphones are casual gaming devices by their design. You play casually when you commute, etc. Everyone that has a smartphone has games installed on it. Not so much for Macs. Macs are mostly work devices.
Do Microsoft just update direct3D regularly and wait for gamers to use it?
 

senttoschool

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 2, 2017
2,626
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Smartphone games aren't PC games. They cost much less to develop and their monetization are completely different.
Smartphones are casual gaming devices by their design. You play casually when you commute, etc. Everyone that has a smartphone has games installed on it. Not so much for Macs. Macs are mostly work devices.
Do Microsoft just update direct3D regularly and wait for gamers to use it?
60 pages later, still the same argument. Developers will make games for Flash if the platform is big enough.

I mean, what exactly are you even arguing at this point? What are your believes?
 

diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
60 pages later, still the same argument. Developers will make games for Flash if the platform is big enough.

I mean, what exactly are you even arguing at this point? What are your believes?
I think they were saying that just because there are a billion iOS devices in the wild we shouldn't expect that to be the reason developers make macOS games. Otherwise we should have seen more heavy hitters come to iOS a long time ago (note how RE4/8 only run on the latest pro iOS device).
 

senttoschool

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Nov 2, 2017
2,626
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I think they were saying that just because there are a billion iOS devices in the wild we shouldn't expect that to be the reason developers make macOS games. Otherwise we should have seen more heavy hitters come to iOS a long time ago (note how RE4/8 only run on the latest pro iOS device).
I made a case for developers to make macOS games without iOS. The iOS factor is a bonus now that it seems like iPhone GPUs have crossed a threshold for AAA games. iPads are also a factor now that it has Apple Silicon. So is Vision products.

It's a lot different today in 2024.

Resident Evil is actually a good example of a developer who used one code base to ship a game for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. On top of that, you can share saved states between the 3 platforms. Buy the game once, play on all 3 platforms.
 
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diamond.g

macrumors G4
Mar 20, 2007
11,438
2,665
OBX
I made a case for developers to make macOS games without iOS. The iOS factor is a bonus now that it seems like iPhone GPUs have crossed a threshold for AAA games. iPads are also a factor now that it has Apple Silicon. So is Vision products.

It's a lot different today in 2024.

Resident Evil is actually a good example of a developer who used one code base to ship a game for iOS, iPadOS, and macOS. On top of that, you can share saved states between the 3 platforms. Buy the game once, play on all 3 platforms.
Honestly Apple screwed up RE4, it should have been an Apple Arcade game.
 
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