Parallels for Gaming on M1 Pro and Max?

[Joe Dohn]

Workarounds wouldn't be necessary, if Apple would support Vulkan. All non-Microsoft-owned game developers would then ditch DirectX support and focus completely on Vulkan. Almost all future AAA games would run on MacOS natively.

Oh, no question about it. I'm not a content creator, so if I bought a Macbook Pro, I'd want it to fill my gaming needs as well. I'm waiting for the Parallels benchmark results, but I'm not hopeful.

As for the hardware solution, GPD is interesting because even though it looks like a toy, it's much more powerful than my desktop computer (Core i7 with 16 GB RAM). It would free up some space and run cooler. It should pair up very nicely with an iPad.

 

[fenderbass146]

With this, you replace a software workaround with a hardware workaround. And for a hardware workaround I'd rather buy a gaming console instead.

Workarounds wouldn't be necessary, if Apple would support Vulkan. All non-Microsoft-owned game developers would then ditch DirectX support and focus completely on Vulkan. Almost all future AAA games would run on MacOS natively.



Windows for ARM has an x86/x64 emulator.

x86 yes, but 64 bit apps don't run.

 

[Macalway]

What? Pay twice?
If I recall correctly, the new update was available for free to those who paid early. I'm not aware of people paying twice the price, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

It's one of those 'in the last month or so' upgrades, closing after a short time, and NOT a free upgrade.

Did you buy this recently? No.

 

[Spidder]

x86 yes, but 64 bit apps don't run.

Introducing x64 emulation in preview for Windows 10 on ARM PCs to the Windows Insider Program

Updated 11/16/2021: x64 emulation for Windows is now generally available in Windows 11. For those interested in experiencing this, a PC running Windows 11 on Arm is required. Today, we're releasing the first preview of x64 emulation

blogs.windows.com

 

[badsimian]

x86 yes, but 64 bit apps don't run.

Yes they do. I’ve done it myself.

 

[Joe Dohn]

Yes they do. I’ve done it myself.

That's correct, but the x64 translation layer is not available by default. You have to actively request for Insider Preview to have access to it, I believe.

 

[PhoenixFireless]

Honestly, y'all need to get onto GeforceNow and/or Xbox Cloud Gaming

 

[ducati1212]

Someone was playing over watch in parallels at 120 fps on their m1 max.

I think overwatch plays native on mac I know I played wow on my IMac for years

 

[Spidder]

Honestly, y'all need to get onto GeforceNow and/or Xbox Cloud Gaming

Tried it, sucks.

To Overwatch: No, there is no native version of Overwatch. Blizzard pretty much gave up on MacOS, just like a lot of other game developers. Its just a matter of time for them to cancel WoW on Mac. Porting DirectX or Vulkan to Metal is a lot of work that doesn't really pay off if you make 90+% of your revenue on Windows. Thats why native Vulkan support is so crucial for Mac gaming.

 

[dtm84]

Geforce Now is great if you want to play some meh steam games.

 

[Acidsplat]

That's correct, but the x64 translation layer is not available by default. You have to actively request for Insider Preview to have access to it, I believe.

It's enabled by default on Windows 11 stable and Windows 10 Insider Preview. I'm using 64 bit apps under Parallels on Windows 11 RTM right now.

 

[fenderbass146]

Yes they do. I’ve done it myself.

Awesome, didn’t know they updated. I wish Microsoft would just release the ARM version officially so I could gurantee longt term windows support on an ARM Mac

 

[Macalway]

What? Pay twice?
If I recall correctly, the new update was available for free to those who paid early. I'm not aware of people paying twice the price, but do correct me if I'm wrong.

So I looked into this.

I paid $100 for the full version 16 that was for the M1 Macbook around the end of June 2021. Then, in Sep they came out with ver. 17 with this statement:

"No-charge upgrade
Customers who purchased and registered a copy of Parallels Desktop 16 for Mac from the Parallels Online Store or an authorized reseller on or after August 1, 2021 through September 30, 2021, are eligible for an upgrade to the next version of Parallels Desktop for Mac at no charge, subject to certain conditions."

So I would need to pay $50 (total now of $150) for ver. 17. Thing is the full version of ver. 17 if I were to buy it now is $80.

I can use ver. 16 without any problems, as far as I can see, but it still is annoying.

 

[pudcraft]

I got my 16" M1 Pro Max, 64GB RAM, 4TB SSD and I installed Parallels Pro. Gave it unlimited resource use.

I tried running FF14 and ran into some pretty awful FPS. At reduced resolution, 120HZ display, I was getting 30/34 FPS in the cities. It was very choppy. I do feel that Parallels needs to do some updates to better utilize the graphics the M1 Max can support but I didn't find the performance that great. I will give Overwatch a shot and see if I can replicate the YouTuber's performance demonstration because it looked slick AF.

Gaming natively, such as WoW, D3, and SC2 have been quite a joy. Graphics are clear, crisp, with very low thermals, almost no fan noise using high/ultra settings between the 3 different games.

Getting closer but more to go.

 

[dev201]

I got my 16" M1 Pro Max, 64GB RAM, 4TB SSD and I installed Parallels Pro. Gave it unlimited resource use.

I tried running FF14 and ran into some pretty awful FPS. At reduced resolution, 120HZ display, I was getting 30/34 FPS in the cities. It was very choppy. I do feel that Parallels needs to do some updates to better utilize the graphics the M1 Max can support but I didn't find the performance that great. I will give Overwatch a shot and see if I can replicate the YouTuber's performance demonstration because it looked slick AF.

Gaming natively, such as WoW, D3, and SC2 have been quite a joy. Graphics are clear, crisp, with very low thermals, almost no fan noise using high/ultra settings between the 3 different games.

Getting closer but more to go.

Is there any chance you could run Rocket League via Parallels? I would really appreciate your findings, if possible.

 

[NickYanakiev]

Dunno about Parallales but Divinity:Original Sin 2 (downloaded via Steam) runs like a champ on the 14" MAX 64gb. Everything on ultra too.

 

[pudcraft]

Is there any chance you could run Rocket League via Parallels? I would really appreciate your findings, if possible.

Yeah I can give this a shot later tonight.

I was able to make some modifications to my Parallels that gave me a nice boost in FPS performance. I am seeing on average 65-85 FPS in FFXIV (FF14). That being said, the test so far was in less populated areas. I will put it through some tests this evening when it is more populated in the cities. There is still a clear random lag drop but reducing the refresh rate from 120HZ to 60HZ made a difference (accidental).

I tried VMware and that was utter fail. Parallels so far is at least running the game without errors.

 

[dev201]

Yeah I can give this a shot later tonight.

OMG! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!

 

[UltimateSyn]

Yeah I can give this a shot later tonight.

I was able to make some modifications to my Parallels that gave me a nice boost in FPS performance. I am seeing on average 65-85 FPS in FFXIV (FF14). That being said, the test so far was in less populated areas. I will put it through some tests this evening when it is more populated in the cities. There is still a clear random lag drop but reducing the refresh rate from 120HZ to 60HZ made a difference (accidental).

I tried VMware and that was utter fail. Parallels so far is at least running the game without errors.

When you get a good config and get some time could you document the changes you made to Parallels to make it run smoothly? We would definitely appreciate it.

 

[seasurfer]

I got my 16" M1 Pro Max, 64GB RAM, 4TB SSD and I installed Parallels Pro. Gave it unlimited resource use.

I tried running FF14 and ran into some pretty awful FPS. At reduced resolution, 120HZ display, I was getting 30/34 FPS in the cities. It was very choppy. I do feel that Parallels needs to do some updates to better utilize the graphics the M1 Max can support but I didn't find the performance that great. I will give Overwatch a shot and see if I can replicate the YouTuber's performance demonstration because it looked slick AF.

Gaming natively, such as WoW, D3, and SC2 have been quite a joy. Graphics are clear, crisp, with very low thermals, almost no fan noise using high/ultra settings between the 3 different games.

Getting closer but more to go.

WoW is the only major game I play at the moment. What kind of FPS you got in places like Oribos? At what settings? and At what resolution?

Please share the data if possible, I am trying to decide between a Pro and Max.

 

[madisonm]

WoW is the only major game I play at the moment. What kind of FPS you got in places like Oribos? At what settings? and At what resolution?

Please share the data if possible, I am trying to decide between a Pro and Max.

Here is some info from another thread (https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...chip-wow.2317792/?post=30527211#post-30527211)

Have new 16" max with 64GB - getting 100-130fps in Oribos on max "10 "settings with 2x MSAA and 100% resolution scaling. This is in the room with the vault.

The center area where the beam thing is still tanks fps, but it does that on every computer I've seen so far. I just finished install it so I haven't gotten to test a lot yet. I had opened the game and it was only set on "3" graphics and it was screaming at 270fps which caused the fans to come alive a bit.

 

[NickYanakiev]

Dunno about Parallales but Divinity:Original Sin 2 (downloaded via Steam) runs like a champ on the 14" MAX 64gb. Everything on ultra too.

Forgot to mention that the laptop was unplugged too. Crazy impressive!

 

[pudcraft]

OMG! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!

My pleasure. Just finished downloading it. I'll have some fun with it tonight!

When you get a good config and get some time could you document the changes you made to Parallels to make it run smoothly? We would definitely appreciate it.

Absolutely. There isn't a ton of options to configure. I am finding it is mostly resolution related.

WoW is the only major game I play at the moment. What kind of FPS you got in places like Oribos? At what settings? and At what resolution?

Please share the data if possible, I am trying to decide between a Pro and Max.

I'll post some images of my settings. Keep in mind WoW is more CPU intensive. Not sure how much of this horsepower WoW will utilize or optimize for but I felt that the MAX was most future proof for my use-case (WoW included =D )

 

[pudcraft]

OMG! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!

ROCKET LEAGUE TEST:

Video settings set to Ultra/Max
AA turned on
Average FPS: 100-120FPS

IT RAN LIKE A CHAMP. Literally NO lag, no FPS drops, and I had a blast giving this a test run. It has been at least 4 years since I've played and this test made me miss the game - so thank you for requesting the test run.

Overall, I feel comfortable saying that Rocket League on MBP 16" MAX was a great experience.

WoW is next.

 

[UltimateSyn]

ROCKET LEAGUE TEST:

Video settings set to Ultra/Max
AA turned on
Average FPS: 100-120FPS

IT RAN LIKE A CHAMP. Literally NO lag, no FPS drops, and I had a blast giving this a test run. It has been at least 4 years since I've played and this test made me miss the game - so thank you for requesting the test run.

Overall, I feel comfortable saying that Rocket League on MBP 16" MAX was a great experience.

WoW is next.

Wtf... that's insane... this is through Parallels Desktop or Parallels Desktop Pro? Windows 11?