Mhm, feels a bit like an out-dated statement imo. Take an M3 Max and tell me again that it isn’t their strong suit.
Lol…
First argument; Mac hardware 800$
Second argument; Apple’s developer license 100$ per year.
By then I was done. That’s not even something to discuss for a serious company, it’s peanuts.
Yeah, i’m a designer too and my M1 Ultra studio is easily more powerful than majority of PCs. I am not buying a PC just so i could play 1-2 games i actually play on my computer.
95% of people who use PCs i know don’t play games. Can i also blanket claim that PC gaming isn’t a thing? There obviously is a market for Mac games and with the growth of the platform, the audience grows. It’s a catch 22. The less games you have available, the less people will be playing, more people will be claiming there is no market for Mac games. Turn that around and you get a growing market for games.
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Fair point—the M3 Max (and even the M1/M2 Pro/Max/Ultra chips) are definitely a huge step up compared to the older Intel-based Macs. The performance of the M3 Max GPU is impressive, no doubt, and it can handle many modern games at respectable settings. But there are still a few caveats to consider:
- Game Library: Even with the hardware improvements, the macOS gaming library is still pretty limited compared to Windows. A lot of AAA games and even some popular indie titles either aren’t available or require workarounds (like Proton/Wine or dual-booting Windows).
- Optimization: Many games that are available on macOS don’t fully take advantage of Apple’s Metal API or the M-series architecture. Sure, they run, but not as smoothly as on a similarly specced PC.
- Price vs. Performance: Let’s be real—the M3 Max machines are great, but you’re paying a premium for that performance. For the same price, you could build or buy a Windows gaming PC that’ll outperform it in pure gaming terms.
- Gaming Ecosystem: Things like modding, hardware upgrades, and access to broader platforms (like VR headsets) still heavily favor Windows PCs.
So yeah, Apple is closing the gap in terms of raw power, but the ecosystem and game availability still make macOS a secondary option for gaming enthusiasts, IMHO.
That said, if devs start optimizing more for Metal and embracing Apple’s hardware, who knows? Maybe we’ll see a real shift in the future.
The issue is simply that macs have an extremely bad reputation for gaming now. Like it’s crazy bad. The hardware and software is just fine. The games that run run well.
Apple are desperately trying to fix it but unfortunately they partnered with Ubisoft so that’s not gonna help much because people are fed up with Ubislop.
Rumor has it that most AAA mac games sell thousands of copies and millions on the PC. That’s not sustainable for most companies, and the only reason Blizzard keeps it is because they promised to when they first released it.
The new M series macs play games very, very well, and WoW is evidence of that. WoW runs with a blazing speed on the M3 Max, like it’s actually ridiculous. Imagine giving 65W to a PC and it maxed out WoW at 4K? So that gives you 2 hours maxed out 4K in WoW.
That’ll never happen in PC land. Ever. A slower Intel CPU than that will drain twice that amount of power alone, and then there’s the >300W GPU on top.
And the new Mac Mini Pro make an excellent gaming rig, too.
But because of the late Intel era and because of them not giving a darn for the last 20 years, he fact that they’re changing attitude now doesn’t mean much yet.
Yeah, this is probably just a chicken-egg/WindowsMobile problem. Users don’t even consider Apple as gaming ecosystem because some titles are not available (I have faced this too), but the gaming industry won’t easily add support to the Apple ecosystem without the users going there (first): as only then it’s profitable. Or Apple has to pay quite some bucks for it, which is not out of the question either.
Feels mostly related to the first point, really. It’s just not worth the effort currently.
Sure, maybe, likely. That’s just how the Apple Ecosystem works. Yeah, they’re pricey. But a high-end graphics card isn’t all too cheap either:). Not in the same ball-park, but yeah, for cheap gaming one would never choose a Mac, that’s certain.
All the consoles effectively reset their libraries every year.
Apple has to pull a PlayStation, basically. Otherwise it’s not gonna happen.
Fund like 10 studios, make a couple of them exclusive AAA games, and release a ~$800 Mac with at least 20 of their GPU cores.
Then they will come.
I mean sure. The last part probably not so much. Also the guy he linked did work for Blizzard, Amazon Gaming, United States to hack powerplants and now runs his own company.
It is an outdated argument yes, but currently Macs are not an attractive market for gaming and not worth the development costs for companies as Isha pointed out and that won’t change for quite a while still.
I mean, sure, releasing software for the Apple ecosystem can be a nightmare. I know that first hand. But it’s never ever about the first two arguments. That’s just bias speaking, nothing else.
True. It’s up to Apple to attract some AAA-games, for a longer period.
I think it’s a mix of reputation fixing but also patience
For this year we might see a break point. I see many devs taking an interest in the M4 (pro) Mac mini due to it’s price and portability so it does give it more way for devs to start developing more for Apple Silicon/Arm.
The stigma unfortunately is really hard baked into the minds of windows users (and devs). For example look at the posts about people wanting Mac ports for warcraft remaster and how many comments are being made about people gaming on a Mac.
I really like playing wow on my M1 Max MacBook, it’s running like a breeze and the fans barely kick in, unless it’s a high texture zone like Ardenwaeld, but even RTX4090 tends to spike in that zone.
Mac users growing in numbers? Where are you getting this information, lol? No gamer uses mac. Its basically a waste of time for any game developer trying to keep their games apple friendly for the small fraction of the player base. No offense, but Im shocked some games still do it. Be gone, Mr. Murican and buy a PC, if you want to actually game.
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Good. Apple is a horrible company.
Nobody should be supporting them.
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Me when I’m away from home.
Which is often
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