OS X CSGO and LoL performance on a Mac Mini 2018

[Reflej0]

After the Counter Strike Global Offensive and League of Legends test on a Mac Mini 2018 i5 the results are:

• 720p with all the graphics in low both games reach 100fps so the gameplay is fine.
• 1080p with all the graphics in low both games are around 60fps with drop peaks on certain occasions, the gameplay is a bit poor.
• 1440p better not to try, with all the graphics in both games around 20 fps, unplayable.

Performance is limited by the GPU (it is obvious) and this applies to all Mac computers that have a UHD630 or:

• HD615 this GPU is found in the 2017 Macbooks and offers a 50% lower performance than the UHD630 therefore I doubt that even in 720p it offers a good performance.
• UHD617 is present in the Macbooks Air of 2019 and has a 20% lower performance than the UHD630, it should still offer an acceptable performance in 720p
• Iris Plus 640/655 found in the iMac low-end of 2017 and Macbooks Pro without dedicated GPU respectively, offer a 50% and 70% performance respectively so they could give a good playability in 1080p.

The performance test of the UHD630 was performed in Catalina (I would think that in Windows it could give a little more performance, but not much more).
In conclusion I do not think it is feasible to play CS GO and LoL (which are competitive games that are not demanding in performance) on a Macbook, Macbook Air or Mac Mini.
In the devices that have Iris Pro 640/655, I would think that it can be played well in 1080p and the devices with Radeon dedicated GPU it is obvious that it will play well even in up to 1440p.

As a final note, remember that the screen of the iMacs and Macbooks Pro have a refresh rate of 60hz, although the fps are greater than 60fps the difference will not be appreciated therefore the only way to play on an Apple computer with a monitor 144Hz or 240Hz will be with an eGPU connected by Thunderbolt 3.

 

[GoldfishRT]

As a final note, remember that the screen of the iMacs and Macbooks Pro have a refresh rate of 60hz, although the fps are greater than 60fps the difference will not be appreciated

While generally it doesn't matter, in competitive games this is untrue. Strictly speaking, you want your frame rate to at least match to update rate of the server at the other end. For CSGO this is 120hz. And while it won't make as big of a difference as running 120fps on a 120hz monitor, you will see a benefit as even at 60hz, your GPU will be spitting out more up-to-date information to the display (which is also why you'll get tearing). Either way, you'll be given more accurate visual information even on a normal 60hz display when you're running a higher frame rate.

I only bring this up as you're talking about competitive games here. That said, I guess it won't really bother anybody on MacOS where you can only kind of disable mouse acceleration and can't eliminate the weird lag mouse input has anyway.

 

[Reflej0]

Therefore, the only way to play "competitively" in OS X would be through an eGPU (which is + 100fps) and the eGPU is connected to a 120Hz / 240Hz monitor.
Anyway, I don't know FreeSync technology works on OS X, in case the GPU is AMD.