M4 Gaming

[Naraxus]

This'll be a bit of a lengthy one so:

TL/DR: How good is gaming on the M4 Macs & what should I expect?

So tomorrow my 16gb memory, 512gb M4 MacBook Pro will be arriving tomorrow and while I'll be using it for a variety of things, gaming (specifically World of Warcraft) will be getting most of its time and I'm wondering how good are the M4 Macs at gaming and really what should I expect?

I'll be coming from a 2019 (poss 2020) Intel MacBook Air so I'm guessing the performance will be a little better. Before my Air died I think I was running WoW at maybe 10fps and the fan was insanely loud and the graphics were choppy to be charitable. I understand that they have a new technology (can't recall the name) that helps out with gaming quite alot.

Obviously I'm not expecting top-of-the-line bto's with the latest, fastest chips gaming nerds tend to gravitate to, rather I'm expecting some good improvements over my old Intel Air.

Cheers!

 

[russell_314]

I used to play WoW classic and occasionally regular WoW on my M2 Air. It was very playable, but not at high settings. I can’t remember the FPS but it was always over 30. Of course this was maybe two years ago and they had updates since then.

If you insist on gaming on a Mac consider one of the Pro models because they have better graphics. I suspect you would be able to play fine on higher settings.

I’m honestly shocked that an Intel MacBook Air would even load WoW. If I remember right, it’s a dual core processor. That poor thing must’ve been screaming 😂

 

[kiranmk2]

Have a look on YouTube at the videos of AndrewTsai or MrMacRight who do a lot of testing of games on Mac platforms. Andrew Tsai also looks at Windows gaming on a Mac via Crossover (Wine & GPT2).

The bottom line is that pretty much all games ported to Mac will run pretty well on an M4 chip. Some of them (espacially Windows games translated via Crossover) will likely need the settings turned down to low or medium (at 1080p), but you should be able to maintain 30 fps. With Mac-native games you should be able to utilise medium-high settings to get up into the 40-60 fps region. Potentially, you may need MetalFX image reconstruction (stick to quality mode) to get to 60 fps.

If you are wanting 60 fps and/or high settings in most games, you will need the M4 Pro chip.

 

[Naraxus]

That poor thing must’ve been screaming 😂

Let's just say there were times I could barely hear game dialogue because of it.

Fortunately my new laptop is one of the just released M4 MacBook Pro's. It's just the base M4 and not the Pro or Max chip version but I'm pretty excited to see what it can do.

 

[Homy]

MrMacRightPlus

Performance videos for games on Apple devices

www.youtube.com

 

[Jumpinbeans]

Factorio runs great on a m1, im sure it will fly on a m4.

 

[dmccloud]

This'll be a bit of a lengthy one so:

TL/DR: How good is gaming on the M4 Macs & what should I expect?

So tomorrow my 16gb memory, 512gb M4 MacBook Pro will be arriving tomorrow and while I'll be using it for a variety of things, gaming (specifically World of Warcraft) will be getting most of its time and I'm wondering how good are the M4 Macs at gaming and really what should I expect?

I'll be coming from a 2019 (poss 2020) Intel MacBook Air so I'm guessing the performance will be a little better. Before my Air died I think I was running WoW at maybe 10fps and the fan was insanely loud and the graphics were choppy to be charitable. I understand that they have a new technology (can't recall the name) that helps out with gaming quite alot.

Obviously I'm not expecting top-of-the-line bto's with the latest, fastest chips gaming nerds tend to gravitate to, rather I'm expecting some good improvements over my old Intel Air.

Cheers!

World of Warcraft runs just fine on Apple Silicon Macs. While frame rates will vary based on which M series SoC you have, screen resolution, graphics settings, etc. On my M2 Max, the lowest frame rates I get are in the 55-65 FPS range, and as high as 125-134 FPS - this is without the fans kicking into high speed or the machine turning into a portable heater.

 

[dmr727]

It's gonna be a whole different world than your Intel Air. Let us know what you think when you test out your new Pro!

 

[shardey]

World of Warcraft runs just fine on Apple Silicon Macs. While frame rates will vary based on which M series SoC you have, screen resolution, graphics settings, etc. On my M2 Max, the lowest frame rates I get are in the 55-65 FPS range, and as high as 125-134 FPS - this is without the fans kicking into high speed or the machine turning into a portable heater.

Any reason why you don't cap it to your refresh rate? I'm sure that would help drop temperatures as well.

 

[EF_AUTHOR]

I would love to see more great games on Mac.

 

[MacBH928]

Are games on M-chips for games specially made for M-chips ? (I do not assume many are)
or
they are Intel MacOS games running with emulation
or
They are run with CrossOver app (which I hate for their support, yearly upgrades, and no guarantees of anything working)

I used to play WoW classic and occasionally regular WoW on my M2 Air. It was very playable, but not at high settings. I can’t remember the FPS but it was always over 30. Of course this was maybe two years ago and they had updates since then.

If you insist on gaming on a Mac consider one of the Pro models because they have better graphics. I suspect you would be able to play fine on higher settings.

I’m honestly shocked that an Intel MacBook Air would even load WoW. If I remember right, it’s a dual core processor. That poor thing must’ve been screaming 😂

wait, I thought M-chips are super fast?! Do not tell me this horror still exists.

I bought MBP 2015 and I played Civ 5 (2010) on it, and the laptop felt like it was about to launch a rocket into out space.

World of Warcraft runs just fine on Apple Silicon Macs. While frame rates will vary based on which M series SoC you have, screen resolution, graphics settings, etc. On my M2 Max, the lowest frame rates I get are in the 55-65 FPS range, and as high as 125-134 FPS - this is without the fans kicking into high speed or the machine turning into a portable heater.

whats the benefit of 125FPS? I thought after 60FPS it doesn't matter?

 

[russell_314]

wait, I thought M-chips are super fast?! Do not tell me this horror still exists.

Compared to the old Intel processors yes they are extremely fast. I seriously doubt you could play any version of wow on an Intel MacBook Air. Also we’re talking about graphics rather than computer processing power. If you want better graphics power you need the Pro or Max chips. They have more GPU cores. Even still it’s not going to compare to a top end desktop GPU. Buying a Mac purposely for gaming is about like buying a hammer to drive in screws.

 

[diamond.g]

whats the benefit of 125FPS? I thought after 60FPS it doesn't matter?

Depends on the game, for WoW keeping 60fps minimum just maintains a smooth experience. Higher than 60 won't improve WoW experience all that much. That said, for First Person Shooters having high frame rate does impact the game experience, when play competitively.

 

[throAU]

This'll be a bit of a lengthy one so:

TL/DR: How good is gaming on the M4 Macs & what should I expect?

14" M4 max:

BG3 at 1440p low power mode with most settings maxed and the bg3 process re-niced to high priority:

60 fps, no fan noise.

 

[MacBH928]

14" M4 max:

BG3 at 1440p low power mode with most settings maxed and the bg3 process re-niced to high priority:

60 fps, no fan noise.

the max is double price the base , +$1500 😬 , that alone should buy a nice dedicated gaming PC (PS5 slim is just $425)

 

[throAU]

the max is double price the base , +$1500 😬 , that alone should buy a nice dedicated gaming PC (PS5 slim is just $425)

I have a high end gaming PC as well, and a PS5. However, I want something that does it all (mostly) so I have less clutter in my life.

Right now, it looks like the Mac is "good enough" for gaming on the side at this point that the gaming PC will not be upgraded and the PS5 will be used for couch gaming stuff.

Was posting as an example of the m4 family of chips... that's what is possible at the moment with no fan noise.

 

[MacBH928]

I have a high end gaming PC as well, and a PS5. However, I want something that does it all (mostly) so I have less clutter in my life.

Right now, it looks like the Mac is "good enough" for gaming on the side at this point that the gaming PC will not be upgraded and the PS5 will be used for couch gaming stuff.

Was posting as an example of the m4 family of chips... that's what is possible at the moment with no fan noise.

but Mac M chips games are lacking, arent they? Unless you play specific games that got a mac version of them. I do not see game developers hyped about making a specific mac M chip games. On the linux side they opted to put some sort of emulation layer to make windows games work. I do not understand how it works but some reporting windows games on linux work just as fast as native on windows.

this is very confusing for me since my understanding is emulation/translation = slowdowns. I ran a 90s FPS game (Sin Gold) in Crossover (wine) and my macbook 2015 was about to launch into space.

 

[throAU]

this is very confusing for me since my understanding is emulation/translation = slowdowns. I ran a 90s FPS game (Sin Gold) in Crossover (wine) and my macbook 2015 was about to launch into space.

CPU translation on M series is pretty efficient for most things, and the GPUs are strong.

Yes, buying a MacBook for gaming only is stupid, but for limited gaming, as a secondary task on the machine they're "good enough" in my view at this point.

A MacBook Pro with enough RAM for my purposes is say $3k US easily, stepping up to a max and having everything I need in one device is nice.

 

[PBG4 Dude]

the max is double price the base , +$1500 😬 , that alone should buy a nice dedicated gaming PC (PS5 slim is just $425)

My M4Pro 14/20 plays Baldur’s Gate 3 at 80fps on Ultra settings. The fans are running at max, but even at max, they’re the quietest laptop fans I’ve ever heard.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many of my Steam games have Apple Silicon versions. I’m talking BG3, Lies of P, Shapez 1&2, Hades II, and more. If only Coffee Stain Studio’s Satisfactory and FromSoft games were native…

 

[dmr727]

I have a high end gaming PC as well, and a PS5. However, I want something that does it all (mostly) so I have less clutter in my life.

I'm in the same boat, except with a Steam Deck instead of a PS5. I've been trying to simplify too, and I'm thinking the big gaming rig at home will be the next thing to be retired.

 

[diamond.g]

My M4Pro 14/20 plays Baldur’s Gate 3 at 80fps on Ultra settings. The fans are running at max, but even at max, they’re the quietest laptop fans I’ve ever heard.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many of my Steam games have Apple Silicon versions. I’m talking BG3, Lies of P, Shapez 1&2, Hades II, and more. If only Coffee Stain Studio’s Satisfactory and FromSoft games were native…

Native without FSR1? 👍🏾

 

[throAU]

My M4Pro 14/20 plays Baldur’s Gate 3 at 80fps on Ultra settings. The fans are running at max, but even at max, they’re the quietest laptop fans I’ve ever heard.

I was pleasantly surprised at how many of my Steam games have Apple Silicon versions. I’m talking BG3, Lies of P, Shapez 1&2, Hades II, and more. If only Coffee Stain Studio’s Satisfactory and FromSoft games were native…

Try low power mode. You'll probably still get 60 fps and no fan.

 

[MacBH928]

My M4Pro 14/20 plays Baldur’s Gate 3 at 80fps on Ultra settings. The fans are running at max, but even at max, they’re the quietest laptop fans I’ve ever heard.

is the high fans a pc/console thing too or just a mac thing? Every mac laptop seems to have this issue I wonder if its same on PC and consoles.

Its just not enjoyable to play a game when it feels like there is a nuclear reactor in the laptop about to explode.I think it might damage the hardware in the long run because you are stressing it so much.

 

[throAU]

is the high fans a pc/console thing too or just a mac thing? Every mac laptop seems to have this issue I wonder if its same on PC and consoles.

Its just not enjoyable to play a game when it feels like there is a nuclear reactor in the laptop about to explode.I think it might damage the hardware in the long run because you are stressing it so much.

It's a laptop thing, more so with smaller form factor laptops. Small machines need small fans that need to spin faster to work.

 

[joethedairyguy]

Let's just say there were times I could barely hear game dialogue because of it.

Fortunately my new laptop is one of the just released M4 MacBook Pro's. It's just the base M4 and not the Pro or Max chip version but I'm pretty excited to see what it can do.

How did it work for Wow