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MacBook M2 15 gaming?

ginofresh

ginofresh

macrumors regular
Original poster
Feb 20, 2017
155
56
I know that Mac's are not the best at "gaming" but I have a gaming Pc and need something for travel and I want to get a Mac because I feel that apple does have the best laptop experience. The only game I play are wow and the sims but my only issue with this MacBook is because there are no fan's in the MacBook Air? And I play for sometimes 3-4 hours when on wow and worried that when it get hot it will not run as "smooth"

These are the spec I plan on getting

  • Apple M2 chip with 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16-core Neural Engine
  • 16GB unified memory
  • 1TB SSD storage

Please let me know if this is even a good idea? Or if u should just wait for the new MacBook Pro?
 
at that configuration, it costs $1900 in the US. Only $100 away from the much better Pro.
For a gaming machine, you kind of need the MacBook Pro, it has a way better GPU and wayyy better screen (with 120hz which is important for gaming)
 
OrenLindsey said:
at that configuration, it costs $1900 in the US. Only $100 away from the much better Pro.
For a gaming machine, you kind of need the MacBook Pro, it has a way better GPU and wayyy better screen (with 120hz which is important for gaming)
Click to expand...
Yes I want the MacBook Pro but just waiting for the new one to come out, but was just thinking maybe the air would do okay because I hate my pc laptop, compare to my wife macbook
 
I think you should definitely look for a different laptop.
There are people on YT live streaming their Mac gaming sessions, one streamer is on a 16GB M2 Mac Mini: you might judge by yourself.
 
arcite said:
Go for a Apple refurbished M2 14 Pro....more graphic power, plus a fan for better cooling. I have a 15 air and it's great..... But I don't think it would be the best setup for playing 3d games for hours on end.

---just checked, apple refurbished m2 14 pros are going for $1700. Such a good deal 👍
Click to expand...

Damn, that is a good deal. I wish the refurbished store was available here. Just about every device I own would be an official Apple refurb xD
 
Yeah, the MacBook Pro is the one for gaming, not the air. Important for gaming, it actually has fans, a way better GPU, and a 120hz screen. Not to mention the other improvements over the air.
If you can, just wait for the M3 models. But M2 will be enough. Depends on how long you want to wait.
 
OrenLindsey said:
Yeah, the MacBook Pro is the one for gaming, not the air. Important for gaming, it actually has fans, a way better GPU, and a 120hz screen. Not to mention the other improvements over the air.
If you can, just wait for the M3 models. But M2 will be enough. Depends on how long you want to wait.i
Click to expand...
OrenLindsey said:
Yeah, the MacBook Pro is the one for gaming, not the air. Important for gaming, it actually has fans, a way better GPU, and a 120hz screen. Not to mention the other improvements over the air.
If you can, just wait for the M3 models. But M2 will be enough. Depends on how long you want to wait.
Click to expand...
ya that was the plan, but i just want it now
 
The M2 MacBook Air will throttle when playing games. Get the 13“ or 14“ MBP instead.
 
As much as I love the form factor of the MBA 15", even with couch gaming World of Warcraft, the bottom gets pretty warm. It does handle low-to-mid settings in the game at 60 FPS just fine. But yeah, I'd go 14" MBP 100% unless you're not planning on gaming for extended periods or are fine with low graphic settings.
 
cinetic said:
It does handle low-to-mid settings in the game at 60 FPS just fine.
Click to expand...
Is this with Target FPS turn on or off? The default on WoW is turned on and set at 60fps.

With the Target FPS option turned on, it uses dynamic graphics settings, which automatically raise and lowers the quality of graphics to keep to the target fps.

This is especially nice to use on older machine when playing in different expansion areas, you don't have to keep changing the graphics to get the balance of eye candy and fps, you just let the game do it for you. The downside is when trying to compare performance of different machines, just using the same exact settings and comparing fps no longer is an accurate comparison.

I suspect if the passively cooled MBA has the Target FPS setting turned on, no matter what other graphic settings are use, the game is probably progressively lowering the settings at the temps increase and start to throttle to maintain that 60 fps. Basically, it might look like you have "low-to-mid" settings, but if the Target FPS is turned on and set to 60fps, the actual settings might be lower than what is displayed in the options.
 
I can’t speak to WOW but I play the Sims 4 on my M2 Air 13” for hours on ultra and it barely gets warm. No performance issues at all. I have the upgraded chip with 16/1TB
 
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