Macbook pro 2017 for gaming?

[fathergll]

Wow. OP asks how good the MacBook Pro can game via bootcamp and the discussion is jumping to iMac Pro or custom Windows build.

 

[timmychen6]

yes i know that i have made a lot of post about this and i know mac are not made for gaming but i never had a mac and been wanting one and getting ready to make my purchase as i just got me a barclay card! so i am thinking about the 2017 macbook pro with these spec

• 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
• 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• Radeon Pro 560 with 4GB memory

now i do plan on having bootcamp on it just for overwatch or some other highend games but will i been okay to play high end games? and is this better then the 2016 model?

As a Mac user for 15 years, my experience tells me games don’t run well on MacOS a lot of times. It’s better to play on bootcamp but still very likely don’t perform well even for some games which aren’t so hard ware demanding.

 

[mario-64]

I’d like to chime in on this discussion. I too always wanted a MacBook due to a) deep integration with the Apple ecosystem and b) incredible screen and speakers. Problem is, I am also a gamer. Primarily just WoW but occasionally other games.

I was recently able to get a 3.1ghz 2017 15” and my feelings are mixed. On points a and b it certainly hits the mark but it can’t game worth a flip. I can play WoW at 1650x1050 but every other game I’ve tried is nearly a slideshow.

And the software bugs... Can’t close the lid because then the dGPU doesn’t work until you reboot. Mouse cursor invisible after playing full screen iTunes movies. Other weird glitches. I never saw anything like this with any of my previous gaming laptops from Razer, MSI or Asus. Plus this thing hits 97-99c when gaming. I doubt that’s safe long term.

In the end I’m still undecided whether to keep it and deal with its issues or sell and get a true thin and light gaming laptop

 

[magbarn]

I’d like to chime in on this discussion. I too always wanted a MacBook due to a) deep integration with the Apple ecosystem and b) incredible screen and speakers. Problem is, I am also a gamer. Primarily just WoW but occasionally other games.

I was recently able to get a 3.1ghz 2017 15” and my feelings are mixed. On points a and b it certainly hits the mark but it can’t game worth a flip. I can play WoW at 1650x1050 but every other game I’ve tried is nearly a slideshow.

And the software bugs... Can’t close the lid because then the dGPU doesn’t work until you reboot. Mouse cursor invisible after playing full screen iTunes movies. Other weird glitches. I never saw anything like this with any of my previous gaming laptops from Razer, MSI or Asus. Plus this thing hits 97-99c when gaming. I doubt that’s safe long term.

In the end I’m still undecided whether to keep it and deal with its issues or sell and get a true thin and light gaming laptop

Without an external GPU, the rMBP is basically only good for e sports games or stuff released 4-5 years ago. I got a gaming laptop rig if I want to play on the go. There's been a ton of deals over the last few months for good 15" gaming laptops with a 1070 inside which will insta kill any rMBP for gaming. In fact, due to the effect of crippling the eGPU through a TB3 connection, a 1070 laptop should be able to keep up with a 1080. The 90C+ degrees on the dGPU isn't good long term for the health of a rMBP either. Most gaming laptops can keep their GPU's in the much cooler 50-60C range if they're designed right.

 

[mario-64]

Without an external GPU, the rMBP is basically only good for e sports games or stuff released 4-5 years ago. I got a gaming laptop rig if I want to play on the go. There's been a ton of deals over the last few months for good 15" gaming laptops with a 1070 inside which will insta kill any rMBP for gaming. In fact, due to the effect of crippling the eGPU through a TB3 connection, a 1070 laptop should be able to keep up with a 1080. The 90C+ degrees on the dGPU isn't good long term for the health of a rMBP either. Most gaming laptops can keep their GPU's in the much cooler 50-60C range if they're designed right.

Right. It's just a shame that we have to give up the Apple integration and speakers/screen in order to game 🙁

 

[xelloapple]

yes i know that i have made a lot of post about this and i know mac are not made for gaming but i never had a mac and been wanting one and getting ready to make my purchase as i just got me a barclay card! so i am thinking about the 2017 macbook pro with these spec

• 2.9GHz quad-core Intel Core i7 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
• 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• Radeon Pro 560 with 4GB memory

now i do plan on having bootcamp on it just for overwatch or some other highend games but will i been okay to play high end games? and is this better then the 2016 model?

this is a little late but i'm using a macbook pro 13" 2017 with
- processor 2.3 GHz intel core i5
- memory 8 GB 2133 MHz LPDDR3
- graphics intel iris plus graphics 640 1536 MB

i play world of warcraft, and while the MBP can handle 55 - 60 fps (never tried going above that), it gets awfully hot, enough to make you move your hands away from the keyboard.

i lowered the fps to 30 but the resulting temperature is still 60 - 72 C at most, so i stopped.

the battery capacity is now 93% instead of 100% (according to battery monitor), and i fear that i may have ruined the battery through excessive play.

so no, i would not recommend playing games on MacBooks, or any other laptop in general since the components are packed so closely together that everything heats up fairly quickly.

the best thing would be to get a desktop, or if you really need to use your laptop, to game on the laptop for a maximum of 30 mins ~ 1 hour to avoid damaging the battery.

this may be unrelated but i stored the game on iCloud drive, and it slows down the entire computer as well. would be a good idea to save any games that need to be downloaded on external hard drives.