MacBook Pro Gaming Capability

[elephantstone]

So I know this isn't the number 1 reason why anyone would ever really look at getting a MacBook, particularly with the inevitable reliance on Parallels. But let's not kid ourselves, for many it has an impact, particularly with the wide range of CPU/GPU choices on offer, so I do wonder, do we finally have the opportunity to play games at a decent standard in a thin and light laptop?

It's hard without benchmarks, but I'm cautiously optimistic. If an M1 MBA can play some games at full settings, and if an M1 MBP was able to play GTA IV comfortably and GTA V at low settings for example, can we expect much better in the M1 Pro? Will that play most games ok? Will the M1 Max play everything to a suitable standard with its huge number of cores?

I'm curious as to the expectations here, not least because I'm hoping to travel soon and I wonder if the Max would be a worthwhile boost based on this alone.

 

[Ahboyd]

I don't doubt the hardware at all. I think what prevent Macs from being a great gaming platform is Apple itself. They have all the resource to turn around the industry. With Windows uncertain directions and Intel is begging for Apple business, this is the best time ever for Apple to do something about AAA gaming but they don't.

Hopefully, the release of M1 Pro & Max will turn the industry around.

 

[Lwii2boo]

For true AAA games and good settings, I think we have to wait at least the next generation of MBP because :
- GPU raw power is not optimized for games since developers are focused on Nvidia / AMD GPU running on X86 Windows systems. This impact truly real world performance even if Apple hardware is excellent
- Remember MBP16 display is almost 4K and can run at 120Hz which is extremely difficult even for most high end gaming laptop on the planet, if you want games that fully 100% exploit your display capabilites it is for sure impossible with a M1 Max on AAA games, even if AAA dev optimised for it. A Nvidia RTX 3080 laptop can't run AAA games at 3.5K@120Hz.

In short, this GPU improvement is very welcome and will be noticeable in your gaming sessions, but it is not enough yet to prodive a top tier gaming experience with newest games. That is why Apple don't mention it at all in the keynote. Give this laptop 1 or 2 gen to improve GPU and attract more dev attentions if you plan to play recent games. But if you play older games or don't care about having highest resolution/graphics settings I'm sure these Macbook will be capable enough for this kind of gaming.

 

[Mockletoy]

Whether or not the hardware is up to the task isn't really relevant since most games aren't available to play on Macs anyway, especially now that they're not x86 anymore and Bootcamp is dead.

I know there are options like Crossover (WINE) and Parallels, but the experience will just never be the same. That's why I keep a dedicated Windows gaming machine around, because (to borrow a familiar slogan) It Just Works™️ without a lot of caveats and workarounds and hackery. Plus, the thought of paying so much for a fancy M1 Max GPU and then hobbling it with emulation to end up with a subpar experience leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Apple clearly considers Mac gaming little more than an afterthought, which at first glance seems odd given how profitable gaming is for them on the iOS App Store. But then it becomes quite clear what the reason is: games on the Mac don't have to go through the Mac App Store, meaning Apple doesn't get their automatic 15-30% off the top of every game sold, so they don't care. Why should they bother to make Mac gaming a thing if Steam and Epic will get all the money? If they ever (as some people fear, but I find hard to believe) lock the Mac down the way iOS devices are locked down, watch how fast they start wooing game developers to port their games and bring them to the Mac App Store.

I look at it like this: You can buy a nice Windows gaming laptop with a high refresh rate screen and a MacBook Air for less than the price of one of the 32-core GPU MacBook Pros they just released (especially here in Sweden, where Apple prices are wildly out of sync with basically every other electronics company). The cheapest 14" with a 32-core GPU is about $4300 here. For the 16" it's about $4650. I could buy an RTX 3070 or even 3080 gaming laptop and a MacBook Air and an iPad for that much.

Truthfully, though, I'm seriously thinking about moving to Windows entirely if I can replace a couple of pieces of my Mac workflow, because juggling multiple machines and paying Apple's extortionate prices is starting to wear thin. I dislike clutter and love simplicity. Juggling multiple machines and dealing with things like Crossover and Parallels feels like clutter to me. Very, very expensive clutter.

(Edit: typo)

 

[Tb87Bln]

Whether or not the hardware is up to the task isn't really relevant since most games aren't available to play on Macs anyway, especially now that they're not x86 anymore and Bootcamp is dead.

I know there are options like Crossover (WINE) and Parallels, but the experience will just never be the same. That's why I keep a dedicated Windows gaming machine around, because (to borrow a familiar slogan) It Just Works™️ without a lot of caveats and workarounds and hackery. Plus, the thought of paying so much for a fancy M1 Max GPU and then hobbling it with emulation to end up with a subpar experience leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Apple clearly considers Mac gaming little more than an afterthought, which at first glance seems odd given how profitable gaming is for them on the iOS App Store. But then it becomes quite clear what the reason is: games on the Mac don't have to go through the Mac App Store, meaning Apple doesn't get their automatic 15-30% off the top of every game sold, so they don't care. Why should they bother to make Mac gaming a thing if Steam and Epic will get all the money? If they ever (as some people fear, but I find hard to believe) lock the Mac down the way iOS devices are locked down, watch how fast they start wooing game developers to port their games and bring them to the Mac App Store.

I look at it like this: You can buy a nice Windows gaming laptop with a high refresh rate screen and a MacBook Air for less than the price of one of the 32-core GPU MacBook Pros they just released (especially here in Sweden, where Apple prices are wildly out of sync with basically every other electronics company). The cheapest 14" with a 32-core GPU is about $4300 here. For the 16" it's about $4650. I could buy an RTX 3070 or even 3080 gaming laptop and a MacBook Air and an iPad for that much.

Truthfully, though, I'm seriously thinking about moving to Windows entirely if I can replace a couple of pieces of my Mac workflow, because juggling multiple machines and paying Apple's extortionate prices is starting to wear thin. I dislike clutter and love simplicity. Juggling multiple machines and dealing with things like Crossover and Parallels feels like clutter to me. Very, very expensive clutter.

(Edit: typo)

Great text!
Not that I do „actual“ gaming… (I guess playing games that were developed for win 98 don’t really count I guess…)
But I am almost wondering if I maybe find a cheap windows laptop for Black Friday or so.. but I guess crossover/wine will be sufficient for me…?

 

[casperes1996]

If you're interested in this, we talk all about it on the next episode of the MacGameCast which comes out shortly.
Short version We're all cautiously optimistic. Very happy about the estimated performance levels but of course wary about the software support situation for games. We've also got three different configurations ordered for testing on the podcast, one scheduled to arrive in time for next week's episode but we'll see how delivery goes

 

[UltimateSyn]

If you're interested in this, we talk all about it on the next episode of the MacGameCast which comes out shortly.
Short version We're all cautiously optimistic. Very happy about the estimated performance levels but of course wary about the software support situation for games. We've also got three different configurations ordered for testing on the podcast, one scheduled to arrive in time for next week's episode but we'll see how delivery goes

Is this available on Apple Podcasts?

 

[casperes1996]

Is this available on Apple Podcasts?

Yes! Thanks for asking.

MacGameCast

Games Podcast · Monthly · Join Jon and his co-hosts as they cover all things Mac gaming! News, reviews and deep-dives into relevant topics of Mac gaming history, culture and tech. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor…

podcasts.apple.com

The episode where we discuss the new Macs and chips will be up very soon. As of this very moment the latest episode is our pre-show speculation from last week, but the new one should be up really soon

 

[UltimateSyn]

Yes! Thanks for asking.

MacGameCast

Games Podcast · Monthly · Join Jon and his co-hosts as they cover all things Mac gaming! News, reviews and deep-dives into relevant topics of Mac gaming history, culture and tech. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for mor…

podcasts.apple.com

The episode where we discuss the new Macs and chips will be up very soon. As of this very moment the latest episode is our pre-show speculation from last week, but the new one should be up really soon

Awesome! I’ll keep my eyes out for it