Nvidia GeForce NOW Client Gains Official Support for Apple Silicon Macs

[MacRumors]

Nvidia's GeForce Now game streaming service has been updated to work with Macs powered by Apple silicon, offering official support for both M1-equipped and Intel-based machines for the first time.

GeForce NOW for Mac lets you use a virtual GeForce GTX gaming PC in the cloud to run games that otherwise may not be possible to play on a Mac. The only requirement is a good internet connection, with the virtual gaming PC handling all of the GPU and CPU requirements.

GeForce NOW integrates with Steam and works with games users already own, in contrast to other gaming services that provide access to a large catalog of games. Users need to purchase the games they play, with GeForce NOW providing the power to play them.

GeForce NOW requires a fast internet connection to use, demanding a 25Mb/s download speed at a minimum and a 5GHz wireless router. Nvidia recommends a 50Mb/s connection or higher to account for other potential internet traffic.

Apart from official support for the new Mac mini, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and MacBook Air models powered by Apple silicon, version 2.0.27 of Nvidia's browser client also adds support for Google Chrome, as noted by XDA Developers.

MacRumors tests NVIDIA GeForce Now on a Mac​

GeForce NOW can also be accessed on iPhone or iPad through Safari by visiting the GeForce NOW website. The service is priced at $24.99 for a 6-month Founders membership subscription. Due to high demand, the $4.99 monthly memberships are currently sold out.

2/3 Correction: This article originally reported that GeForce NOW offered native support for Macs with Apple silicon, when in fact the support is "official" (Nvidia's term) rather than native. Apologies for any misunderstanding.

Article Link: Nvidia GeForce NOW Client Gains Official Support for Apple Silicon Macs

 

[-DMN-]

Latency will definitely be an issue, look at Google Stadia. But I definitely like this option, instead of maintaining a PC rig which I would otherwise have no use for.

 

[SBlue1]

Oh wow, it was not optimized yet? It was so fast already! LOL!

By the way, is there a way to change the screen size in the game?

 

[leman]

MR, what is your source?

I have seen reports of this here and there, but the official client version is still 2.0.26, with Intel-only support. There is also no mention of M1 support on official GeForce NOW pages.

 

[leman]

Latency will definitely be an issue, look at Google Stadia. But I definitely like this option, instead of maintaining a PC rig which I would otherwise have no use for.

It works surprisingly well actually, you just can't use it on WIFI.

 

[Reason077]

It works surprisingly well actually, you just can't use it on WIFI.

I use Stadia over WiFi. It works brilliantly - very rarely any noticeable latency or stutter, even at 4K.

Just make sure you have a strong WiFi signal on a clean 5 GHz band without interference from other networks. Using the DFS bands, if your router supports them, is ideal as there is usually zero interference in my experience.

Pro tip: Option-click on the WiFi icon in your Mac's menu bar to check detailed WiFi connection info. Ideally you want to see something like "DFS, 5GHz, 80 Mhz" under channel, and a high (> 500 Mbps) Tx Rate.

 

[farewelwilliams]

stadia and GeForce NOW over wifi is trash. constant stuttery connection issues. works better over wired.

I'm 10 feet away with line of sight to my Eero router (wifi 6) just fyi

 

[Reason077]

stadia and GeForce NOW over wifi is trash. constant stuttery connection issues. works better over wired.

I'm 10 feet away with line of sight to my Eero router (wifi 6) just fyi

This is not my experience with Stadia and WiFi.

What WiFi band are you using? Any other nearby networks? What's your Tx Rate and Channel if you option-click on WiFi icon in menu bar?

 

[arvinsim]

GEFORCE NOW IS CURRENTLY NOT SUPPORTED IN YOUR REGION.​

😒

 

[farewelwilliams]

This is not my experience with Stadia and WiFi.

What WiFi band are you using? Any other nearby networks? What's your Tx Rate and Channel if you option-click on WiFi icon in menu bar?

5Ghz on both my mbp 2018 and iphone 12 pro

3 weak signals from neighbor wifi.

Eero periodically auto scans channels and uses the one that is not in use.

tx rate on macbook 975.0Mbps

channel 153 (80MHz)

 

[yurc]

GEFORCE NOW IS CURRENTLY NOT SUPPORTED IN YOUR REGION.​

😒

Also not all country have blazing fast broadband connection, heck console and traditional pc rig still more compelling. Nowadays many service start to make our device act as just thin client.

 

[Modernape]

Just downloaded it, but the current version is still 2.0.26 (Intel)

 

[EmotionalSnow]

Also not all country have blazing fast broadband connection, heck console and traditional pc rig still more compelling. Nowadays many service start to make our device act as just thin client.

Nobody said that GFN will be for everybody. It’s all about choices, people!

 

[Reason077]

5Ghz on both my mbp 2018 and iphone 12 pro

3 weak signals from neighbor wifi.

Eero periodically auto scans channels and uses the one that is not in use.

tx rate on macbook 975.0Mbps

channel 153 (80MHz)

That all sounds pretty good! Only thing to note is that channel 153 is not a DFS channel, so potentially subject to more congestion/interference than the DFS channels which tend to be used much less. Mine uses channel 100 about 99% of the time.

If it's not an interference issue, I wonder if there's any other router settings that could be potentially slowing down Stadia for you?

 

[Serban55]

It works surprisingly well actually, you just can't use it on WIFI.

i can, i only use it on wifi..but here it depends on your location, provider and your router+device combo
in UK is cable a must for example, you cant have a good latency on wifi..in countries like South Koreea , in swticheralnd or Romania even in some US locations ....you can do it over wifi

 

[Serban55]

Latency will definitely be an issue, look at Google Stadia. But I definitely like this option, instead of maintaining a PC rig which I would otherwise have no use for.

when i travel to Switzerland , i try this only on wifi, latency is around 28ms....in Uk i have over wifi over 120 ms( and with cable is down to 60-62ms) , in Romania, i tried and also around 40ms
So it depends on the country, on the country location, on your provider, and your combo of your device+router

 

[Rychiar]

I’m using GEForce Now to play cyberpunk 2077 on my iMac, I airplay it it to my lg oled in the living room and use an Xbox controller and it it’s smooth and feels like having a console.

 

[rawweb]

Sounds like fun for my ComCrap data cap! We pay so much for data and entertainment these days!

 

[robertosh]

GF Now works pretty decent for me, even on Wifi and on my 12-yo iMac. It's true that I tend to play grand-strategy games where latency is not an issue but also tried tomb raider and the experience was really good. Nice that they keep the clients updated.

 

[ProfessionalFan]

GF Now is a decent service, even for FPS games like Apex Legends which surprised me.

 

[daveak]

I use Stadia over WiFi. It works brilliantly - very rarely any noticeable latency or stutter, even at 4K.

Just make sure you have a strong WiFi signal on a clean 5 GHz band without interference from other networks. Using the DFS bands, if your router supports them, is ideal as there is usually zero interference in my experience.

Pro tip: Option-click on the WiFi icon in your Mac's menu bar to check detailed WiFi connection info. Ideally you want to see something like "DFS, 5GHz, 80 Mhz" under channel, and a high (> 500 Mbps) Tx Rate.

> 500 Mbps rate won't help you much if your actual internet connection is lower though will it. What is the average internet connection speed? Most people will be lucky to have anywhere close to even 100Mbps. i.e. in the UK the average is about 64Mbps.

 

[Reason077]

> 500 Mbps rate won't help you much if your actual internet connection is lower though will it. What is the average internet connection speed? Most people will be lucky to have anywhere close to even 100Mbps. i.e. in the UK the average is about 64Mbps.

Sure, but farewelwilliams stated that for him, Stadia worked better over a wired connection. So in his case, the internet connection is fast enough, but WiFi is causing problems for some reason.

(PS: I'm in the UK and I get 200 - 300 Mbps on 5G wireless!)

 

[rom3o]

Turning off locations services while playing solved my issues with periodical stuttering via WiFi (MBP 2016 and TC 802.11ac).

MacOS scans for nearby networks and devices every once in a while and it seems like this is messing up the stream every time it does.

 

[chfilm]

The app is absolutely broken on my Intel mac Pro! I can't read anything and I see two cursors all the time with an offset. Anybody has an idea how to fix this? I paid 27 € for this !?!?

 

[apparatchik]

Your bandwidth is not the main factor with these services, 50 Mbps vs 500 Mbps downstream connection wont make any difference and is irrelevant to the service, what you want is ethernet to your modem and latency to the GFN servers at less than 30ms. Thats the key. This usually means fiber and of course to have a data center relatively close to you.

For RPG’s and strategy games the service shines, for FPS and Action Adventure, a tiny to small lag is usually perceivable.

Ive using GFN from a city north of Mexico City connected to US Central, I get around 39 ms. If you have a data center on your city or your state, I suppose you can get away with WiFi but if you can avoid it, the experience is not just a lot better but more stable and dependable through ethernet.

You dont want to lag at the wrong time and ruin the fun.