Cannot agree less. Gaming on Mac is fundamentally a hardware issue, and has always been that way. The vast majority of Macs sold during the last decades have Intel iGPU which is useless except for vary very light gaming and 10-years old titles. Even in the high-end popular Macs for 2500$+, Apple never included top tier dedicated GPU from Nvidia but instead relied on AMD which, except for the last generation, has always lacked behind by a wide margin. As a developer, if you know that probably 98% of Mac users have integrated GPU from Intel, there is no financial reasoning to develop a title for Mac, unless your game uses very little resources, in which case, it is better to optimize your game for mobile devices rather than investing your time porting the game into MacOS. Having the external GPU compatibility with the Intel Macs and Thunderbolt 3 was a move in the right direction, but with Apple Silicon, this is now gone (at least for now), so unless Apple has some monstrous chip in its lab with 32 or 64-core GPU, that is used in sub-2000$ Mac machines, gaming on Mac will continue to be poor. Gamers dont care about team blue vs team red, they care about raw performance, ultra setting, high resolution and high frame rates. The vast majority of gamers are young adults or kids and have limited budget so they would just buy the best GPU for the money they have. The only way Mac gaming could become relevant, is if Apple has a silicon that can deliver RTX 3060 performance in the 1,500$ price range which is already double the average that people spent on a new laptop.
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PCs Offer 'Better Gaming Experience Than 100% of Mac Laptops,' Intel Claims in Ongoing Anti-Apple Campaign
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intel has always keep the lead over AMD over the years in peak gaming performance. maybe it was ass on price and power efficacy, but not gaming performance.
The current crop of M1 Macs are already capable enough to run games with decent frame rates. With proper optimization it should improve. If Apple continue to deliver this year like what they did last year and sells 20m Macs in 2021, which the majority will be Apple Silicon I’m sure, it’ll make quite a sizable market for game developers. More capables Apple Silicon will likely be announced next week during WWDC21.
Most of the M1 Macs will likely be used by school going children and undergrads. The demand for games from this demographics will likely be high.
Hardware wise they may be decent now.
But after going through the arguments in Epic vs Apple i have given up hope that Apple will *ever* understand gaming.
I'm talking about their idiotic defense that they're protecting users from "lewd" content. Like all gamers are still under 12, like in the Atari days.
Especially as an European, where 18+ "lewd" content from the US may be rated as low as 12, I really don't want Apple to Disneify my gaming. It tends to be boring and have no ... soul ... in the quest for family friendliness.
Personally I'm cynical about this, I think there will always be certain titles ported to the Mac but I'm looking at my steam library and the only game that will run on my MacBook Pro is Tomb Raider because nothing has been updated to 64bit. I asked Aspyr or whoever ported Tomb Raider 2 if they were ever going to update it to 32bit, I mean you'd think it could be done in an afternoon with a re-compile or maybe a little longer but nothing unreasonable and they just said it was discontinued. Basically they couldn't be bothered to update it. I was tempted to do offer to update it myself even though I don't know anything about programming but they probably wouldn't let me if I wanted to or indeed could.
Under 50, never played games on PCs/Macs, for me it was only at the arcades, and before that, Atari / Commodore 64. Deleted FB last year, but love Twitter (for following rather than posting). Have a 2017 MBP and considering upgrading to the next MBA or MBP, ideally would want a 14+" MBA. Only game I have played for years is Backgammon NJ on my iPhone.
Because they’d lose in that comparison.
Seems to me if you want a machine for games, you build an AMD based Windows desktop. If you don’t then you get a Mac. Intel don’t win in either category (they do beat AMD in being in stock though - perhaps they should make a chart of that!).
Have you ever been on Xbox live? It's more like getting assaulted by an endless barrage of racial slurs with some gaming thrown in on the side. It really ruins the fun.
What do you use your Mac for? Or are you just here for the latest rumors about iPhones and AirPods Max?
I don’t know anyone who considers a Mac for gaming. However when it becomes a consideration then intel should be very worried.
i don't get this comparison. while it is certainly true that Windows is a better gaming platform than macOS, why in that chart are they comparing the intel laptop to an m1 laptop if it's really the Nvidia graphics card that is doing the work? also, even if you were to compare top intel mobile cpu with the m1, will the intel be able to maintain that performance when you pull out the plug? how many hours can the intel mobile cpu run on battery? will intel's flagship mobile cpu even beat the 10 core m1x/m2 chip? if my math is correct, the 10 core apple chip is 78% faster than the m1 chip which would put it somewhere at the level of the intel 9900k/10700k desktop chips. i doubt that it can.
also, isn't intel still doing business with apple? during the apple silicon announcement, tim cook talked about how they were still gonna release intel product for "years to come". lots of people seem to forget this when they talk about apple 2 year transition. i definitely think apple needs to maintain a lineup of intel based "pro" products because many professionals are not ready to transition to apple silicon yet. they need to support intel for another 3 years imo
also, isn't intel still doing business with apple? during the apple silicon announcement, tim cook talked about how they were still gonna release intel product for "years to come". lots of people seem to forget this when they talk about apple 2 year transition. i definitely think apple needs to maintain a lineup of intel based "pro" products because many professionals are not ready to transition to apple silicon yet. they need to support intel for another 3 years imo
AMD & Nvidia don't sell mid tier GPU`s as they used to do , what is the cheapest MSRP card you can get from Nvidia now days ? 3000 series , if no shortage was to be had that is.
I have a MacBook Pro 16” with AMD 5300m and it is very decent for a non gaming machine.
i play fortnite , Warzone at max graphics and around 50-60 FPS. Would be way more if I decided to go for medium graphics but hey I don’t have a retina screen for nothing…
Also have a 24” M1 iMac which offers similar performances.
i also have Borderlands 3 at max graphics which runs great.
Macs can be good gaming machines, especially with the upcoming m1X.
I will never buy a PC just for the sake of gaming (even if I game almost every night)
i play fortnite , Warzone at max graphics and around 50-60 FPS. Would be way more if I decided to go for medium graphics but hey I don’t have a retina screen for nothing…
Also have a 24” M1 iMac which offers similar performances.
i also have Borderlands 3 at max graphics which runs great.
Macs can be good gaming machines, especially with the upcoming m1X.
I will never buy a PC just for the sake of gaming (even if I game almost every night)
The argument I am trying to make is that had there been an even level of support for both operating systems (from developers) for the same types of software over the last few decades, we would be seeing very similar values in operating performance of games running on a Mac as on your supposed $1K gaming rig.
I’m also proposing that the primary reason for that gap is not Apple, but instead the companies that make up their competition in the Windows PC industry that recognised Apple as a threat decades ago and have thrown ridiculous amounts of resources to inhibiting innovation in MacOS software development.
I don’t believe it’s a case of “developers just preferred Windows because that’s where most the customers have been” and instead it has been more like “the companies funding our entire operation guard our development with an iron fist and discourage developing compatibility with competing operating systems”.
Imagine being a developer for a software company that gets most of its capital and funding from companies like Intel & Nvidia. What do you think happens when there is an internal suggestion to make a program or game cross-platform? It gets shut down immediately even if there might be a profit to be made by developing for multiple operating systems.
Apple is no doubt very aware of the extent to which this suppression exists within the Tech industry and has developed their products accordingly.
PC desktops are the only real place to play games. I don't know why anyone would by a laptop for gaming.maybe some casual games if they get bored but you don't buy a laptop if you want to play games seriously.
-> wanna game? Buy Ryzen + RTX
News flash: I have on intention of gaming on my Mac, its for work. I'm not sure a lot of people are buying Macs for the gaming experience.
Yeah, but many people dont want or cant afford to have several computers for each specific use. If you are in the market for a new laptop or desktop and you are gamer, even a very casual one, Macs get discarded by default, which is a shame. Windows laptops and desktop may not be that good as the Macs, but they are cheaper and versatile in this regard. You can do your work during the day, and play some e-sport games during the evening on the same machine. I believe there are millions of people who are wishing every day to switch to MacOs, but only if they continue enjoying their games as they do on their Windows machine.
No big deal. Just yesterday I bought one of the newest intel chips. Super excited for it to come in the mail on Friday. It will significantly update my gaming rig.
A week ago I got my M1 iPad and I am absolutely blown away by its power.
So, very wonderfully, I will soon be happily gaming on my updated PC and in the meantime I will be doing my professional work on my iPad (and MacBook Pro).
It would be cool to have an all in one device, but honestly a gaming rig (either desktop or laptop) is very big. I wouldn't want to lug either around. At the same time, my professional work is done on tiny devices that are very portable with an operating system conducive to my professional work (and Windows 10 is conducive to my gaming on my gaming PC).
So I am quite happy having my specialized devices for their specialized purposes. No big deal. I like Apple silicon and I like my intel silicon.
A week ago I got my M1 iPad and I am absolutely blown away by its power.
So, very wonderfully, I will soon be happily gaming on my updated PC and in the meantime I will be doing my professional work on my iPad (and MacBook Pro).
It would be cool to have an all in one device, but honestly a gaming rig (either desktop or laptop) is very big. I wouldn't want to lug either around. At the same time, my professional work is done on tiny devices that are very portable with an operating system conducive to my professional work (and Windows 10 is conducive to my gaming on my gaming PC).
So I am quite happy having my specialized devices for their specialized purposes. No big deal. I like Apple silicon and I like my intel silicon.
No doubt. And considering most Intel Macs out there run Intel graphics, what does that say about Intel?
Though I don't consider it a game (like MSFS), I was astonished to find my M1 MBA ran X-Plane 11 flight simulator at good rates and on two displays. Zero complaints. And X-Plane has yet to be ported over to run natively on the M1.
Assuming the rumors are true, I'm looking forward to purchasing the M1X Mac mini with even better performance and more ports. It will be dedicated to running X-Plane with 2-4 displays and USB flight controls.
When has Mac ever been the platform for gaming, though? It has games, but gaming has never, ever been a focus of the platform. It’s like telling someone buying a new family car “Don’t buy a Prius, trucks are better for hauling freight!”
This is an odd ad campaign. Of course Macs are not great gaming machines. I don't know anyone who would buy a mac for any serious gaming.