Two Unreleased Macs Spotted in Steam's Database

[Edgecrusherr]

Why can't Apple Silicon be better-than-servicable, or possibly be even good at gaming?

Couldn't all those Neural Engine processors be tuned for something Apple could call Metal Super Sampling or Apple Super Sampling? Couldn't Apple customize future silicon to manage/crunch Ray Tracing? Beyond games, seems like there could be multiple use cases...

The chips in the SoC are really good at gaming, it’s just that 1) Apple didn’t specifically design them for high end gaming, and 2) since Metal is an Apple only technology, not a lot of AAA developers want to spend a lot of time crafting game for it.the software is the biggest huddle overall. Anyone making high end games for mobile are already programming in metal, so they’ll bring their games over with no problem, but companies that build for DirectX and Vulkan don’t want to put the effort into Metal. Thankfully Metal 3 brought some very important features of Vulkan, allows easier porting via MoltenVK, but it’s not perfect, and not quite there yet.

As far as direct gaming with Metal (and even MoltenVK), my MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro SoC runs Wii U and even Switch games via emulation very well, and does a great job with any other native game. I can even play some pretty high end games in a Windows VM.

 

[exoticSpice]

At least they're not naming them like AMD does their GPUS. 7900XT and 7900XTX.

That would be a little silly like iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Ma... wait...

take a look at AMDs new laptop naming. its worse than Apples.

 

[ccsicecoke]

Apple should be back to Macworld and release new models there

 

[lazyrighteye]

Imagine buying a mac for gaming.

Heh… I literally picked up an M1 mini for my son for Xmas (couldn’t hold out for the likely looming M2 version). It literally delivered this past Friday. He plays some titles, specifically Kerbal Space Program, via Steam on my mid-2014 MBP. It should suffice for his needs. For now. We’ll see. 😜

 

[profcutter]

The chips in the SoC are really good at gaming, it’s just that 1) Apple didn’t specifically design them for high end gaming, and 2) since Metal is an Apple only technology, not a lot of AAA developers want to spend a lot of time crafting game for it.the software is the biggest huddle overall. Anyone making high end games for mobile are already programming in metal, so they’ll bring their games over with no problem, but companies that build for DirectX and Vulkan don’t want to put the effort into Metal. Thankfully Metal 3 brought some very important features of Vulkan, allows easier porting via MoltenVK, but it’s not perfect, and not quite there yet.

As far as direct gaming with Metal (and even MoltenVK), my MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro SoC runs Wii U and even Switch games via emulation very well, and does a great job with any other native game. I can even play some pretty high end games in a Windows VM.

So can it run Pokémon violet at a reasonable FPS? That would be an improvement over the switch!

 

[koelsh]

So can it run Pokémon violet at a reasonable FPS? That would be an improvement over the switch!

Maybe as the game is released today but by golly they’ll find some way to misuse all the processing power they can get their hands on in updates and future releases.

 

[amaze1499]

It's probably the looooong awaited iPhone Air Pro... Nike Max. Preloaded with the upcoming U2 album.
Including a new, major redesign: Just this time it's based on quantum physics. But I cant tell you more.

 

[Matsamoto]

At least Apple knows, how poor macOS steam library is, after they killed thousands of 32 bit games. Such a strange feeling that you cannot play Portal 2 or Grid 2, that was inside of older macs presentations, just because this is too hard to make minimal compatibility layer on software level.

I'm no expert, but I know there is emulators so you can play more and older games on a Mac😊

 

[opeter]

Can I just have an M2 Mac mini please?

Yes, please. The same configuration options as the M2 Macbook Pro 13", just with more (usable) ports.

 

[Wiesławo]

Mac Mini w/ 4 Monitor support!

Shouldn't have to buy a Studio just for that.

That's your perspective, and Apple has a completely different one, and it's hard not to agree with them at least partially, if not completely. Just because your job may consist of displaying static content on 4 screens and the basic model can handle it doesn't mean that everyone will approach it the same way. What do you think the company should do? Add in small text support for 4 screens under the condition that you run only: and here is a list of programs? Absurd.

The consumer experience has to be top notch (at least by design) and Apple has to deliver it given the scenario where the user hits performance limits. M2 with four screens may work for one and not for the other, and suddenly we have a terrible image, class action lawsuits. What is it for the company?

 

[Mr. Dee]

Gaming is so overrated and pointless. Solitaire, similar card games and chess is about all the games any user needs. These call of duty and whatever activision makes are just waste of time I don’t have a life gimmicks. I know, because I lived with a worthless roommate that played PC games all night and pretended to go to work. I enjoyed seeing him evicted. Bout’ he’s a game tester for Microsoft. 🙄 It’s one segment of the industry I wish never really existed. When geniuses like Gates and Jobs never got gaming you really know how stupid gaming really is.

 

[_Spinn_]

This is interesting. Can’t wait to find out what they are.

 

[opeter]

These call of duty and whatever activision makes are just waste of time I don’t have a life gimmicks.

I agree. One can always go to Ukraine, Syria etc. Wherever there's a job for mercenary in real life.

Because you don't get the experience of your Life in games like Call of Duty etc.
And native Mac gaming? That is a bygone era...

Now you have Proton, WINE etc. and you can try to load and run Windows software with these.

 

[koelsh]

Gaming is so overrated and pointless. Solitaire, similar card games and chess is about all the games any user needs. These call of duty and whatever activision makes are just waste of time I don’t have a life gimmicks. I know, because I lived with a worthless roommate that played PC games all night and pretended to go to work. I enjoyed seeing him evicted. Bout’ he’s a game tester for Microsoft. 🙄 It’s one segment of the industry I wish never really existed. When geniuses like Gates and Jobs never got gaming you really know how stupid gaming really is.

Quick question, are there any movies, TV shows, or books that you like?

Apply your expression about video games to movies and TV shows then once The Great Gatsby was written they should have stopped writing books. Once the Wizard of Oz wrapped filming they should have burned all of Hollywood and made it farm land. After the Andy Griffith show was broadcast they should have encased the cameras in vats of concrete.

Any form of media can be taken to an extreme, even posting on these forums but I can’t sleep so here I am at 3:30 AM writing this reply.

 

[Bug-Creator]

I strongly suspect the M2Pro/Max will be 5nm (if it wasn't confirmed allready), and who knows what the M2 Ultra wil be.

I'd say it is 99% certain that the M2-Ultra will be "just" 2 M2Max side by side.

The will also almost certain offer the 12GB RAM chips as a 3rd top option for everything from M2 to M2-Ultra so you can just multiply the current max config for every tier by 1.5 to get the new max tier.

4/3nm won't show up before M3 (naming for the MacPro chip aside).

 

[syklee26]

Why not mac for gaming? It certainly has sufficient juice. I wouldnt want two desktops at my house. My mac studio should be able to handle most of games, and Apple should engineer m processors to allow egpus.

 

[Bug-Creator]

and Apple should engineer m processors to allow egpus.

To what point?

Everything M1 (with maybe the exception of the M1Pro) has a buildin GPU that kinda fits the power of the CPU.

Even if you could add an external GPU you would need to go very high end to get any benefits and even these might not materialize due to the limited bandwidth.

The issue ain't HW, it is SW. As in Apple not providing the API that game developers want and game developers simply not seeing Macs as a valid target or not putting in as much effort into it as the would catering AMD, NVidia or even Intel GPUs.

 

[Marsikus]

Gaming is so overrated and pointless. Solitaire, similar card games and chess is about all the games any user needs. These call of duty and whatever activision makes are just waste of time I don’t have a life gimmicks. I know, because I lived with a worthless roommate that played PC games all night and pretended to go to work. I enjoyed seeing him evicted. Bout’ he’s a game tester for Microsoft. 🙄 It’s one segment of the industry I wish never really existed. When geniuses like Gates and Jobs never got gaming you really know how stupid gaming really is.

It was idea of Gate’s time in Microsoft, to add Solitaire to teach users using mouse. Many users struggled with mouse before that.
And I have seen a lot of people addicted to Solitaire and similar «harmless and small» games.

 

[amartinez1660]

Lots more to add still!

Limited
Platinum
King Ranch
Orvis Edition
Harley Davidson
Eddie Bauer

I’ll totally get a M3 Chuck Norris, it will blast all benchmarks

 

[GuruZac]

I would love to see a 15-16” MacBook non-Pro model. The Air is such a sweet spot and I think they’d sell a lot of larger non-Pro laptops.

 

[switz]

In my Apple experience since 1990, the latest processor was always starved for data from both internal and external devices as the transfer speeds were just not there with spinning discs. The advent of the SSDs helped but the earlier protocols were still the same as the spinners of the day were using.

My wife and I both got the 16" I9 Intel laptops with every option in December of 2019. Mine has the 8TB SSD and hers has the TB SSD. We have lot of external devices that work just fine. The four USB-C port allowed for great flexibility connecting these devices as needed.

For backup, we have a fully optioned last model Intel Mac mini with 64GB of OWC Ram, 2 TB SSD and 10Gbit ethernet with an external four disc Raid. The cache rapidly gets filled with incoming data and the processor is at 25% because the writes to the array are constrained but the spinners inside the box. Until the current MacOS does not support the Intel processor, there is no need to upgrade to the M series mini as a file server.

We did upgrade to a 10Gbit ethernet switch and Cat 6a cables for data transfer which helps some on the network.

I bought a M1 16Gb 1TD SASD Mac Book Air when it first was offered to see the processor improvements. We will keep it for family use but it sure is quiet and runs cool.

I ordred the 14" M1 Max 64GB 4TB SSD and ee it can easily last five or six years with the power it has.

I retired my 2013 MacPro 128GB and 2TB SSD for a fully loaded Mac Studio Ultra 128GB ram and 8TB SSD. Lots of power. Because all three have M1 chips, their boot process is in single core mode and the elapsed time to screen working is nearly identical. Also upgraded the two 2013 27" Apple displays to the new Studio Displays.

Maxing out the specs at acquisition enables long use. We do not expect to acquire new Macs for years.

 

[Luposian]

Can I just have an M2 Mac mini please?

Me, too! Well, as long as they keep memory "even" multiples (8Gb, 16Gb, 32Gb), not "odd" multiples of 8Gb (8Gb, 16Gb, 24Gb), like they did when they first launched the M2. And let's make sure that the SSD works right this time. None of that slower performance garbage.

 

[Edgecrusherr]

So can it run Pokémon violet at a reasonable FPS? That would be an improvement over the switch!

Hardware-wise it’s very capable of doing that (Switch can even run through Hypervisor, so native code, not emulation!), it’s just that they’re still working through game compatibility right now. So, most, if not all, limitations are software related. If someone ports it to iPad, we could easily be playing Switch games with one of those joycon-like tablet game controllers that go onto the side.

The really great thing about a lot of these hardware manufactures going to ARM is that it’s similar to as if everyone was on x86 15 years ago, a lot of the code is the same at a hardware level, it’s just a matter of working through the individual platform’s APIs.

 

[siri_3005]

Hardware-wise it’s very capable of doing that (Switch can even run through Hypervisor, so native code, not emulation!), it’s just that they’re still working through game compatibility right now. So, most, if not all, limitations are software related. If someone ports it to iPad, we could easily be playing Switch games with one of those joycon-like tablet game controllers that go onto the side.

The really great thing about a lot of these hardware manufactures going to ARM is that it’s similar to as if everyone was on x86 15 years ago, a lot of the code is the same at a hardware level, it’s just a matter of working through the individual platform’s APIs.

But would it be possible to run emulators like RPCS3 and Xenia?

 

[TheMacDaddy1]

Maybe, just maybe, the advent of Steam gaming on Apple Silicon is upon us

Hahahaha not likely. Sure, the M series chips run the emulation faster, but these games from Steam are not native (maybe a few but a very few), just wrapped in some way...using wine, play on mac, crossover, proton in some way.