Are Macs Good For Gaming?

The Apple Macintosh was, upon its inception in 1984, marketed as the “computer for the rest of us” — a simple computer for those who did not want to deal with the intricacies or expense of professional-level computers.

In order to achieve this goal, however, sacrifices had to be made — and one of these was gaming (or rather, gaming performance).

While the Mac was an amazing machine, it wasn’t exactly a powerhouse. Macs have more software-based optimization than raw hardware power and their selection of games is much smaller than what’s available on Windows, making it not the best option for gaming.

Integrated GPU vs Discreet GPU

A graphics processing unit or GPU is a single chip or processor that directs and accelerates the visual part of computer multimedia. It is your computer’s window to the latest games.

Integrated GPUs are built into the motherboard. They’re cheaper than discreet GPUs, but because they’re on the motherboard itself, they aren’t as powerful.

Discreet GPUs are connected to the motherboard and are faster than integrated GPUs. They also have more memory bandwidth which means less video lag or stuttering. This is important for high frame rate games.

A gamer will want a dedicated or discrete graphics card, not one that shares resources with their CPU. Your GPU can make all the difference in how immersive gameplay feels!

What Mac Uses

Before the launch of Apple’s M1 chip, lower-end Apple models use a graphics processor that’s integrated with the processor chipset. Discreet GPU can only be found in 13-inch and 17-inch Macbook Pro.

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While integrated GPU is fine for basic video editing and whatnot, it’s woefully inadequate for gaming.

With the launch of the M1 chip, everything has been integrated into a single chip. This makes the whole system more efficient in terms of power and heat, but it also means less gaming-level performance.

Incompatible Software

Even if we disregard hardware for a moment, MacOS has always had compatibility problems with certain software. For gamers, this is an issue because it means that you won’t be able to play certain games.

Solutions exist for getting Windows on your Mac to allow you access to the full library of software available on the PC platform.

The downside of doing this is that sometimes the process can be complicated and prone to failure, which can leave you with a very expensive doorstop.

Conclusion

Macs, in general, are not good for gaming. If you’re looking to play current generation titles on demand then a Mac will be sorely lacking in that department.

If you’re just looking for a casual PC-style gaming experience, there are definitely options. And perhaps in the future, Apple will make something with more graphics processing power and fewer software optimization issues. That would be nice!

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