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[CRAIG667]

Mac, to me, is lowest denominator regarding user experience, they're so minimalistic that lack most basic stuff that Windows and Linux have and you better pray for someone else to have a (normally for a price) solution to a problem nobody else but they have... Also expensive for what they are... Why would anyone want a Mac for playing games?

I have to use mine at work and the sole reason I haven't asked for switching to a Windows machine is because I already spent money on hardware add-ons and software that fix Apple BS, also the possibility to build for iOS.

I'd get it if Mac was necessary for exclusive software but in those cases I don't see money being a problem for getting another PC or console.

As a photographer who also does video editing, the MacBook air with M1 chip is still miles ahead of anything running Windows at a similar price point.

Gaming wise though it's windows all day long for me

 

[Kvally]

As a photographer who also does video editing, the MacBook air with M1 chip is still miles ahead of anything running Windows at a similar price point.

Gaming wise though it's windows all day long for me

I have a new MacBook Air, and that thing is SICK. My wife can't get into Mac (and she doesn't like computers in general). Her laptop was getting slow, so she got a new one earlier this year. She got an MS Surface laptop. The one that has the felt like texture on the keyboard side. It's not bad (for her), but the MacBook Air oozes quality compared to her new Surface.

 

[Crayon]

So from the Diablo IV posting, this whole Proton is a nothingburger? They said that it's not like games are going to come out that support this natively?

The idea with proton is that games don't have to support it natively. At most a dev can check to see how/if it runs on proton and fix something if there's a minor hangup. If it's a deeper issue stopping it from working, they probably can't justify that. But most games work with no intervention. The game thinks its running on windows as normal.

 

[Kvally]

The idea with proton is that games don't have to support it natively. At most a dev can check to see how/if it runs on proton and fix something if there's a minor hangup. If it's a deeper issue stopping it from working, they probably can't justify that. But most games work with no intervention. The game thinks its running on windows as normal.

Well then, I am back on board then. I like that.

 

[Badlucktroll]

is this a nothingburger

 

[nani17]

Here it cyberpunk running on M2 chip

 

[Insane Metal]

Here's Cyberpunk 2077 running on an M1 MacBook Pro

|Damn it looks and runs better than XB1S version

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It works for Steam Deck so it ought to work fine for Macs. I'm actually surprised that Steam never ported their Proton build for Steam Deck over to Mac, it's a completely untapped market for Steam that seems like it would be a no-brainer for Valve.

I would like to play actual games on my M1 MBP, hopefully something comes of this.

 

[hououinkyouma00]

The GPUs in the M1 is really only powerful in comparison with Intel mobile processors.

Look at that video of Cyberpunk running on an M1 Macbook Pro. The game runs only at 14 fps in 1440x900. That's completely unplayable.

It's a game never meant to run on any Mac, running through emulation and at way lower power then basically any GPU in a gaming PC in 2023.

After switching to Mac, I would never go back to Windows. Windows is a crap OS. Linux and Mac are by far better. But Mac lacks gaming, so I hope this is a good solution.

I have both and vastly prefer MacOS over Windows. for everything but gaming obviously. My windows computer is solely for games. my M2 MBA is for everything else. Hell if GFN had support for every game I play I could probably go without the pc entirely.

Ok but, why? Mac feels to me like trying Linux back in 2008 when it seemed to work at first but then stuff just started to lack without going to fix on terminal or doing some very technical thing, in the case of Mac it's mostly paying third parties to solve problems Windows and Linux don't have like ports or making my TV working above 30 Hz at resolutions beyond 720p... Like if I just want to use OS without worrying about all that, then I'd rather go to Windows... I don't get that Mac preference some have, like... Do they like just use the Mac as they come by default or with only Apple periferals without any customization that would be normal on Windows (like monitors, mouse, keyboards, etc.)?

I've never encountered any of the issues you mention outside of the 30fps cap thing on my old monitor/dock when outputting via HDMI. That issue has only been on my MacBook Air and for the time I had the 14" MBP it ran full speed at 1440p. My M2 through USB-C runs fine at 1440p/165hz with VRR. Never once had any issues with mouse or keyboard. What even issues did you have with them?

Plus no RT, even less path tracing.

You sure love RT Don't you? lol

Again it's the first try on hardware not even meant to play games outside of Apple Arcade and running through emulation.

 

[THE DUCK]

Imagine running dozens of emulators in an emulator! Retro gaming here we come!

 

[Crayon]

Here it cyberpunk running on M2 chip

Lookin good!

It works for Steam Deck so it ought to work fine for Macs. I'm actually surprised that Steam never ported their Proton build for Steam Deck over to Mac, it's a completely untapped market for Steam that seems like it would be a no-brainer for Valve.

I would like to play actual games on my M1 MBP, hopefully something comes of this.

There's the additional complication here of having to translate x86 to ARM, as well. Proton doesn't quite handle that, though I suspect one day valve will have something that can.

 

[rodrigolfp]

You sure love RT Don't you? lol

Again it's the first try on hardware not even meant to play games outside of Apple Arcade and running through emulation.

it's about the performance without RT or PT. Would be like 1 fps with PT? And when it's "well optimised" will it at least reach near 60 fps? Maybe with a miracle with Jesus programming.

 

[DrFigs]

Mac computers are amazing for the price

 

[Wildebeest]

Lookin good!



There's the additional complication here of having to translate x86 to ARM, as well. Proton doesn't quite handle that, though I suspect one day valve will have something that can.

Emulating x64 is not something that isn't done. I think that Window on Arm does it without much fuss, but there is a noticeable performance hit. I think it is much better to get a recompile than emulating it.

 

[rodrigolfp]

I'm actually surprised that Steam never ported their Proton build for Steam Deck over to Mac

Maybe because Steam Deck is x86 while these Macs are ARM.

 

[poppabk]

is this a nothingburger

For now other than allowing gaming on a broader range of devices.
A $2000 PC running Cyberpunk at 30FPS at non native 1080p ish resolution without RT is underwhelming.
In the future though .. who knows, it shows that Apple aren't completely oblivious to gaming.

 

[Crayon]

Emulating x64 is not something that isn't done. I think that Window on Arm does it without much fuss, but there is a noticeable performance hit. I think it is much better to get a recompile than emulating it.

I'm not sure how existing x86 emulation works but the reason proton is so performant is that it's doing more of a translation than an emulation. For awhile I said it's not emulation at all, but a developer did inform me that it is sometimes called "high level emulation". So it's not modeling an actual processor to run on and has way less overhead.

 

[Raonak]

Windows sucks.

But Mac sucks even more.

Does this benefit linux gaming?

 

[Topher]

Windows sucks.

But Mac sucks even more.

Does this benefit linux gaming?

Linux already has Proton

 

[Crayon]

Windows sucks.

But Mac sucks even more.

Does this benefit linux gaming?

Kinda. A lot of the games that don't work on proton were due to issues that would have required zero additional effort to avoid had the developer known what to watch out for. Developers getting used to watching out for that kind of stuff will make for better compatibility with linux proton, apple whatever this is called, and other future methods to run windows software without windows.

 

[Drew1440]

Lookin good!



There's the additional complication here of having to translate x86 to ARM, as well. Proton doesn't quite handle that, though I suspect one day valve will have something that can.

Doesn't the M1/2 chip have built in accelerator for transcoding x86 to ARM? That would defiantly help out rather then having a software emulator. Only problem is if Apple release a later processor that removes that functionality.

 

[LiquidMetal14]

It's really hard to knock this if it matures and gets better and then all depends on Apple since they control all the cards with this one. But if this helps expand the reach of PC games I'm all for it. Proton has done great for Linux and is a game changer and I don't want to put this on that level at this time.

Just because it's Apple doesn't mean they automatically get some degree of free pass from having to prove or show that this is as good as other things like that. But at the end of the day, if this opens up being able to play PC games on Apple devices like the new desktops that are $6,000 and higher then great. My only issue is that according to some of the videos that I watched, you cannot add PCI expansion graphics cards since they want to push their M1/M2/R1 (you sunk my battleship?) chips.

So if they claim their hardware is anywhere near as fast as AMD or Intel on the CPU side, they are not competing on the high end with Nvidia. So for them pushing their technology and this barrier of entry, I repeat what I said in the VR headset thread, you cannot be that much of a apple loyalist to see that this is great for the compatibility but once it going to take to run those high-end games and how many compromises do you have to make when Apple themselves make the barrier entry so high and they seem to be limiting the ability to add aftermarket cards to their desktops.

But much like the steam deck maybe the application can be also just for smaller devices or other things that they may introduce that would fit the bill a little bit more assuming they don't give you their patented Apple tax. None of their ecosystem interest me so I'm definitely not the consumer but I damn well sure can see what the value is and I will make that clear if I ever see that. And to be clear, that hasn't happened yet with apple since everything they do is overpriced and it works because people eat it up.

 

[UnNamed]

I still not understand if this is a layer the final user can use for every game, or devs have to recompile theit game with this tool to improve performances.

 

[Badlucktroll]

I still not understand if this is a layer the final user can use for every game, or devs have to recompile theit game with this tool to improve performances.

I think it’s just a matter of time before that becomes a reality.