As a dedicated Windows PC gamer and owner of some of the best gaming PCs on the market, I’ve covered in depth Apple’s recent attempts to finally capitalize on its excellent M-series silicon and expand its gaming platform for the best MacBooks and Macs. Progress seemed slower than molasses for a while, with some solid ports announced and released that showed off what Apple’s hardware could do, as well as a partnership with developer and game director Hideo Kojima. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a lot of substantial progress in the long term, which had me quite concerned.
Then came WWDC 2024, and with it some big announcements from Apple that changed the increasingly bleak outlook almost immediately. Just before the event, Apple revealed that Shadows of Assassin's Creed would be coming to Mac alongside PC and consoles on November 15, 2024. During the conference, it was also announced that Shadows would be coming to iPad.
Since then, there's been a flurry of other Mac gaming-related news, including other titles coming to Apple's platforms, developer toolkits that make porting and developing games even easier, and more. But what really sold me on it was my personal experience at a recent gaming showcase, which was incredible.
Apple Games: Reviews and Hands-on Experience
I was able to try out several games on iPad, iPhone, and Mac devices, both hands-on and in live demos. These included titles like Control, Mirage from Assassin's CreedGround zero without zen, Immortal DevilValheim, Frostpunk 2and Pal WorldWhat impressed me even more was how smoothly games ran between these devices, as even an iPhone could handle AAA titles.
Ground zero without zen It was easily one of the most impressive demos of the day. It ran at an absolutely smooth 120fps frame rate on an M4 iPad. Similarly, Mirage from Assassin's Creed Performance on the M4 iPad was almost as good as on the iMac. Even testing it on the iPhone turned out to be a pretty impressive experience, as it ran surprisingly well at high settings (though not without some stuttering).
ValheimWhile it's not an immediately demanding game in terms of graphics, it is a massive open-world title that's procedurally generated and therefore requires a solid desktop setup to run smoothly, something the iMac handled with ease. Pal Worlda similar game also ran fine with no visible issues or stutters. Punk Glacier 2 and Immortal DevilTwo equally massive games, albeit from different genres, ran on both Mac and iPad without a hitch; in fact, I often forgot I was playing on an iPad because the experience was so fluid.
Apple has also introduced a lot of gameplay tools and features that enhance the overall experience. While watching a live demo of Control Ultimate Edition and then playing it myself, I saw how well it ran on a Mac device and how well it performed using the Crossover developer toolkit, which allows for playing Windows games that aren’t yet playable on Mac devices. While not perfect, gameplay was fluid and nearly tear-free, maintaining close to 60fps even during the most frenetic combat scenes.
Game Porting Toolkit 2 is another development toolkit for porting titles to the Mac, allowing developers to bring their titles to the platform much faster. This sequel to the original version further streamlines development for the Mac and makes it easier to bring existing Mac games to iPhone and iPad.
There’s also Game Mode, which is available now for Mac devices and coming to iPad and iPhone in fall 2024. This mode helps minimize background activity during a gaming session, providing even smoother frame rates and lower latency.
Personalized Spatial Audio is a tool that significantly reduces audio latency and improves audio quality when voice chat is active, boosting in-game audio with high-quality 16-bit, 48KHz audio. The Mac App Store is also seeing some major improvements: game file sizes will require significantly less storage space, and players can choose to switch to an alternate disc for installation.
The latest big addition is the Unified Gaming Platform, which takes advantage of the fact that iPad, iPhone and Mac all share the same software and hardware technology, with compatibility starting with the iPhone 15 Pro, all iPads with an M-series chip, and all Macs in the lineup starting with the M1 series.
By combining these features with Game Porting Toolkit 2, developers can develop a single version of a game for all three platforms, unlike consoles and PCs, which require multiple versions. This has already been used to great success with Death Stranding: Director's Cut, Assassin's Creed Mirage, and the recently released Resident Evil 7 biohazard.
The future of Mac gaming looks bright
I’ve been equal parts optimistic and critical of Apple’s efforts with its Mac gaming initiative, pointing out both its positives and drawbacks. But starting with WWDC 2024 and following the recent unveiling of games on Apple devices, I’m really seeing the dream of fully supported Mac gaming come true.
There is Several points I have made above that Apple needed to fulfill in order to really capture my attention as a gamer and as someone who wants Mac gaming to take off. After WWDC 2024, the tech giant has already managed to satisfy two of these conditions. Now, if Apple can work on satisfying the last condition and start profiling more studios, that would increase the number of eyes on its gaming initiatives and encourage more developers and gamers to invest in Apple devices.
Despite this, the The future of Mac gaming looks brighterHopefully, we'll see even more good news in the future, until the day comes when Macs can compete with PCs in terms of game library and popularity (since performance is already assured). Why? Because more competition is always better, leading to more innovation and constant updates to services, toolkits, hardware, and more.
