That means that even if your Mac can crush games within the first six months of its lifespan, it’s going to start to lag after that. And game developers are always trying to push the limits with their games.

PC gamers are constantly adding newer, better components to their PCs. Consoles are regularly replaced by substantially more powerful machines. What you buy is what you’ll have until you sell that machine.īut this doesn’t work for gaming! Gamers need to be able to upgrade their machines. So, to summarize, you have a low-specced machine running a graphics-intensive app that hasn’t been optimized for it without a graphics card.Īnother problem with gaming on Mac is that the vast majority of Macs aren’t upgradeable. And Macs, until the M1, didn’t have a dedicated graphics card. Instead, they rely on the machine to carry most of the power needed.Īdditionally, games are very graphics intensive. Gaming apps are hardly ever optimized to the system that they’re running on to a noticeable degree. However, gaming apps do not follow this path.

And Mac developers tend to follow this trend, which makes third-party apps feel smooth, too. Your apps aren’t treated like a separate process that your Mac is running, but an extension of the OS. And they also make most of the apps you’ll use on a Mac.īecause of this, each app on Mac runs in harmony with the system. Apple builds the hardware and operating system for every computer they sell. The reason Macs still feel smooth and snappy, especially when compared to Windows machines, is because of optimization. That includes processors, RAM, and graphics. Anyone who knows anything about hardware knows that (pre-M1) Macs tend to ship with older, slower hardware. So if Macs are so adept at handling these difficult tasks, why do they struggle with the simplest games?

Video editors, graphic designers, photographers, all tend to gravitate towards Mac. They’re often preferred by professionals, especially by professionals with intense needs. I think the reason most people find this phenomenon so mind-boggling is that Macs are expensive, powerful machines. Why is gaming on Mac so bad? Low specs vs. Are M1 Macs better for gaming than Intel Macs?.Use WINE if you don’t want to set up Boot Camp 6 ways to improve gaming on Mac in 2021.

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