Everything you need to play on Mac

Macs were never intended for slot machines, but today it is quite possible. Here’s what you need.

Are Macs good machines for gaming? Somehow. Macs, and especially MacBooks, are not optimized for gaming to say the least, and most games are not compatible with macOS. That being said, Mac games have come a long way in recent years, and it’s now very easy to find games and play them on an Apple computer.

Of course, Windows PCs, portable or not, are still the best choice for demanding gamers, but the Mac is a very viable gaming platform if you have what you need.

Find games for macOS

Despite the company’s reputation for running out of games, the truth is that today thousands of PC and iOS games are compatible with macOS. Platforms such as Steam, the Epic Game Store, and GOG offer dedicated search filters for macOS, and many games in the Apple App Store and Apple Arcade also run natively on Macs with the M1 chip.

However, these stores do not have all available games. Many Blizzard games, including World of Warcraft, Overwatch, and Diablo III, run on the Mac but can only be downloaded through the dedicated Battle.Net launcher.

Whichever method you use to install games, take the time to carefully review the technical requirements for each before you buy it to make sure your Mac can run it. If you’re looking for a new Mac and want to experiment with it, your best bet is a new MacBook with at least 16GB of storage, 256GB of onboard storage, and either an Apple Silicon (currently M1) or Intel i7 chip. processor or i9. At the same time, less well-equipped machines will be able to run games that require fewer resources. In fact, many of the best games of all time that run on modest PCs will run just fine on macOS. If you’d rather have your games on disc than download them, feel free to check their compatibility on sites like the Macintosh Repository.

Cloud gaming on Mac

While many good games natively support macOS, most do not. Luckily, cloud gaming can fill that void. Services like Google Stadia, Amazon Luna or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate let you play hundreds of the latest PC and console games through your web browser. You can also stream your games from your PC, PlayStation or Xbox console to your Mac via Wi-Fi, and since these games can be played remotely, you can enjoy games that are not normally compatible with macOS or Mac computers.

While there are downsides to cloud gaming – the main ones are definitely the required internet connection, good speed and possible input lag – it’s a very good solution for today’s gamers on any Mac that supports the latest version of Chrome, as long as you’re online. – The connection has sufficient speed and is very stable.

How to improve video games on Mac

While finding games to play is probably the most important, there are a few things to keep in mind to optimize the experience:

• Use Peripherals: Mac trackpads and keyboards aren’t designed for gaming, and machines often don’t have the audio you need in particular. Controller, headset, mouse, keyboard, so many Windows peripherals that work very well on a Mac, both with and without a wired connection.
• Delete unnecessary data. Recent games take up a lot of space, 20 GB on average and up to 100 GB for some games. If you plan to install them directly, take the time to free up some space on your Mac.
• Playing while connected to the network: A video game consumes a lot of power and therefore consumes a lot of battery power. To make matters worse, battery saver modes slow down machine performance, so turn them off for gaming.
• Use the maximum possible internet connection. If you use cloud games or play online, you need a reliable connection with good speed. Connecting directly to your router via Ethernet or via a 5G mobile hotspot will give you the best.
• Close applications in the background. Games require maximum resources, do not forget to close applications before playing. If you play online or through the cloud, disable tasks that consume traffic – streaming video or audio, various downloads, etc. -.

All of these tricks won’t turn your Mac into a gaming monster, but you can enjoy great gaming sessions.