Good news… All M series Macs have their GPUs built into the SOC and are included in the price. From 8 to 64 cores depending on the processor. And some people out there actually buy $50,000+ Macs. Usually for production video work and not gaming though.
It isn’t really the hardware that prevents Macs from being very capable gaming machines. It is Apple’s Metal Graphics API. While this is a very capable API, it doesn’t have the adoption that other graphic APIs do. However both the Unity and Unreal Engines do support it so it could gain traction if Apple puts some work in with developers. The majority of their App Store income already comes from games so it would be in their interest to do so.
I have a mac air with the M1 chip. It can run both wow and warcraft reforged with ease. I would imagine getting the new M2 mac air would offer even better performance! (Opinion: Get the new M2!!!).
Apple doesn’t build their own GPUs if I recall. Metal is OS supported. I also believe OpenGL/Vulkan are forcibly OS supported since they’re cross-platform standards. If not, all the more reason to tell Apple to go screw themselves.
All the components of an M series processor are on a single chip… CPU, GPU, SSD storage, RAM Memory, RAM Bus, Thunderbolt/USB Bus, video encoders, machine learning processors, and security enclave.
Apple has made their own GPU cores since their A10X series processor in iPhones. The M series of processors is based on A14.
Currently, there are only one Mac that can be purchased with an Intel CPU that would require a separate GPU, The Mac Pro. The Pro comes with Intel Xeon processors with up to 28 cores and you can choose up to 2 AMD W6900X GPUs with up to 32 GB of RAM each to be installed. The Pro is can cost tens of thousands of dollars though.
My ignorance is exactly how much I didn’t want to believe this.
Screw Apple. Screw using a non-cross platform API. They can go jump off a bridge with how much they’re trying to isolate themselves from the rest of the tech world.
P.S. SOC is a dumb acronym.
P.P.S Don’t buy a Mac for gaming. Support your local game devs by allowing them to continue utilizing cross platform capabilities. Force Apple to change.
Microsoft is equally guilty in this case, since they use DirectX which is only available on Windows and Xbox. The only reason Windows supports Vulkan (the only true modern cross platform graphics API) is because Nvidia, AMD, and Intel write Vulkan drivers for Windows.
In fact that’s been a huge hurdle for gaming on Linux, which has only become somewhat decent in recent years thanks to herculean efforts on the part of volunteer developers to create software that translates DirectX to Vulkan. Without that PC gaming would be terminally locked to Windows thanks to the dominance of Windows-only DirectX.
Microsoft could forgo writing Vulkan/OpenGL bindings into their OS, yet they don’t. Consider them as evil as you want, they’re clearly not on Apple’s level.
From what I know Metal is more akin to Vulkan than it is OpenGL. Vulkan’s pretty darn awesome but a little low level for most folk’s taste. Thankfully there’s some dedicated devs out there who make universal API’s.
Still, it’s sad how hard companies like Apple want to overpower the tech world through segregation. Open source and cross platform are becoming more and more dominating as time goes on. Opting out is such a big step backwards.
That’s part of what I’m getting at though, Vulkan’s presence on Windows is mostly the doing of GPU vendors, not Microsoft, and though OpenGL support on Windows is in a better state than that of macOS, it still isn’t rosy – for all but the most simple use cases you’re better off using Direct2D, DirectX, or Vulkan.
If Microsoft wanted to further openness in gaming, the best thing they could do would be to make DirectX 13 essentially Vulkan with some garnishing and make it open. I highly doubt they’ll do that though, because it’s in their best interest to keep developers on proprietary DirectX.
You’re partially correct. It’s in their best interest to keep gaming on their platform. Allowing Vulkan/OpenGL permits that. DirectX12 still dominates the market through triple A titles and Microsoft buyouts, but open source is picking up steam through indie developers with no ties.
Supporting Linux and OSX is just as critical to game devs as it is to support Windows. The folks who make the libraries/engines put in the effort to be cross platform by whatever means, but part of that is using cross platform capability when they can. Apple support won’t drop any time soon but it will only receive the support it does through dedicated devs who makeup a smaller percent of the overall devs on the project.
For unoptimized code yes, I’d compare it closer to 1660Ti for optimized code. WoW is optimized because Apple literally paid for it to be. The bigger concern IMO is thermals. I’d highly suggest a mac with a fan… just me.
No, get a windows laptop. Macbooks are made for programming and design, not gaming.
Meanwhile Apple slows down older devices to force you to buy new ones, and its been proven and exposed. Its pathetic.
I don’t put it past them to slow down Macbooks that get old via secret updates to force you into new ones. I think they should be called MacScams, cause you don’t own it.
Okay I didn’t expect this many comments and I thank you all for them. But I wanted to take the time to mention I already have a PC desktop for gaming. My current Mac (iMac) is 10+ years and instead of getting another iMac I want to get a laptop for when I leave the house. I would only use this laptop for 3 things: Work, web surfing and scratching that WoW itch.
I was looking into a Macbook Pro for the number of ports and a fan, but its now old unless it gets an M2 chip and its pricy for what I want to do with it. If I do get the Macbook Air I will have to find a Heat sink and dongles for any port I need like a wired mouse and an external storage. Also I’m not going to be away from home a lot but I still want the means to play WoW on it.
As someone on the IT field for almost 3 decades , use both *nix an windows , built many computers and servers for work and on and on.
The first thing to advise someone as to what computer or OS to use? It’s never loyalty to a company it’s ALWAYS “what are you looking to do with it?”
Point is different systems have strengths and weaknesses for different tasks.
Ease of use , academic research, don’t really care about gaming but might want to play some…if they have the cash I don’t see wrong with going Mac.
Game centric machines are Windows machine recommendations all the time. Simply state the sheer volume of titles and available hardware on top of the ability to OC and tweak settings and configurations is still the best on Windows boxes.
That is literally fact not opinion btw. More apps games peripherals and other hardware is supported by a “WinTel” (or “WinAMD” if so inclined) than any *nix or Mac OS platform, particularly for gaming.
As for ‘nix options my head goes to business especially data crunching/data bases.
But of course you could do that on other platforms. I just think “hardcore” data solutions are still mastered by non windows solutions.
I have played on an M1 2020 macbook air, it ran fine. The newer M processors are even faster so you shouldnt have issues. Look and see if the Air has fans in it i dont remember if not id get the pro since it does.
I have an m1 mac pro for work, I’m honestly a little unimpressed.
The battery is pretty good, but a full day of meetings (most of which include camera+voice) can still drain the battery from 100 to 0. It also weighs more than my 7 year old lap top I replaced 3.5 lbs vs. 3.
Can you game on an M1 mac? As was said above yes you can. However support for other games is extremely limited.
So I would take a serious look at your use case other than just WoW. Do you play other games (or steam)? Is it for school? Does it support all of the software you need? Etc.
I have a 2012 Mac Mini which is my main computer. I use the windows systems for compatibility, the old one for teaching a class, the new one for games.
I’d like to upgrade my Mac but some people say the M1 is too new, wait for the M2. Are there M1 upgrades? Should we wait for M2? How do you and others feel?
The 13" Macbook Pro has the M2 chip now. Just a 2016 body. It still has the dreaded touch bar. The 14" and 16" will receive the M2 Pro and M2 Max processors when they are available.
The M2 is available now. It is 10-20% faster than the M1 and has up to 10 graphic cores instead of 8.
