I bought a used M2 Macbook Air (8gb 256gb), for around $450~ USD, it's my first time with an M-chip Macbook, and I just want to say, HOW?

How can I run League of Legends full graphics at 150-200~ FPS (on battery, mind you), connect my RGB Keyboard, my 1k polling rate mouse, play a full 30 minute game, and see that my battery only dropped 15~%?

How can I just run Windows and install GTA V, and run it at 60 fps? HOW? Really, I struggle to understand this.

My 2.5k dollar gaming laptop shits the bed if I unplug it, and it will NOT last 30 minutes of a League game, let alone a playing session on GTA V.

This is insanity.

When I first placed the purchase, I was a little bit disappointed, because I had not known about M4's (that start at 16gb) being on really good deals too, and I was sad thinking 8gb was just not gonna be enough, or, after watching Tech reviews comparing them, that M2 wasn't gonna be the powerhouse I was expecting it to... but oh boy could I ever have been more wrong?

This. Shit. Games. Coming from a PC only gamer, this blows me away.

And yeah, the comments were right, it doesn't overheat as much as tech reviewers like to say it does. I was expecting it to boil, or to be damaging to the touch.. but, no. It's fine. You can definitely still use the keys without minding it for a split second.

This is a reminder for all potential buyers out there, if you have barely enough money to get the cheapest one on a good deal, and you need it, just get it. Get the most entry version, and you'll be more than happy with it. (of course.. if it's valuable enough to get a good deal on a 16gb, do that too. but my point is: entry lineup is way better than it's given credit for.)

Your two prompt Claude Opus decomp is not moving Mac gaming forward. It’s crowding the space and overshadowing quality efforts fighting for the same real estate and attention.

Most your “decomps” aren’t even remotely decompilations, by any definition. They’re just emulator wrappers bundled into a dmg. You didn’t decompile or create anything at all. You took a hasty, low-effort AI output and posted it online without any quality control or test casing.

It’s not AI’s fault either. This is all human choice. AI will be instrumental in moving this method forward, because it’s very labor intensive. However, overwhelming the space with 50 “native” GTA clones is going ensure that projects that deserve the most attention are going to be competing against slop.

Just look at all these new Adobe clones. On the surface they look like perfect replicas. However a quick test-drive instantly shows they’re no where near prime time (at the present moment at least). Your projects are no different. A surface level replica, with a ton of cut corners behind the scenes, that you’re not remotely qualified to mitigate.

Why bother? Leave it with the people that actually know what they’re doing before it’s too late.

Like at least make some Exclusive games or something

Hello! Been working on this for a bit and just hit a point where it feels ready to share.

For those that didn't know it, OpenEmu is the best retro gaming frontend ever made for Mac -- unified library, automatic box art, native macOS UI that actually feels like it belongs. The original project went quiet a couple years ago and the official build still requires Rosetta on Apple Silicon.

A month or so ago I was wondering if anyone was trying to maintain the project and when I saw things were mostly silent but that there were a few holdout forks of the original project, I wondered if I could I start fixing bugs in on one of the existing forks of the project.

What started as poking at a few bugs in the repo by a Github user named bazley 🙇‍♂️ turned into maintaining my own fork, getting the app running natively on my macbook properly, rebuilding core support that had been abandoned, and -- somewhere along the way -- I got 200 commits deep and had set up an Apple developer account. The first time I got Ocarina of Time running on my Mac through an N64 core I'd helped get working was a magical feeling.

That project is now: OpenEmu-Silicon, a native ARM64 build I've been running with great success on my M1 Macbook and something I've shared with a few friends for testing and fun.

I'm posting because I just finished packaging up a first release, it's notarized (no Gatekeeper warnings, no right-click workarounds), and people keep asking in this sub whether there's a working Apple Silicon version I wanted to share it with the community of folks that may also be hoping something like this would emerge.

If you've been using RetroArch or ES-DE because OpenEmu was stuck on Rosetta, this might be worth a look. It's open source, free, and I'm actively maintaining it.

The repo is here. Issues, PRs, Help Articles, and Discussions are all open and I'd love feedback.

Thank you! I truly hope someone else out there enjoys it.

---

A final note and a few things I want to be upfront about: I use Claude Code for basically everything. I review everything, test everything, and make all the direction calls, but I'm not writing Swift and Objective-C from scratch. And I want to be clear about what this is and isn't, I'm a user who loved this software and didn't want it to disappear. Everything in this build stands on the foundation the original team laid. The emulation cores, the SDK, the UI framework, the shader system, I didn't invent any of that. I've been working to keep it running on modern hardware, and that's a much smaller thing than what they did. If the original team ever picks this back up, I'll hand it over cheerfully and delete my fork. Until then, I'll do my best to take care of what they made. 🙇‍♂️

Edit: I've already published a hotfix to hopefully fix some of the issues reported where the emulator cores would not load properly in certain situations. Just hit check for updates in the menu and get the new one! Thanks for the feedback. Keep the issues and features coming. Goodnight and good luck. 🫡

Additional Edit -- Comprehensive list of all Contributions to Date: 🙏

OpenEmu-Silicon builds on the original OpenEmu project, the ARM64 port by bazley82, and earlier foundational work by some users I couldn't track down. Emulation cores come from their respective upstream projects via OpenEmu's core repositories. The app icon is by hectorlizard, a recent addition. 🙏

For this repo specifically: a review of pystIC's fork of bazley's fork identified the Metal 4 shader crash fix and fast math optimization that landed in PR #44, 3 additions and 5 deletions total and very appreciated, removing a buggy Metal 4 range check and adding fastMathEnabled = true, and flagged the mGBA and SNES9x version gaps tracked in #42 and #43.

Full credits with links are in the Contributors file in the repo and the original OpenEmu team and it's designers are attributed in the original Illustrators file.

Update: We've made a lot of progress since this post was created, including an initial rollout of RetroAchievements and getting Dolphin up and running.

CodeWeavers is a business. If people stop buying CrossOver because they find a free alternative that better suits their needs, that’s a business problem they have to respond to. Improve the product, offer something that free alternatives can’t, provide better compatibility and support, explore different revenue models, or find other ways to fund development. That’s how competition works. CodeWeavers isn’t some tiny indie developer who’ll immediately collapse if a few people stop buying CrossOver.

I’ve noticed a trend here where of people telling Mac users to “just get a PC” whenever gaming questions about Mac comes up.

Let me be clear:

Most Mac users already know Windows is generally better for gaming. We’ve all heard “just get Windows” countless times.

We still choose Macs because of the other benefits: battery life, speed, ecosystem, build quality, and yes, even if gaming is more limited. For us, those trade-offs add to the overall experience.

What some people don’t seem to understand is that wider compatibility with PC games isn’t a selling point for everyone. It’s just a fact.

Think of it this way: there’s water everywhere in the world, but you don’t move to another country just to drink it. You stay where the rest of your life makes sense. Macs are the same—we choose them for the bigger picture, not just one use case.

Apple definitely needs to nurture their relationships with gaming companies for us to have more but it’s moving for sure.

That’s me for today 👌🏿. Enjoy Mac gaming y’all!

The new Games app looks fantastic, it’s sleek, intuitive, and perfectly aligned with the new Liquid Glass macOS aesthetic. Just like other native apps, it feels right at home on macOS. While I’m sure it has its limitations (and I’ve already noticed a few), it’s still a big step in the right direction. It's cool that Mac gamers finally get a library experience that actually feels like it belongs on a Mac.

In contrast, Steam feels more out of place than ever. From aesthetic issues, like being the only app on my Mac without a square-ish icon, or using sharp window corners instead of rounded ones, to deeper technical problems: it’s not ARM-native, it lags, loads content like a clunky web page, and slows down game launches because the launcher has to boot up first. It just doesn’t reflect the seamless, polished experience one expects from software on macOS.

To be honest, I don’t think Steam has ever felt like a great Mac app. Unlike top-tier native software like SetApp, Craft, or Pixelmator, it’s clear Valve isn’t putting real effort into the Mac version. And as Apple starts phasing out Rosetta 2, that lack of care is becoming a serious concern. If Steam hasn’t even updated its launcher for Apple Silicon after five years, I’m genuinely wondering if they’ll just let it quietly fade away on macOS.

When cyberpunk 2077 got the native port I realised that apple silicon Mac’s are really powerful, Mac’s are no longer Minecraft gaming mashines, they can run AAA games just like the other platforms but the problem is that there are no games for the Mac but if apple really wants to go into some gaming, here is how they could do it: - Game consoles Just like the Xbox and PlayStation, apple could make some really powerful machines in affordable price, and earn money on games and subscription, for example, appleTV Ultra which is basically just a Mac Studio in my concept, could cost around 800$ (like PlayStation 5 pro), and appleTV pro (Mac mini) 500$, and to block people from using them as a cheaper Mac, it can just use the tvOS -more games The main problem with Mac gaming is the lack of games, apple needs to motivate game developers to port their games to Mac, I don’t know how they could do it (maybe just talk with them?) but there is a second option, look what apple makes with appleTV+, F1? severance? I didn’t watch them but the reviews are reeeeally good so I believe that apple can make great games by themselves (also look at the PlayStation exclusive games strategy), so with good marketing and a few apple exclusive games, people and game studios could see the potential in it -and there is also my silly idea for a PlayStation portal or switch alternative, appleTV mini!, a handheld with no screen so you can use your iPhone or iPad but the idea is to keep the game running on the handheld chip, not the iPhone, so it won’t get 200°C while gaming and die after a 5 minutes of gaming, iPhone is only a screen here -and about my magic gamepad concept, I am not so proud of this design but I think it’s impossible to design a gamepad that would „feel” like apple, it’s a weird kind of device and apple could make it like a Magic Mouse and appleTV remote hybrid which doesn’t sound like a comfortable thing but idk, maybe more like Apple Vision Pro design?

Do we really need 300 AI coded apps/programs that all do similar things but with more bugs and less people working on the project? Crossover/HEROIC/Sikarugir or GeForce Now (cloud gaming) and native Mac games is all you really need.

I would say stop wasting your time coding and writing a post about your app but AI did most of it.

I’m genuinely curious, why are people asking AI to make these apps? Whats the point? Most don’t have the skill to make the program as useful as the bigger ones and have way less resources.

"Available on Windows/Mac"

Forever has the potential to become my single game in the next five years. Please be good......

F’s for the M1/M2 users.

That seems.......... TOO GOOD

Finally got my first macbook and a good device😁😁😁
Its a 13” macbook air m5 16, 1tb black

I M so EXitedddd

Thank you, r/macgaming, for all these years.

This community has helped me countless times — fixing game launch issues, discovering hidden gems, waiting for Black Friday deals to grab a Crossover subscription, watching YouTubers who dedicated their channels to Mac gaming, and hoping that one day we’d finally be able to play Red Dead Redemption 2 on Apple Silicon.

But now… I’m tired. Ironically, the final straw wasn’t a broken port or a failed workaround — it was Lies of P. A native game. It just worked. No tweaks, no errors, no compromises — and it looked great.

It made me realize just how low the bar has been for Mac gaming all along. For years we’ve been accepting workarounds and bugs as normal. II had high hopes for Apple Silicon, and for a while, it felt like things were moving forward. But recently, after running into yet another basic issue trying to launch a game, it hit me: this shouldn’t be happening anymore. Not after all this time.

I believe it’s Apple’s job to make developers want to support macOS — and they’ve done a poor job at that. Round 8 Studio (Lies of P) showed what’s possible if developers care — and I know they’re not alone. Studios like Larian (Baldur’s Gate 3), Feral Interactive, and a handful of indie devs have done amazing work bringing quality experiences to Mac. But those are exceptions. Most studios just don’t bother, and Apple hasn’t done enough to change that.

So I’m finally making the switch back to Windows for gaming — for the first time in over a decade. My MacBook stays, of course — macOS is still a perfect system for work, and I love it for that. But as a gaming platform? I’m done.

Thanks again, r/macgaming. It’s been a ride.

I'm currently in the hospital. Apart from reading books (I recommend the Dune series, if you haven't had a chance to do that yet and Small Thing Like This by C. Keegan) and watching movies/series, macgaming fills my time here.

It's a beautiful thing that you can play so many titles from different platforms on one machine (here’s M1 Pro, 16GB).

So, in order: 1. Batman Arkham Knight - Crossover 2. Metaphor: ReFantazio - Crossover 3. Gears of War - Xenia Emulator (I made a post about the emulation) 4. Mario & Luigi Brothership - Ryujinx (GreemDev) 5. No Rest for the Wicked - Crossover.

So there's a lot to do:) PS. Lots of health to everyone!

Instead of giving actual answers, he’s just hiding behind the same “Apple ecosystem bad” rant while completely ignoring the fact that Mac players existed long before this drama. Besides, what does he even mean with „to further lock customers into their ecosystem“? The game is literally on the iOS and iPadOS App Store in the US. I mean I get it, he wants the Epic Games Launcher to be available worldwide but I feel like Apple would never allow that unless they have their new CEO or are forced by law in each country. Though, do you guys think Epic would even care about porting Fortnite back to the Mac if their account gets unbanned?

Feels like he’s more interested in arguing on Twitter than actually getting Fortnite back to the people who want to play it. Mac players are getting wrecked, and Tim is just vibing.

Thoughts on this??

Looking for actually good games that run natively on macOS - no CrossOver, no Parallels, no workarounds

What are your top picks? Doesnt matter if its indie or AAA, just something that runs well and is worth playing

Hi all, WoW: Forever enjoyer here, playing on a 14" 2021 M1 Pro 16GB.

After being plagued with all the known issues, and despite some of them being resolved... I'm still having issues maximising what was possible with my current machine...

So myself, and yes, a buddy named Claude, built Mac-ever!

• Mac-ever fixes the known Mac problems, then measures your own set up to find the best-looking settings for the frame rate you want.
• No guesswork and no made-up numbers! Every frame rate Mac-ever shows was measured on your Mac, or worked out from those measurements.
• Additionally, Mac-ever gives you access to about 70 hidden settings the menu doesn't show, each with a plain-English description. Think things like HDR/XDR access, custom ground clutter sliders, and more!

Mac-ever was built for my own situation and now I can play perfectly on my old machine! I've seen massive improvements from the addon analysis and outside of some fps drop in Stormwind, i've not had a single issue.

Currently available on Wago, it's in review with CurseForge. I'll update this post when CurseForge goes live, and of course be keeping it up to date with the latest Beta fixes.

Hopefully this helps some of you, and I'd love to hear your feedback.