Windows gaming on M1 machines?

[droplink]

So guys, what are the common thoughts on M1 gaming currently?
Now that the M1 is mature, what are your thoughts on the various options?
Windows wont natively run on M1x machines, because MS wont release it, and Apple wont install a TPM chip in the Macs.

Parallels works, but it requires a yearly subscription for the full version (yeah, I wont pay for software by subscription...) and also not all games work, as its not a full system.

So, what is the situation?
Forget there is something called Windows gaming on a mac?

 

[Lihp8270]

GeForce Now

 

[droplink]

GeForce Now

Radeon Yesterday.

Any thoughts about how it works for you apart from that one statement?
What is good / bad?

 

[Homy]

Don't forget Crossover. It has good support for many games and they're working on DX 12 support too.

 

[Shivetya]

Don't forget Crossover. It has good support for many games and they're working on DX 12 support too.

so clue me in as I am really confused by what they provide, are they running intel based window apps on the M1?

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

PortingKit (Wine) is also an alternative.

GeForce Now

This is also my current gameplan for future AAA games, for when I get my Mac Studio.. I am done waiting for Apple giving us proper GPU support at non-ridiculous prices. And the fact that the well looks completely dry, when it comes to actual porting of future games for macOS..

Radeon Yesterday.

Any thoughts about how it works for you apart from that one statement?
What is good / bad?

I tried it a bit on my 2011 iMac half a year ago, and came out quite impressed. See also my note above.

so clue me in as I am really confused by what they provide, are they running intel based window apps on the M1?

They provide a Windows wrapper for macOS, that currently it runs on Rosetta2, so it should work in general. As for long term, see this blog post.

 

[Lihp8270]

This is my current gameplan for future AAA games, for when I get my Mac Studio.. I am done waiting for Apple giving us proper GPU support at non-ridiculous prices.


I tried it a bit on my 2011 iMac half a year ago, and came out quite impressed. See also my note above.


Currently it runs on Rosetta2, so it should work in general. As for long term, see this blog post.

GeForce Now worked really well when I tried it.

The only limitation really is on your network speeds.

 

[droplink]

I tried the free version, and it does seem to work.
I had a hiccup or two during the game because of the network speed / breakup, but it was playable.
The problem though, is the supported games list. My favourite games Fallout and Borderlands are not supported, it seems.

 

[lazygolfer666]

I used to play Lineage 2 through VM Ware when I had a Mac. I’m planning to buy a M1 but now reading that this may doesnt work?

 

[diamond.g]

I used to play Lineage 2 through VM Ware when I had a Mac. I’m planning to buy a M1 but now reading that this may doesnt work?

It depends on if the anticheat the game uses supports Windows on Arm.

 

[MacsRgr8]

This is also my current gameplan for future AAA games, for when I get my Mac Studio.. I am done waiting for Apple giving us proper GPU support at non-ridiculous prices. And the fact that the well looks completely dry, when it comes to actual porting of future games for macOS..

Yeah, I hoped that Feral or Aspyr would have announced new AAA titles for M1 by now.

I would have thought Feral would, for instance, have had Dirt 5 and a newer Grid on their Silicon radar..?

Those are the 2 games I really like, next to X-Plane.
Anticipating X-Plane 12, I am hoping to get Mac Studio Max (10 / 32) soon....

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Yeah, I hoped that Feral or Aspyr would have announced new AAA titles for M1 by now.

Feral has already pledged M1 support, and TW: Warhammer 3 is around the corner, so I think that is a safe bet.

 

[mi7chy]

 

[diamond.g]

I wonder why adaptive sync wasn’t working for them, they shouldn’t be seeing tearing on a HFR panel.

 

[mi7chy]

I wonder why adaptive sync wasn’t working for them, they shouldn’t be seeing tearing on a HFR panel.

Don't you need HDMI 2.1 for VRR while AS Macs only support HDMI 2.0? Maybe DP but he'll need to buy a USB-C to DP dongle to test. That's a lesser issue anyhow than intermittent frame dips that ruin the gaming experience.

VRR might be broken on MacOS anyway.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/variable-refresh-rate-freesync-gsync-flicker.2320463/

 

[MacsRgr8]

Feral has already pledged M1 support, and TW: Warhammer 3 is around the corner, so I think that is a safe bet.

Ah, thanks for that!

 

[Imhotep397]

GeForce Now

Yeah, this sucks but playing games remotely from Indonesia or China maybe the only viable choice. I hope Apple FINALLY comes to it's senses soon.

 

[diamond.g]

Don't you need HDMI 2.1 for VRR while AS Macs only support HDMI 2.0? Maybe DP but he'll need to buy a USB-C to DP dongle to test. That's a lesser issue anyhow than intermittent frame dips that ruin the gaming experience.

VRR might be broken on MacOS anyway.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/variable-refresh-rate-freesync-gsync-flicker.2320463/

IIRC HDMI VRR is Freesync, just blessed by the HDMI Forum. So no you don’t have to have HDMI 2.1 to get VRR.

 

[GrumpyCoder]

Don't forget Crossover. It has good support for many games and they're working on DX 12 support too.

Crossover is the best best running on an actual Mac and not cloud service. I wouldn't wait on DX12 support though, which is as early as Crossover 23 if everything goes without any hickup. So that means a fall 2023 release.

 

[jackhunt]

Playing games on m1 like cooking fever , pubg and other games on m1 is very smooth some times when you play heavy games it feels slow for couple of second but ita ignor able.