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[Astray]

Apple’s new Proton-like tool can run Windows games on a Mac

Developers now have some serious tools to get Windows games on Mac

www.theverge.com

This could be huge for Apple's gaming endeavors, especially if M1 chip turns out to be powerful enough to run the more demanding stuff.

I can definitely see Apple stepping up its gaming efforts with this, Apple Arcade and the Vision pro. I think we're not far from an Apple console.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

Nice.

These silicon-chip Macs are very powerful, and I'd love to see gaming unlocked on the platform.

 

[RoboFu]

Apple’s new Proton-like tool can run Windows games on a Mac

Developers now have some serious tools to get Windows games on Mac

www.theverge.com

This could be huge for Apple's gaming endeavors, especially if M1 chip turns out to be powerful enough to run the more demanding stuff.

I can definitely see Apple stepping up its gaming efforts with this, Apple Arcade and the Vision pro. I think we're not far from an Apple console.

Hmm m1 maybe at lower settings.
M2 pro is where you would be comfortable depending on the overhead of this api.

 

[Kvally]

Apple’s new Proton-like tool can run Windows games on a Mac

Developers now have some serious tools to get Windows games on Mac

www.theverge.com

This could be huge for Apple's gaming endeavors, especially if M1 chip turns out to be powerful enough to run the more demanding stuff.

I can definitely see Apple stepping up its gaming efforts with this, Apple Arcade and the Vision pro. I think we're not far from an Apple console.

This would be a game changer for me, no pun intended. I am all Mac, and if I could put all the games on my Macs, I would be extremely moist.

 

[TheDraconian]

 

[Kataploom]

Mac, to me, is lowest denominator regarding user experience, they're so minimalistic that lack most basic stuff that Windows and Linux have and you better pray for someone else to have a (normally for a price) solution to a problem nobody else but they have... Also expensive for what they are... Why would anyone want a Mac for playing games?

I have to use mine at work and the sole reason I haven't asked for switching to a Windows machine is because I already spent money on hardware add-ons and software that fix Apple BS, also the possibility to build for iOS.

I'd get it if Mac was necessary for exclusive software but in those cases I don't see money being a problem for getting another PC or console.

 

[Topher]

That is intriguing. I wonder how much of a hit to performance would be due to translating x86 to ARM. Anyone have any insight on that?

 

[Astray]

That is intriguing. I wonder how much of a hit to performance would be due to translating x86 to ARM. Anyone have any insight on that?

Here's Cyberpunk 2077 running on an M1 MacBook Pro

 

[Cert.in.Death]

Apple doesn’t have any real interest in competing for the major gaming audience. Which, to be frank, is the right approach, IMO.

 

[Topher]

Here's Cyberpunk 2077 running on an M1 MacBook Pro

Oof. That's about 13-ish frame per second? Crawl before you can walk, I guess.

 

[kruis]

Nice.

These silicon-chip Macs are very powerful, and I'd love to see gaming unlocked on the platform.

The GPUs in the M1 is really only powerful in comparison with Intel mobile processors.

Look at that video of Cyberpunk running on an M1 Macbook Pro. The game runs only at 14 fps in 1440x900. That's completely unplayable.

 

[Astray]

Oof. That's about 13-ish frame per second? Crawl before you can walk, I guess.

Yeah I think something as big as that would need a native version.

But stuff like old JRPGs or indie games would theoretically just use the layer I think and those are the ones you kinda need too as store filler.

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

Apple’s new Proton-like tool can run Windows games on a Mac

Developers now have some serious tools to get Windows games on Mac

www.theverge.com

This could be huge for Apple's gaming endeavors, especially if M1 chip turns out to be powerful enough to run the more demanding stuff.

I can definitely see Apple stepping up its gaming efforts with this, Apple Arcade and the Vision pro. I think we're not far from an Apple console.

This is big news for apple. I hate apple but good for them, I guess.

 

[analog_future]

Oof. That's about 13-ish frame per second? Crawl before you can walk, I guess.

I mean it's a very demanding game on a 3 year old laptop. Certainly not bad as a starting point.

 

[Bernoulli]

Here's Cyberpunk 2077 running on an M1 MacBook Pro

Looking good for just an M1
Can't wait to see with more optimization

 

[Topher]

I mean it's a very demanding game on a 3 year old laptop. Certainly not bad as a starting point.

I agree. Frankly I amazed it runs at all. If they can improve it a bit to get to a more viable 30 fps then that will open a few gaming doors for Mac users. Definitely a good thing.

 

[TrebleShot]

Incredible I would love to see this kick off and when or if it does good luck traditional tower PC gaming.

Apple silicone is incredibly efficient and makes those chugging towers look like something from the 80s.

I wonder if PCMR types will stick to the whole “everything should be available on all platforms” energy.

 

[EverydayBeast]

You could game on apple devices but I suspect people will stick with consoles.

 

[a multicultural team of v]

Incredible I would love to see this kick off and when or if it does good luck traditional tower PC gaming.

Apple silicone is incredibly efficient and makes those chugging towers look like something from the 80s.

I wonder if PCMR types will stick to the whole “everything should be available on all platforms” energy.

I can't wait, the threads are going to be legendary when Mac versions of game perform the best.

 

[Topher]

Incredible I would love to see this kick off and when or if it does good luck traditional tower PC gaming.

Apple silicone is incredibly efficient and makes those chugging towers look like something from the 80s.

I wonder if PCMR types will stick to the whole “everything should be available on all platforms” energy.

"PCMR types" don't seem to have a problem with Steam OS being based on Linux so not sure why this would matter either. Personally, I think more games on more platforms is always a good thing.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

I think we're not far from an Apple console.

 

[GHG]

"PCMR types" don't seem to have a problem with Steam OS being based on Linux so not sure why this would matter either. Personally, I think more games on more platforms is always a good thing.

Oh some of them do, don't worry. But the reality is that those guys are the ones that just claim to be PC gamers and are something else entirely in reality. Microsoft no longer having control of the PC gaming space will be a dagger to their souls.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Any discussion on the launchers like steam and epic working too? I’d be interested in how one of those m2 Mac minis run it. Those are pretty great

 

[GHG]

Any discussion on the launchers like steam and epic working too? I’d be interested in how one of those m2 Mac minis run it. Those are pretty great

There's already a steam launcher on mac.

 

[Kvally]

Mac, to me, is lowest denominator regarding user experience, they're so minimalistic that lack most basic stuff that Windows and Linux have and you better pray for someone else to have a (normally for a price) solution to a problem nobody else but they have... Also expensive for what they are... Why would anyone want a Mac for playing games?

I have to use mine at work and the sole reason I haven't asked for switching to a Windows machine is because I already spent money on hardware add-ons and software that fix Apple BS, also the possibility to build for iOS.

I'd get it if Mac was necessary for exclusive software but in those cases I don't see money being a problem for getting another PC or console.

After switching to Mac, I would never go back to Windows. Windows is a crap OS. Linux and Mac are by far better. But Mac lacks gaming, so I hope this is a good solution.

 

[March Climber]

Apple doesn’t have any real interest in competing for the major gaming audience. Which, to be frank, is the right approach, IMO.

They’re going to have to start caring now that they’ve built a VR/AR headset and want it to sell, because every feature has to be great for 3499.

 

[jose4gg]

The GPUs in the M1 is really only powerful in comparison with Intel mobile processors.

Look at that video of Cyberpunk running on an M1 Macbook Pro. The game runs only at 14 fps in 1440x900. That's completely unplayable.

The game was built for a different GPU a different driver a different Operating system, you see it running in ULTRA without any optimization, in the first version of transpiler and you compare it to Intel GPU???


Think again.

 

[Topher]

Oh some of them do, don't worry. But the reality is that those guys are the ones that just claim to be PC gamers and are something else entirely in reality. Microsoft no longer having control of the PC gaming space will be a dagger to their souls.

Ah.....yeah, if we are talking about that subset of gamers who think everything gaming should be centered on Microsoft and Windows then yeah, I get the point.

 

[Trunx81]

It´s more amazing when you consider that the M1 is working inside an iPad. Cyberpunk on iOS? Is it comparable to a Steam Deck, in terms of hardware?

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

Oh some of them do, don't worry. But the reality is that those guys are the ones that just claim to be PC gamers and are something else entirely in reality. Microsoft no longer having control of the PC gaming space will be a dagger to their souls.

I personally would love for windows and apple to go out of business and all of their intellectual property to go open source

 

[GHG]

Ah.....yeah, if we are talking about that subset of gamers who think everything gaming should be centered on Microsoft and Windows then yeah, I get the point.

The fact that SteamOS on the deck runs so well and their subsequent reaction was all the evidence I needed to say that we should be accelerating away from being reliant on Windows for gaming outside of the console/mobile space.

Having the option to decide between Windows, Linux or Mac to use as a gaming OS with no performance or game access penalty will be great.

 

[Kataploom]

After switching to Mac, I would never go back to Windows. Windows is a crap OS. Linux and Mac are by far better. But Mac lacks gaming, so I hope this is a good solution.

Ok but, why? Mac feels to me like trying Linux back in 2008 when it seemed to work at first but then stuff just started to lack without going to fix on terminal or doing some very technical thing, in the case of Mac it's mostly paying third parties to solve problems Windows and Linux don't have like ports or making my TV working above 30 Hz at resolutions beyond 720p... Like if I just want to use OS without worrying about all that, then I'd rather go to Windows... I don't get that Mac preference some have, like... Do they like just use the Mac as they come by default or with only Apple periferals without any customization that would be normal on Windows (like monitors, mouse, keyboards, etc.)?

 

[ToTTenTranz]

The emulation is nice and all, but it remains to be seen wether those 13FPS come from a CPU or GPU bottleneck.
Considering how virtually all modern GPUs are compliant with DirectX12, OpenGL and Vulkan instructions, it's more likely to be a CPU bottleneck. And considering the massive instruction set differences, I have some doubts there's enough software magic to allow decent performance without recompiling the binaries.

 

[nani17]

13 FPS

 

[Trogdor1123]

There's already a steam launcher on mac.

I didn’t know that at all. Is the compatibility/performance pretty good?

 

[64gigabyteram]

Oof. That's about 13-ish frame per second? Crawl before you can walk, I guess.

it's a bit bad, but you have to consider this is on a mac with a bad GPU and no upgradeable hardware

If AMD or Intel start making more ARM processors that can be slotted into a socket like X86, and paired with an Nvidia GPU this could be going places.

I'm skeptical about this all ARM future as well but if it's like proton where compatibility is 90% i'll be happy to ditch my power hungry processors

 

[GHG]

I personally would love for windows and apple to go out of business and all of their intellectual property to go open source

At their core, OS's should be open source.

I didn’t know that at all. Is the compatibility/performance pretty good?

For now it's just compatibility with games that officially support mac:

macOS Titles

Steam Store Hub

store.steampowered.com

 

[64gigabyteram]

Incredible I would love to see this kick off and when or if it does good luck traditional tower PC gaming.

Apple silicone is incredibly efficient and makes those chugging towers look like something from the 80s.

I like to upgrade my hardware and many other people do too so no way jose.

Those towers will simply just adapt to the times and become less power hungry and chugging

it happened with powerpc it will happen here too.

 

[rodrigolfp]

The game runs only at 14 fps in 1440x900. That's completely unplayable.

Plus no RT, even less path tracing.

 

[ResurrectedContrarian]

The GPUs in the M1 is really only powerful in comparison with Intel mobile processors.

Look at that video of Cyberpunk running on an M1 Macbook Pro. The game runs only at 14 fps in 1440x900. That's completely unplayable.

It's a very powerful chip for many areas of computing, beyond gaming.

For running machine learning models in-memory, for example, it's amazing. And it shows that it can compete with traditional GPUs with very interesting tradeoffs and flexibility.

 

[Crayon]

Good. Any alternative to Windows is good for everyone.

 

[64gigabyteram]

Good. Any alternative to Windows is good for everyone.

except the microsoft fanboys

Funny how before RT wasn't a big deal but now whenever another OS pops up rodrigolfp is the first to say "LACKING RAYTRACING NO PATHTRACING"

 

[Sleepwalker]

This is cool, I hate windows but I would never game mainly on apple's ecosystem either. They still want $1000+ for computers with 8gb of ram without upgrade path and are anti repair.

I'm way more excited for advances on the linux field.

 

[reksveks]

This is very cool and exciting. Still unsure if it's going to get any real buy in from devs but the open source community will produce some great stuff as an alt.

No one is doing chips like Apple but they don't play nice with Nvidia so it's dead personally. We do need competition on this front.

 

[Topher]

The fact that SteamOS on the deck runs so well and their subsequent reaction was all the evidence I needed to say that we should be accelerating away from being reliant on Windows for gaming outside of the console/mobile space.

Having the option to decide between Windows, Linux or Mac to use as a gaming OS with no performance or game access penalty will be great.

Absolutely. Until Proton, Windows was the only real practical option for PC gamers. Not being dependent on one company's platform for gaming is definitely a change that is sorely needed.

 

[Bojanglez]

The emulation is nice and all, but it remains to be seen wether those 13FPS come from a CPU or GPU bottleneck.
Considering how virtually all modern GPUs are compliant with DirectX12, OpenGL and Vulkan instructions, it's more likely to be a CPU bottleneck. And considering the massive instruction set differences, I have some doubts there's enough software magic to allow decent performance without recompiling the binaries.

What emulation?

Edit: ok seems they used that term themselves in the article, strange if it is WINE based

 

[rodrigolfp]

except the microsoft fanboys

Funny how before RT wasn't a big deal but now whenever another OS pops up rodrigolfp is the first to say "LACKING RAYTRACING NO PATHTRACING"

Is not about RT being big deal or not. It's about an OS being on par or better than Windows for gaming. Until there is none, ...

 

[bitbydeath]

Seems other games run well enough on an M1, I’ll try it out when the new OS releases.
Edit: The link shows Diablo IV on an M2.
Probably the main difference here.

On the downside, the emulator can only run Cyberpunk 2077 at around 15 frames per second. But the tool can also be used to run other titles, such as Elden Ring and even Diablo IV, which can run at around 55 to 88 frames per second over the emulator.

Apple's Game Porting Toolkit Can Run Cyberpunk 2077, Diablo IV on a Mac

The toolkit is designed to port Windows games to macOS. It's already good enough to emulate DirectX12 titles, but don't expect great performance.

au.pcmag.com

 

[M1chl]

Just a headsup, it does not really supports the whole DX12 Ultimate, so some games, like Forespoken (I don't have i) might not run properly. Team is working on it, however.

source: link

info & can't help myself, its huge for me

 

[Kvally]

So from the Diablo IV posting, this whole Proton is a nothingburger? They said that it's not like games are going to come out that support this natively?