Apple made waves in the tech industry when it announced its transition from Intel x86 processors to its own custom Apple Silicon ARM-based chips. This raised questions about the gaming capabilities of the new Macs, but Rosetta 2 emulation has enabled Apple Silicon Macs to reach gaming parity with x86 Macs.
Performance of Apple Silicon Macs for Gaming
I was initially skeptical about gaming on the new M1-powered Macs. Games have traditionally been developed for x86 platforms, and emulation often carries a performance hit. However, Apple’s Rosetta 2 technology has proven extremely capable.
Rosetta 2 dynamically translates x86 instructions into optimized code for Apple Silicon at install time. This provides a massive performance boost over traditional emulation.
Real-world tests show that Apple Silicon Macs can now match and sometimes exceed the gaming performance of x86 Macs. The M1 MacBook Air can run many games just as well as the Intel-based 16″ MacBook Pro with dedicated GPU.
Native Apple Silicon Games Show Impressive Gains
When games are natively coded for Apple Silicon instead of relying on emulation, performance jumps even higher.
For example, in the game Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the M1 MacBook Pro achieved average frame rates 2.7x higher than the Intel-based MacBook Pro.
Native optimization makes a huge difference. As more developers update their Mac games for Apple Silicon, gaming performance will improve dramatically.
Rosetta 2 Emulation Provides a Smooth Transition
Thanks to Rosetta 2, most x86 Mac games run surprisingly well on Apple Silicon Macs. This provides a smooth transition as developers work on native Apple Silicon support.
I’ve played various games using Rosetta 2 emulation and found performance to be excellent. Older titles like StarCraft II and Diablo III run flawlessly. Even newer games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider remain very playable at 30-60fps.
Rosetta 2 is so well-optimized that many games show no noticeable performance hit compared to running natively on an Intel Mac. This allows Apple Silicon Macs to achieve gaming parity with x86 for now.
Outlook for Mac Gaming is Bright with Apple Silicon
The combination of impressive Rosetta 2 performance and the massive gains from native optimization points to a bright future for Mac gaming powered by Apple Silicon.
Apple is also making a major push into Mac gaming with features like:
- Metal 3 graphics API
- Tighter iOS/iPadOS/macOS integration
- Mac-optimized game controllers
With performance now rivaling x86 Macs, gaming should be a first-class experience on the new generation of Macs. Apple Silicon unlocks the full potential of the Mac as a gaming platform.
I’m thrilled by the gaming capabilities of my M1 MacBook Air. Performance has exceeded my expectations. Apple Silicon has achieved gaming parity with x86 for now, and the future looks even brighter as more native games arrive.
