It probably doesn't come as a surprise when your friend says that Macs aren't meant for gaming. All the jokes and memes aside, macOS has been struggling with gaming, at least when you compare the situation with Windows gaming. Whether that's due to real challenges or manufactured ones (by Apple), the fact is that serious gaming happens on Windows PCs.

In the last few years, Apple has made strides to showcase macOS in a better light when it comes to gaming, but has it been enough? I believe Mac gaming still deals with several challenges which are stopping it from being taken seriously by gamers. It is unclear if and when Apple will overcome these challenges, but the outlook is slightly more hopeful as we approach 2025.

5 Big names are missing

What will you play?

Apple has made significant progress in bringing popular titles to macOS. Gamers can now play AAA titles like Death Stranding, Baldur's Gate 3, and Resident Evil Village natively on their Macs. Plus, Control and Cyberpunk 2077 are also coming to macOS in 2025. Despite native support for these titles, macOS still lags behind Windows in terms of AAA game availability.

Even before Apple began its transition from Intel to Apple Silicon, efforts were underway to make the OS friendlier for game developers, but these efforts were halfhearted at best. Apple was stuck in a vicious loop of game studios not developing for the platform due to a lack of gamers, and people not willing to play on macOS because of a lack of native games.

In the last few years, native support has shown great promise, but as it stands, it will take a lot of convincing for gamers to switch from Windows to macOS for their gaming fix. Even Mac users need things to change fast if Apple wants them to leave their secondary Windows PC behind and move completely to their MacBooks or iMacs.

4 Gamers need to deal with the App Store

It's not ideal

The absence of most games on macOS might be the biggest sticking point for gamers, but even the titles that are available on the platform are not always accessible through the storefronts people are most comfortable with. For instance, you won't find every macOS game on Steam, the platform most gamers like to use to stock their entire library. They need to go through the App Store if they want to play some of the titles they're looking for.

We have seen Apple's reluctance to allow any other storefront other than the App Store on their devices. This changed recently after an EU ruling when Apple announced it would permit rival app stores on iPhones, but this is only limited to the EU as of now. This isn't the same thing that plagues Mac gaming, but might signal hope for gamers who want to tap into serious gaming by accessing their favorite games on Mac via Steam or other platforms.

Apple has its reasons to keep its walled garden as closed off as it can, but if it really wants to change the face of Mac gaming, it has to start providing all the macOS games on not only the App Store, but also on all the platforms which gamers regularly use.

3 Gamers are restricted by emulation

It has its limits

Thanks to the lack of elaborate native support, gamers have to resort to emulation through programs like Parallels Desktop, Whisky, and Mythic. Using virtualization, these programs allow people to run Windows software, and hence games, on their Macs. This opens up the Mac gaming library quite a bit, but the experience is still marred by a number of limitations.

Performance issues, limited compatibility, conflicts with anti-cheat software, or lack of DirectX 12 support are some of the biggest issues Mac emulation is currently dealing with. Even with programs like CrossOver, which has DX 12 support, not all DX 12 games will run by default. You'll probably have to wait for some of your favorite titles to get DX 12 support in time.

Emulation is never perfect, but especially for more demanding titles, the experience is often not even worth bothering to try. Emulating indie or lightweight Windows games on macOS can work well, but it's no match for native support for the biggest titles, which is still not up to the mark. The longer Apple's native game support challenges remain, the more gamers will associate Mac gaming with Windows emulation, which the company might not want (seeing its new direction).

2 VR gaming is virtually absent on Macs

See what I did there?

VR gaming has been growing steadily in popularity, and with affordable standalone VR headsets like the Meta Quest 2 and Meta Quest 3, gamers have been more willing to experiment with VR and adopt it in droves. VR gaming might not be exploding, at least when compared to other gaming categories, but it hasn't been uneventful either. While Windows has been supporting PCVR for years, macOS is still stuck in the past.

Neither the Meta Quest 3 nor SteamVR support macOS. Apple's shockingly expensive Vision Pro is an option, but its catalog of VR programs has very few standout games that people want to play. Apple might be working on a cheaper mixed-reality headset, but chances are it would take years before it could compete with the pedigree of the Meta Quest headsets.

For fans of VR gaming, Windows is the clear choice right now. Whether they want to play Meta's library of games or experience their Steam library through PCVR, the process is much more enjoyable and affordable on Windows.

1 Apple hardware is expensive and restrictive

Shocker, isn't it?

After the launch of Apple's M4 series chips, people have been upbeat about the future of Mac gaming. Considering the power of these new chipsets and Apple's renewed interest and investment in bringing popular titles to the platform, the sentiment makes sense. However, these Apple Silicon devices, especially those that can deliver a gaming experience on par with that on Windows, are still prohibitively expensive.

Compared to a Windows gaming PC or even a gaming laptop, investing in a MacBook Pro or iMac seems like a waste of money if gaming is your priority. While these devices are great for everyday work and tasks, you'll need a different machine for serious gaming. If you've already bought an expensive MacBook, you might want to consider a budget gaming laptop or PC.

Even if you can justify the upfront cost of Apple's costly hardware, the restrictions around configurability and upgradability add another question mark to its relevance as proper gaming hardware. You might grab older Apple Silicon devices, such as an M1 MacBook Air or MacBook Pro at attractive prices, but at that point, you might as well build a budget gaming PC. You'll not only be able to play almost any game you want at better frame rates, but also buy more recent hardware compared to what you'll get in the Mac ecosystem.

Will 2025 finally be the year of Mac gaming?

As more and more popular titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Control make their way to macOS, gamers see a light at the end of the tunnel. If more developers come on board, improving native game support on macOS, gamers are likely to follow. To truly establish macOS as a viable gaming platform, Apple must, of course, alter its policies concerning game availability on various storefronts and enhance support for VR gaming.

The challenges around affordability might not be going away anytime soon, but at least Apple's existing users and fans of macOS might be ready to consider its devices as their sole gaming rigs. For this to happen, Apple would need to accelerate its current trajectory as far as Mac gaming is concerned.