t’s been a long time coming, but it looks as though Apple is finally entering a new era of digital gaming. Die-hard fans will, of course, already know that the early versions of Macintosh computers were actually pretty connected to the rise of the home gaming industry, but as the decades passed, gaming opportunities on Macs and MacBooks became few and far between.
Sure, there’s always been a way to play different types of digital games on Apple products, from gaming apps on iPhones to video games on Macs. Even a sector like iGaming (online real money gaming) has been available on Apple computers since its inception, with notable brands like PokerStars making playing poker online accessible to users on multiple devices. But, in the grand scheme of things, it’s the PC that’s dominated the gaming sphere with the vast majority of AAA titles released in the past few years needing its superior processing power.
With 2024 on the horizon, though, all that looks set to change.
Apple Arcade and New Generation Chips
In parallel with the stratospheric rise of the gaming industry, Apple has been making moves into this entertainment sector for a good few years now. One of the most notable has been the launch of Apple Arcade, which hit iOS devices in September 2019. Representing a significant milestone in the tech giant’s foray into the gaming industry, this subscription-based gaming service has built up a curated selection of premium gaming titles that are seamlessly available to play across the entire range of devices, from iPhone to Apple TV.
It’s clear the gaming platform is here for the long-term too, as during the Developers Conference in summer 2023, a spokesperson for the company confirmed that over 100 existing Apple Arcade titles will be available on the upcoming Vision Pro headset. Although we’re still waiting for news on the exact games we’ll be able to access, we can safely assume that come the launch of the VR headset we’ll be able to enjoy new levels of immersion in the likes of NBA 2K23 using whatever device we have running the game.
It’s one thing for game development studios to make their IP accessible on non-PC devices, but quite another for those said devices to have the processing power needed to effectively run them. During the last decade, the average Mac or MacBook user would have struggled to play the top titles of the day, despite the advantages Macs offer when it comes to graphics and audio. That too, changed, with the arrival of Apple Silicon in 2020.
Marking a significant departure from the company’s reliance on Intel processors, the introduction of the M1 chip and subsequent M2 and M3 iterations have not only redefined the performance capabilities of its products, but set strong foundations for its gaming era. This new technology delivers a unified architecture, integrating both the CPU and GPU — as well as several other components — into a single chip. The result is unprecedented speed and efficiency, making the newest generations of Apple desktops and laptops more than capable of meeting the demanding processing requirements of top-tier games.
More Moves into Gaming
With Arcade and Silicon laying the groundwork for a strategic shift into the gaming industry, Apple has been able to build on those foundations in 2023 with two gaming-specific innovations.
First up, Game Mode became available with the release of macOS Sonoma. Harnessing the processing power of the M3 chip, Game Mode automatically optimizes the CPU and GPU when a game is expanded to full screen to prioritise performance. The mode even has the facility to double the Bluetooth sampling rate, ensuring minimum latency in wireless peripherals like controllers or headphones. While Game Mode can’t quite compare to similar features in PCs or laptops, it’s nevertheless a good start that shows the company is thinking holistically about the gaming experience.
Secondly, this year brought about the release of the Game Porting Toolkit, which has the potential to revolutionise game-making for the Mac. Essentially acting as a translation layer, the Porting Toolkit allows developers to transpose Windows games onto Macs without having to rewrite any code. While the games themselves still need to be optimised for Metal, the Mac-specific API, but the toolkit speeds up and simplifies the development process considerably.