For a long time, the Mac series products have not performed as well as Windows gaming laptops in the gaming field, which has also made many players have reservations about the gaming capabilities of Apple computers. However, technology blogger Andrew Tsai recently ran 20 Windows 3A games through the CrossOver virtual machine on a MacBook Pro equipped with an M5 Max chip, and the results were amazing. The test model is equipped with an 18-core CPU, a 40-core GPU and 48GB of unified memory, demonstrating the strong potential of Apple’s self-developed chips.
CrossOver translation layer technology principle
The core of this test lies in CrossOver, a virtual machine software. It is not a traditional simulator, but uses a translation layer to convert Windows game instructions into a format that can be processed by macOS. Specifically, CrossOver will convert DirectX calls into Apple’s Metal drawing API, and also supports MetalFX image quality improvement technology to achieve a balance between performance and image quality. These results are achieved through the simulation translation layer, not native macOS execution. In principle, the GametoGo we introduced before also uses the same technology (open source version).
Measured frame rate data of 3A masterpieces
The following are the test results of key games (all performed using the latest version of the CrossOver translation layer):
1440p resolution performance:
- Death Stranding 2: 1440p, 50+ FPS (requires CrossOver Beta patch to function properly)
- “Black Myth: Wukong”: 1440p, frame rate can reach above 50
- Horizon: West: 1440p, FPS 50+
- “FF7 Rebirth”: 1440p high quality, frame rate can be close to 60 FPS
- “Kingdom of Heaven: Deliverance 2”: 1440p high image quality, frame rate up to 80-100, the most outstanding performance in this test
4K resolution performance:
- “Wolfenstein: Youngblood”: 4K resolution can maintain smooth execution of 60 frames
- “DOOM (2016)”: 4K ultra-high settings, frame rate up to 60
In fact, he has also tested many games. Friends who are interested can watch the videos themselves:
In addition, Andrew Tsai has previously tested the native macOS version of “Cyberpunk 2077”. The result under 4K high-definition settings can exceed 60 frames, showing that the native computing power of M5 Max is equally powerful.
A major breakthrough in the Mac gaming ecosystem
The significance of this test lies not only in the frame rate number itself, but also represents a major progress in the Mac gaming ecosystem. For a long time, Mac has been ridiculed by players as a “game desert”. The main reason is that game developers rarely optimize natively for the macOS platform. The emergence of translation tools such as CrossOver allows players to run a huge library of Windows games on Mac (although some games still have compatibility issues, and games with anti-cheating programs basically cannot run).
Apple’s self-developed chips use a unified memory architecture, and the CPU and GPU share memory, which has certain advantages in design for graphics processing tasks. M5 Max has a 40-core GPU and MetalFX super-sampling technology, which can improve frame rate performance while maintaining image quality.
Limitations and Challenges
Although the test results are encouraging, there are some limitations:
- Anti-cheat system: Some online multiplayer games are still restricted by anti-cheat systems (such as Easy Anti-Cheat, BattlEye) and cannot be executed normally.
- Beta patches: A few games (such as Death Stranding 2) require the CrossOver Beta patch to function properly
- Performance difference: This test uses a high-end MacBook Pro (M5 Max / 40 core GPU / 48GB memory). The asking price is close to NT$150,000. The actual performance of ordinary consumer models may be different.
Outlook and Conclusion
As Apple continues to strengthen its GPU architecture and continues to optimize translation technologies such as CrossOver, the gap in gaming experience between Mac and Windows is rapidly narrowing. For creators or professional users with gaming needs, the M5 Max MacBook Pro is now not only a powerful workstation, but also can provide a gaming experience close to that of a Windows e-sports laptop during leisure time (of course, the price may also exceed that of most e-sports laptops), but this may mark the beginning of the transformation of Mac from a “game desert” to a “new gaming continent”.
Source: KOCPC Chinese