Golaward

Seemingly overnight, Battle Royale games have become all the rage. Led by Player Unknown Battleground but now surpassed by Fortnite, 100-player last-person-standing games have caught more attention than any other genre before.

1. 2010 Macbook Pro
2. Playing Games On 2010 Mac Pro 2

One of the easiest and best ways to play PC games on a Mac is to use Nvidia's cloud-based game streaming service for macOS users, GeForce Now. GeForce Now for Mac is available right now across. Posted Thursday, February 27th, 2014 by rob-ART morgan, mad scientist Now that we have the 8-core 2013 Mac Pro with dual FirePro D700 GPUs in the lab, we can revisit the game shootout. In this round, the competitor is the 2010 Mac Pro 6-core tower sporting various high-end GPUs. (The 2009 Mac Pro 8-core was slower, so we 'sat it on the bench.'

In Fortnite, you jet glide to your chosen spot on an island and start hunting other players and gathering gear. Every encounter is critical, and as you get closer to the final 10 players, you can feel the tension rise to incredible levels. No wonder the entire gaming community is so obsessed.

Worried about updating to macOS Catalina? Fortnite is now updated to 64-bit and supports Catalina!

In this review:

Fortnite is everywhere. Even celebrities such as Drake are playing it and breaking records on Twitch.

But can your Mac run the hottest game in the world right now?

Fortnite is so big, we decided to do something big too. Instead of testing one of the finest FPS games for Mac on our usual three machines, we tested it on more than two dozen Macs, thanks to you, our readers.

What’s new with Fortnite on Mac? We first reviewed the game on May 22, 2018, but Fortnite is an online game that is constantly evolving. Season 7 is the latest example, bringing new game modes, features, and gear to the game.

More importantly, Fortnite continues to slowly improve its Mac Performance. You can read more about it below.

First things first, is Fortnite worth it?

Fortnite Battle Royale didn’t become one of the top games in the world by chance. It’s just so much fun to play.

Follow the sounds of gunfire to seek out enemies or hide out and gather resources until the final moments of the game. You decide how to play, but with a gradually narrowing storm center forcing players together, eventually, you’re going to have to fight it out.

It’s easy to understand why both reviewers and gamers love this game. Battle Royale games create tension and excitement like no other genre can and the addition of crafting makes for an even more fun and interesting game.

Add to that well-balanced gameplay, a good variety of weapons, a surprisingly non-toxic community, a generous free-to-play system, and you get the hottest game of the moment.

IGN (9.6/10) loves the game and wrote:

Fortnite’s zany style and unique blend of shooting and building almost never offers anything less than an outstanding time… Fortnite sets itself apart from the crowd by giving you the freedom and tools to express your own personal playstyle.

Most professional reviewers came to similar conclusions, as can be seen from the game’s official Metascore. Interestingly, while millions love the game, online user reviews are usually negative… That’s another internet mystery…

Fortnite Mac Requirements

Now, before we dive into our benchmarks and results, you’ll want to make sure your computer meets the minimum system requirements.

According to Epic Games’ official website, these are Fortnite Mac requirements:

• OS: OS 10.12 Sierra
• Processor: 2.4 GHz Core i3
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Video: Intel HD 4000
• Hard Drive: 19 GB

If your Mac is from 2012 or newer, you will probably be able to join the party.

At first sight, this seems like an easy game to run, but we all know how wrong system requirements can be…

Into first-person shooters? These are our favorites:

The Test: Can you play Fortnite on Mac?

We usually test games using our 3 in-house Macs, but because Fortnite is the most popular game to come to MacOS in years, we knew we had to do something bigger.

We started out by testing the game on these three machines:

• iMac (5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
• MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2013): 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)

On top of that, we launched a huge reader challenge, and with your help, managed to test the game on these models:

2010 Macbook Pro

• 27-inch iMacs from 2012, 2014 and 2015
• 21-inch iMacs from 2013 and 2017
• 13-inch MacBook Airs from 2014, 2015 and 2016
• 13-inch MacBook Pros from 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017
• 15-inch MacBook Pros from 2012, 2013, 2015, 2016 and 2017
• Mac Mini from 2012
• Mac Pro from 2010

Why these machines? We always try to test a game on as many different models as possible. But more than that, we aim to test completely different types of Macs: desktops, laptops, old and new. The aim is to give you a flavor of how the game will run on different models. Because we have a lot of results, we decided to separate them into three different categories:

• High-end Macs (machines with powerful graphics cards)
• Recent entry-level Macs (recent machines that do not have powerful graphics)
• Older Macs (machines that are either recent or have powerful graphics)

Finally, these are the in-game settings we used:

• 1280×800 or equivalent resolution
• 100% 3D resolution
• Low Quality Preset
• VSync: Off

We tested the game using Count It, our in-house Mac FPS counter tool, playing a normal Solo battle royale game for around 5 minutes.

The Results: Mac performance was poor

As mentioned before, the game has changed a lot in the past few months, especially on Mac.

We knew we had to test the game again and can confirm that as of now, January 2019, Fornite on Mac runs much better than it did back in March 2018.

On our three machines, we recorded the following results:

The raw figures are not any higher compared to our previous results, but the devil is in the details.

The game runs much more stable now. The ridiculous frame drops that plagued the game (especially during those first minutes of each match) are long gone. The improvement is noticeable on all three machines.

You can find every single one of our “older” results submitted by the community below. Just keep in mind that those machines wouldn’t run the game any faster today but overall stability would be higher:

As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:

• Below 20 FPS: Unplayable: Laggy gameplay, full of stutters and slowdowns.
• 20-30 FPS: Borderline: Can be OK in slow-paced games. Still, not optimal.
• 30-45 FPS: Playable: Acceptable for most (most gaming consoles do this).
• 45-60 FPS: Smooth: Fluid gameplay, with no perceivable stutters.
• 60+ FPS: Very Smooth: For hardcore and professional players, a luxury for most.

If you have a high-end machine with a fast dedicated graphics (like an iMac or 15-inch MacBook Pro), you’ll be able to run the game just fine.

In fact, if you have a high-end Mac, you can safely increase settings to the Medium Preset. That will result in good performance and much better-looking graphics.

Playing Games On 2010 Mac Pro 2

Can you play Fortnite on a MacBook Pro?

But what if you, like most Mac users out there, have a 13-inch MacBook Pro or a MacBook Air, will you be able to play and enjoy Fortnite on Mac? According to our data, you can if you have a very recent model.

Fortnite officially supports the Intel HD Graphics 4000 or better. As the last model to use it is from 2013, all recent MacBook Pros should be able to run Fortnite just fine. In theory.

And our results confirmed that theory:

The game runs great on most machines, with smooth and fast FPS levels. But only the higher-end models with dedicated graphics cards can handle settings higher than Medium. Using our 2016 13-inch MBP, we tested the following settings:

• 1280×800 and Low settings: 43.9 FPS
• 1280×800 and Medium settings: 22.1 FPS

Going from Low to Medium settings requires some horsepower but the graphical improvements are significant. We definitely recommend using Medium settings if your machine can handle it and still run at 40 FPS or better.

This is a point where we have to insist. Fortnite is a competitive shooter where stutters can be a disaster. You need the most fluid experience possible to have a chance to win a face-off.

Can my Mac run Fortnite?

If you’re reading this, that is probably the only question you care about right now. But as always, the answer is never straightforward: It depends.

With a little luck, we tested a machine very similar to yours and in that case, you only have to see the results. If the game runs at 40 FPS or more, you’re good to go. If not, you’ll have to skip Fortnite, at least for the time being.

From the 20+ results we received, we can conclude that:

• Fornite on MacBook Pro, iMac or Mac Pro: The game will run fine on machines from 2016 onwards.
• Fornite on MacBook Air or Mac Mini: Performance will be too limited to actually enjoy the game
• Fortnite on older Macs: Machines from 2015 or older won’t be able to run it unless they have a powerful dedicated graphics card.

My advice? Fortnite for Mac is free. If you really want to test it, download it and see for yourself if your Mac can run it. Even if it can’t, it won’t cost you a dime to try!

How to run Fortnite on Mac?

If your Mac can barely run Fortnite (below 35-40) on Low settings, there is one last thing you can try…

You can always reduce 3D resolution to 75% or less. That will result in a significant performance improvement but that comes at a cost. Using our 2013 13-inch MBP, we can see big improvements:

• 1280×800, Low settings, 100% 3D resolution: 23 FPS
• 1280×800, Low settings, 66% 3D resolution: 35.2 FPS

With the 3D resolution set to 66%, our 2013 MBP runs the game 40% faster. Even better, it brings us closer to much more acceptable FPS.

Reducing the 3D resolution obviously hurts the game’s looks. I was prepared to recommend against lowering 3D resolution because of how blocky and ugly the game looked, but in reality, I forgot all about it once I started tracking another player. It was glorious and fun.

Deciding how bad 66% 3D resolution looks or whether it is acceptable will be up to you.

I wouldn’t recommend going lower than 66% though because at some point gameplay will suffer too. Can you really be effective if you can’t differentiate faraway enemies from trees?

The best Fortnite Mac settings for performance

If you’re struggling with performance, you can try the following settings. These should increase the game’s FPS at least a little:

• Fullscreen mode
• Set frame rate limit to 30 (to decrease those big frame rate drops)
• Quality: Low
• V-sync off
• Reduce the 3D resolution setting

Don’t expect huge improvements, but this could provide those extra 5 FPS to make Fornite playable on your Mac. The biggest improvements come from reducing the 3D resolution but visual fidelity will suffer a lot…

The best Fortnite Mac settings for graphics fidelity

If you have a high-end Mac and want the game to look great, you can either increase the settings or resolution.

As an example, these tests were all performed on our high-end 2014 27-inch iMac:

• 1344×756 resolution and Low settings: 104.7 FPS
• 1344×756 resolution and Medium settings: 71.9 FPS
• 1344×756 resolution and High settings: 52.3 FPS
• 1344×756 resolution and Epic settings: 38.5 FPS

Going from Low to Medium reduces FPS by 31% but the game looks much better with added shadow effects and details. On the other hand, going from High to Epic reduces FPS by 26% but the graphics improvement is barely noticeable.

As always, I recommend avoiding the Epic, Extreme or Max settings and increase the resolution instead. Using that same iMac, increasing the resolution or going from Medium to High settings generates a similar FPS loss the higher resolution looks much better:

• 1344×756 resolution and Medium settings: 71.9 FPS
• 1920×1080 resolution and Medium settings: 51.9 FPS
• 1344×756 resolution and High settings: 52.3 FPS
• 1344×756 resolution and Epic settings: 38.5 FPS

But as tempted as you are to increase the settings even higher, remember that speed is more important than looks in a game like Fortnite. You’ll have a much better experience on Medium settings and 70 FPS than Epic settings and 38 FPS.

PS: These are our favorite accessories for playing/testing games on Mac!

Download Fortnite for Mac

Want to give it a try? After all, this is an excellent free-to-play game that doesn’t hide its best content behind paid walls or micro-transactions. That alone is reason enough to give it a try and see how much you like it:

Fortnite Mac Review

It’s not surprising Fortnite is a demanding game. After all, it looks great and takes place in huge environments filled with trees and buildings. Yet playing Fortnite on Mac was nearly impossible for months. Gladly, Fortnite on Mac has improved a lot and now runs fast enough for most.

Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission (this is how we pay the bills). This commission comes at no additional cost to you.

You know we’re big supporters of only playing native games on our Macs. After all, they’re the easiest to install, the easiest to run, and they directly support developers who bring their games to macOS. Plus, many of the best games support MacOS, including most indies.

But to be fair, some big games are not available on macOS and probably never will. And for those specific cases, you’ll be happy to learn you can easily run Windows games on Mac.

Today, we’ll show you all the ways you can run Windows games on Mac. We’ll review every single method, from the cheapest to the fastest:

Pro tip: Stay away from the Mac App Store if you’re planning on playing games on Mac and Windows! Games purchased on the Mac App Store only work on macOS whereas games purchased on Steam or Humble Bundle support both macOS and Windows. We share our tips on where to buy games here.

Let’s start with my personal favorite.

Boot Camp: The best performance for cheap

There are many ways you can play pretty much every Windows-PC game available today on Mac. Yet Boot Camp remains the most popular.

Unlike Virtualization software (which we’ll discuss in a moment), Boot Camp is a free utility that allows you to install and run Windows on your Mac in the same way you would on any other computer: natively.

Boot Camp may force you to restart your Mac every time you want to switch from macOS to Windows, but if you’re looking for performance, Boot Camp will always offer optimal gaming performance. Also, you won’t need to pay anything other than a Windows license (unless you’re willing to live with the “Activate Windows” watermark…).

How to set it up? Installing Windows using Boot Camp is straightforward. You just need to open the Boot Camp application in your Utilities folder and follow the assistant. You can also check Apple’s support page for FAQs and guides on how to install and use Boot Camp.

Benefits:

• Easy to install
• Highest possible performance
• No extra costs (other than a Windows license)

Drawbacks:

• Unpractical (you need to reboot your machine just to play a Windows-only game)
• Requires a Windows license
• Requires lots of hard drive space (Windows installation + games)

Bottom line: With Boot Camp, your Mac can run Windows using all it’s power, just like any other PC would.

Virtualization: The most practical solution

Virtualization is the most practical method to run Windows on a Mac. With a virtualization app, you can also install Windows, but you do more: run both macOS and Windows at the same time. This means you won’t have to reboot your Mac every time you want to play a Windows game.

But running two OSes simultaneously is taxing and performance always suffers. Virtualization still works great with games that are easy to run but many games can easily be too demanding.

There are many virtualization apps out there, but our favorite remains Parallels as it offers the best gaming performance. The team over at Parallels does a great job making sure Parallels can handle demanding games too, including games such as Overwatch. In that case, they went as far as working with Blizzard to ensure the best possible performance.

Pro tip: If you already installed Windows using Boot Camp, you can use Parallels to access it without leaving macOS.

How to set it up? All you need to do is follow Parallel’s installation process, which includes the Windows installation itself. Once everything is installed, you can simply launch Windows as if it was any other Mac app.

Benefits:

• Easy to install
• Very practical: You don’t need to reboot to use Windows
• Allows you to use Mac and Windows apps at the same time

Drawbacks:

• Requires both a Windows and Parallels license
• Requires lots of hard drive space (Windows installation + games)
• Offers significantly less performance than Boot Camp

Bottom line: If you just don’t like having to reboot your Mac in order to play a game, Parallels can be a good option, especially if you’re often playing lightweight games, such as indies or older classics.

Streaming: The best performance (if you have fast internet)

Streaming is the newest method you can use to reliably run Windows games on your Mac. Thanks to services such as NVIDIA GeForce Now, you don’t even need to install Windows anymore. The heavy lifting is done by NVIDIA’s high-end computers and servers, which physically run the games. All you need is a somewhat recent Mac and a good internet connection to stream the image and send your input.

After hours using NVIDIA GeForce Now I can confirm: if you have a good internet connection, the service works great. You can run the most intensive and demanding game available on a MacBook Air. But you do need a very fast internet connection. I’m in France, have the fastest internet connection there is (optic fiber), and still see stutters when running games using GeForce Now.

Benefits:

• Extremely easy to set up and use
• You don’t even need a Windows installation
• Can run very demanding games on lightweight MacBooks

Drawbacks:

• Requires a very fast internet connection
• Requires a monthly fee if you want priority access (a free account will have you wait in line for a long time)
• Cannot run several high-profile games due to issues between NVIDIA and several publishers

Bottom line: If you have a good internet connection, streaming is the easiest way to run Windows games on your Mac, including demanding games.

Wrappers: Cheap but hard to put in place

Finally, there is one last method you can use to run Windows games on macOS: using a Wrapper. In this guide, we shall focus on Wine.

As explained by Cult of Mac:

Wine (and wrappers in general) acts as a translator between the instructions in the PC program and the Mac operating system. It basically fools Windows into thinking they are running in a Windows environment, without actually emulating that environment (and taking the same performance hit) as Parallels does.

Wine also has the benefit of a large, open-source community for support, which means it will continue to get better and improve compatibility for a lot of games along the way.

Benefits

• It’s completely free, no licenses are needed at all.
• It doesn’t require Windows at all
• It doesn’t require you to reboot your machine to play Windows games

Drawbacks

• The most complex method to set up
• Not all Windows games are supported
• Performance won’t be as high as with Boot Camp

Bottom line: Using wrappers is by far the most technical option out there. It’s not as easy to set up but is the only method that’s completely free.

Your turn

As you can see, there are many ways to play Windows games on your Mac. I can’t tell you which method is the best for you because they all have pros and cons. It also depends on your existing setup and needs: How often you want to play Windows games? Does it bother you to have to reboot? Are you willing to pay for Windows or third-party software?

Personally, Boot Camp plus Parallels work great. I use Boot Camp when I want to play demanding games (Destiny 2 is my current obsession) but I can stay on macOS and use Parallels when I simply want to play a lightweight game such as a new indie or a remastered classic.

Which one is your preferred method? What is the Windows game that will make you go through all this trouble? I’m curious, let me know in the comments section!