Minecraft is arguably the biggest video game sensation ever created, and for good reason, since it’s on pretty much every mainstream platform. This ranges from home consoles, to handhelds, to PCs, to even mobile phones. But can Minecraft be played on a MacBook Air?
Despite not all games operating on Mac devices, Minecraft is one that is optimized to operate on them, MacBook Air included. How well it will run, however, will ultimately depend on certain things, such as the model of MacBook Air.
Different Mac devices handle Minecraft differently, and being that there are multiple versions of Minecraft, figuring out which one is available for use on the MacBook Air is imperative.
Can you Play Minecraft on MacBook Air?
One important thing to note, however, is that Minecraft has two different versions: Minecraft Java Edition and Minecraft Bedrock Edition, which makes it a more complicated situation as a result. Of the two, only Minecraft: Java Edition is optimized for use on Macbook Air, while you have to go through some hoops (and have the right device) to actually play Minecraft: Bedrock Edition.
The download process for Minecraft: Java Edition is more or less the same as it would be on Windows. The official Minecraft website has a separate download link for the MacOS version of Minecraft: Java Edition.
Why do some games not work on MacBook Air?
While many more games are able to operate on Mac devices than they used to, a lot of games still never get a release for the platform (MacBook Air or otherwise). The reason for this is that they would have to invest time and money into the process, and frankly, a lot of companies, especially indie developers, do not have enough of both or either to do this.
Even with companies who could theoretically afford to invest the time and money into porting their games to Mac devices, they likely have deemed that the profit they could make from doing so was simply too low to justify doing it. Yet, with a bigger game like Minecraft, it came to Mac just by virtue of the fact that it’s popular enough to guarantee that enough Mac users would buy it.
Another barrier that exists for Mac devices is the fact that a Mac computer that can power the most intensive video games tend to be extremely steep compared to a Windows computer. Thus, if a company was thinking about porting an intensive game, they would have to take into consideration that a lot of Mac users would not have a setup that could properly run it.
Why is Minecraft not working on MacBook Air?
Minecraft installation and operation on Mac devices have had some issues in the past, such as a bug that caused it to crash on startup. Make sure that you are perfectly up-to-date with both Java and Minecraft: Java Edition, as using an outdated version may be causing you problems.
Another possibility is that you are trying to open Minecraft: Java Edition, but some aspect of the file has been corrupted. If this appears to be the case, uninstall and reinstall it. This should hopefully fix the issue and allow you to both mine and craft.
Why is Minecraft running slowly on MacBook Air?
Even games that are designed to work on Mac devices may have issues operating optimally. Typically, this will be a bigger issue depending on the model of MacBook Air you use. For example, if you are using an earlier model than what is available, Minecraft may struggle to run optimally.
Is there any way to run Minecraft: Bedrock Edition on MacBook Air?
While Minecraft: Bedrock Edition is not officially usable on Mac devices, so long as you have a device that is powerful enough to run it, there are ways to make Minecraft: Bedrock Edition run. To do this, you need to have a MacBook Air that is powerful enough to run Windows 10 via the Boot Camp program. If you have done this, just go through the normal process of downloading Minecraft: Bedrock Edition to your Windows OS on the device.
If you only have a Mac, it is understandable why you may opt for this roundabout method. However, if you do have a Windows-based computer, playing Minecraft on it instead is strongly recommended. This is because, as mentioned above, Mac devices are not particularly noted for being particularly strong gaming computers.
Does Minecraft work on all Mac devices?
Minecraft: Java Edition has been optimized with Mac devices, so most Mac devices should be able to handle it just fine. Some older devices will not be able to play Minecraft, simply due to the graphics card being outdated, or due to there simply being too little memory to handle it. If you are unsure whether your Mac device will be able to play Minecraft, check which Mac device you have, and look it up online.
If the Mac device you purchased was released recently, it should be strong enough to run Minecraft: Java Edition.
Can Mac players of Minecraft play with Windows and Linux players?
The good news is that, so long as the people you want to play with are playing Minecraft: Java Edition, you will be able to play with them. One of the key selling points for Minecraft is the fact that, with few exceptions, owning it on one platform allows people on a different platform to play with you. There have been some exceptions, such as the PlayStation 4, but even that ceased to be the case after Sony allowed cross-platform play between the PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, and Microsoft Xbox.
The benefit of this feature is that, if you are considering getting Minecraft for a MacBook Air just so that you can play with a friend who has Minecraft on MacOS, you don’t have to go to that much trouble.
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