MacBooks have always been quite popular and known for their incredible software and simple user interface.
They are heavily used by programmers, video editors, musicsions, & graphic designers, but the main question here is are macbooks good for gaming?
MacBook Pros are not designed or optimized for gaming since MacBooks lack powerful GPUs, but they can be used to play certain games and they can perform quite well depending on the game & the type of MacBook Pro you are using.
A Macbook pro isnt the best option for gaming but it can be quite effective depending on the game and the specs of your Macbook pro.
There also are a couple of things you can do to optimize your MacBook pro for gaming which we will take a look at in a minute but first let’s break down MacBook Pros performance when it comes to gaming.
Gaming On A MacBook Pro
As we mentioned above MacBook Pro’s arent ideal for gaming but they can be used to play certain games & can perform quite well depending on a few factors. Although if you want to do some serious gaming on your MacBook you will need to install windows which is quite easy to do via Bootcamp.
Let’s take a look at a few games we tried and tested on the MacBook Pro & see how they performed. (We tested these games by installing windows through Bootcamp).
| Game | Macbook Pro 13″ | Macbook Pro 16″ |
| Shadow Of the Tombraider | 30 fps on low performance settings | 55 FPS on medium performance settings |
| Overwatch | 60 fps on medium performance settings | 151 FPS on high performance settings |
| nails ex mankind game | 60 FPS on low performances settings | 60 FPS on high performance settings |
| Fortnight | 60 FPS on low performance settings | 75 FPS on High performance settings |
| Counter Strike Go | 60 FPS on high performance settings | 75 FPS on high performance settings |
| Starcraft II | 60 FPS on medium performance settings | 60 FPS on High Performance Settings |
| Civilation V | 30 FPS on medium performance settings | 40-60 FPS on medium performance settings |
| Battlefield 5 | 40 FPS on low performance settings | 35 FPS on Highh Performance settings |
So as you can see the results are pretty decent, there are a few heavy-duty games that perform quite well on a MacBook pro.
Here’s a few more games that we ran on a 2016 Macbook pro 13″:
| Game | FPS |
| World Of Warcraft | 78 FPS |
| Paladins | 50 FPS |
| Dirt Rally | 54 FPS |
| Cuphead | 60 FPS |
| Borderlands 2 | 60 FPS |
| BioShock Infinite | 48 FPS |
| Stardew Valley | 60 FPS |
| Insurgency | 54 FPS |
| Metro 2033 Redux | 50 FPS |
| Left 4 Dead 2 | 116 FPS |
Geforce Now
If you would like to play some heavy-duty games with top performance on your MacBook pro one of the best ways to go about this is through Geforce now.
Geforce Now is a cloud-based gaming streaming service that allows you to play a massive variety of popular games through the cloud. This allows you to run the game through an Nvidia hardware on the cloud as opposed to your laptop which drastically increases performance. Also you wouldn’t need to install windows on to your PC.
It’s important to note that if you decide to go with the Geforce route you should have a high speed internet connection (at-least 15 MBPS) for maximum performance.
Best MacBook’s For Gaming:
As we mentioned above it’s not a good idea to buy a Mac for gaming but if you’re already going to be getting a MacBook anyway for creating content, video editing, or coding & would like to occasionally play some casual games then here are the most optimal MacBooks for gaming.
16 Inch MacBook Pro i9 Processor
The Macbook Pro with the i9 processor was by far the best for gaming out of all the mac’s we tried.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro with an 8‑core 9th‑generation Intel Core i9 processor and Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz was the best for main out of all the MacBooks we have tried. you will get a graphic card boost and 1TB compared to the entry model. You can also add more memory which will improve the graphics card and more you will also gain more storage..
16 Inch MacBook Pro (2019) i7 Processor
The 16 inch MacBook Pro i7 is ranked second best in terms of gaming performance. This model is built with a AMD Radeon Pro 5300M with 4GB of GDDR6 graphics processor, you can also upgrade to a AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 4GB of GDDR6 to improve performance.
13-inch MacBook Pro
We rank the 13- inch MacBook Pro mode third overall for gaming. You will be able to upgrade the processor and storage for greater performance.
Related Question
Will an External GPU Enhance Performance
Yes, but the issue with getting an externnal Gpu to play games on a Mac is you wont be able to run windows on it which means you wont be able to play the most popular games out there.
Is The Geforce Now Available in all Regions?
No, The Geforce one is currently available in 80 countries you can take a look at the list here to see if you will be able to utilize the Nvidia hardware on the cloud to maximize your gaming performance.
Final Thoughts
So there you have it, MacBook Pros are not the best for gaming but you can certainly play some decent games on it, all you would need to do it to install windows which will allow you to play a wider selection of popular games, or if you want to take it to the next level and want to enhance your laptop’s gaming performance you can use Geforce nows gaming streaming service allowing you to run an Nvidia hardware on the cloud.
Although Macs aren’t designed for gaming you can still game on them depending on the game, and have a decent experience. We wouldn’t recommend anyone to purchase a MacBook pro for serious gaming but if you already have a MacBook Pro and want to game or if you want a MacBook pro for editing videos or creating content and occasionally would like to play games then a Macbook Pro can definitely be a good choice for you. Thanks for reading and happy gaming!
