Mac vs. PC: Which Is Better for Gaming?
Let’s be real: Windows PCs have utterly dominated computer gaming for at least the past two decades, and arguably more. Apple’s Mac, though powerful and attractive, fell far short of the quickest Windows PCs in graphics performance, and MacOS’s lackluster support for cutting-edge 3D visuals didn’t help.
The story is shifting, however, as Mac computers with Apple Silicon begin to challenge the grunt of high-end Windows PCs. Apple also pairs these advances with its own graphics API, Metal, which is similar to OpenGL/OpenCL or Vulkan.
Mac gaming is better than ever. But is it really enough to challenge Windows PCs in the long run?
[image: https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2023/05/23/rtx-4060-ti-4-1684820290233.jpg]
Apple Silicon is incredibly efficient, and the best Macs (such as a Mac Studio with Apple M2 Ultra) are more-or-less a match for a mid-range Windows gaming PC. Apple’s most powerful Macs can deliver a reliable 90 to 120 FPS (or more) in games like No Man’s Sky, Resident Evil: Village, and World of Warcraft at 4K resolution and maximum or near-maximum detail settings.
Still, a high-end Windows gaming PC can easily defeat even the quickest Mac Studio desktop. A Windows gaming PC with a Core i9-13900K and RTX 4090 can achieve over 160 FPS in No Man’s Sky, for instance. Windows PCs also have access to features that Mac gamers don’t, such as hardware accelerated ray-tracing. As a result, Windows PCs can often achieve superior performance while also providing superior image quality.
Windows’ gaming benefits from a vast range of processor, video card, RAM, and storage support. It also benefits from a relatively open ecosystem of hardware that lets gamers build massive, extravagant, overclocked systems. The Mac has no answer to
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