Best Mac For Gaming 2015

• Best Mac For Gaming 2015 Under 500

Is the MacBook Pro good for gaming? Being one of the most popular laptops in the recent past, the MacBook has made its way up the ladder, making Apple one of the most trusted brands. However, the scene for MacBooks is a little complicated when it comes to gaming action. Apple devices can support 2D graphic games very well, but they sometimes falter with 3D graphics. However, the MacBook Pro might be changing this notion for Apple users, including the perfect combination of a fast and strong processor with effective graphics.

Apple has been one of the front runners among computers. With some of the best technologies, the MacBook has been rather popular in this regard. After years of hard work, Apple has brought out an efficient device that is promised to be lighter and thinner. Some rather impressive changes and updates have been included in the latest MacBook Pro. Let us look into some of the most interesting features that make the MacBook Pro good for gaming.

Mar 25, 2020  The MacBook Pro is your best bet if you need serious power. In 2019, Apple updated the 13-inch MacBook Pro, giving every model a Touch Bar and an eighth-generation Intel processor. Which Mac has the best gaming display? Apple has moved the majority of the Mac range over to high-resolution Retina displays, and these will look great for running your games. However, a Retina. Dec 26, 2019  Gaming on a Mac? Here's how to connect a PS4 or Xbox One controller. I walk you through the process of connecting a PlayStation 4 and Xbox One controller to your Mac via Bluetooth.

For starters, the design has been revamped to bring out the best in the device. This is a thinner device as compared to previous models and weighs only 1.58 kilograms. In addition, a special OLED display touch panel has been incorporated at the top of the keyboard to get rid of the physical functions. According to reports, this LED display panel might be specific to different applications. This means that the functions on the panel will vary depending upon the applications. The 13.3-inch MacBook Pro can actually give a good first impression. Accompanying the internal specifications, the device is teamed with Intel Core i5, which is well-suited to fast and rigorous activities, clocking in at 2.7 GHz. In terms of storage capacities, the 8GB system memory packs quite the punch, coupled with 128 GB of SSD storage. With the Intel Iris Graphics 6100 processor, we can expect a lot from this device.

Usually, Apple devices do not provide the best results when it comes to high-end gaming activities. This has been one of the issues faced by this otherwise effective device. However, the new MacBook Pro, with its superior hardware and graphics, includes major changes that can give you some of the best gaming experiences.

For starters, the iMacs take up much less space as compared to previous models. Second, the quad-core processors pack a lot of power, which aids in gaming activities. Finally, the NVIDIA GPUs place the cherry on top. Much to the delight of avid gamers, new indie games will be available to MacBook Pro users at the same time they are made available to everyone else.

The world of gaming is not a simple one. For small games like Angry Birds and Plants Versus Zombies, which do not require high-end graphics and device specifications, two-dimensional graphics would be more than enough. This is why most MacBooks are able to handle these kinds of gaming activities. The problem crops up when we move on to more high-definition games that require three-dimensional graphics. These high-speed action games tend to put a lot of pressure on MacBooks. That is why there is a need for a strong and fast processor that can accommodate fast gaming actions and provide good performance. Ideally, a dual core Intel Core i5 or Core i7 can do this job perfectly, clocking in at speeds of 2.0 GHz or more. This is why the MacBook Pro can be a good choice if you are an avid gamer.

However, sometimes even a faster processor is not able to live up to the requirements of some games. The MacBook has the perfect solution to this issue. It incorporates a high-end graphics card, popularly known as a Graphics Processing Unit, over and above the usual processor. This can significantly boost your computer’s speed to deal with fast games with superior graphics. When it comes to the GPUs, there are two broad varieties. The first is the integrated type which ensures greater speeds for the computer but shares the device’s RAM with the CPU. On the other hand, the discrete variety of the GPUs is specially designed, keeping in mind the requirements of 3D graphics.

It has its own high-speed memory to enhance the performance of the device. Now Apple incorporates a series of such integrated and discrete GPUs in the Mac series. For instance, the cheaper versions of MacBook Pro come with Iris 6100. It has been found that this sort of GPU does not work well with action games and graphics. That is why a more superior version of Iris in the form of Iris Pro has been included in the newer and more expensive MacBook Pro, which makes it an ideal match for gamers. The Iris Pro also brings with it 128GB of storage space for its own use. In addition, the 2.5 GHz MacBook Pro works with AMD Radeon R9 M370X, which tends to bring out pretty impressive gaming action.

When it comes to a good gaming display, the MacBook Pro stands out once again. The high-resolution display in this device, coupled with the Intel HD 5300 graphics, could give you a rather impressive performance when it comes to high-definition video games, all 2D games and some 3D games.

Pros:

· The Intel Iris 6100 graphics prove to be a charm for most games.

· The 128 GB solid state drive helps in participating in high-end gaming action.

· The backlit keyboard and touchpad with the extra OLED display touch panel for the MacBook Pro Retina proves useful.

Cons:

· The MacBook Pro comes with Intel HD 5300 Graphics that might be well suited for most 2D games, but cannot cater to a lot of the 3D gaming action.

· For the 2.5GHz version of the MacBook Pro, coming with an AMD Radeon R9 M370X graphics card, you will have to shell out quite a sum of money to comfortably engage in 3D graphics gaming.

With the inclusion of superior graphics and a fast processor, the MacBook Pro could bring about revolutionary changes in Apple products for avid gamers. This might well be the turning point for Apple when it comes to a gaming laptop, bringing a glimmer of hope to all gaming enthusiasts.

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.

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:

• 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.

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.

Best Mac For Gaming 2015 Under 500

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?

You technically don’t even have to do much more than that. Best new strategy games for mac. You can even make your own Wargroove scenarios with a startlingly robust editor. I’m including it on this list, though, because I still find myself thinking about it a couple of months later. True to its name, only takes a couple of hours to finish. Rogers had made a video game, I like to think it would have turned out something like this.You’re a little bird in this tale, and with no greater goal than to reach the summit of the peak on the island where your family is vacationing.

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.

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