Mac gamer and YouTube creator Andrew Tsai tested Cyberpunk 2077 on four different Macs, where he found the game was able to perform relatively well on all models that are within spec. He shared the results of the test in a YouTube video, where he compared four MacBooks — an M4 MacBook Pro (16GB / 10-core GPU), an M3 Max MacBook Pro (48GB / 40-core GPU), an M1 Max MacBook Pro (32GB / 32-core GPU), and, lastly, an M1 MacBook Air (8GB / 8-core GPU). Andrew also tried running the game on the M4 MacBook Pro via Crossover.
Mac gamers have been patiently waiting for this AAA title to land on macOS, with many expecting its arrival in early 2025. Although a bit late, the game did eventually land last July 17, with users who’ve previously bought it on Steam able to install it directly on their Apple computers at no additional cost. CD Projekt Red set the game’s recommended specs at M3 Pro and 18GB of unified memory for smooth 1080p 60 FPS gameplay, although you can get away with a base M1 chip paired with 16GB of unified memory.
With this in mind, Andrew tested four MacBooks to see how they’d compare:
| Header Cell - Column 0 | M4 MacBook Pro 16GB 10-core GPU (CrossOver) | M4 MacBook Pro 16GB 10-core GPU (native) | M3 Max MacBook Pro 48GB 40-core GPU | M1 MacBook Air 8GB 8-core GPU | M1 Max 32GB 32-core GPU |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1080p / MetalFX: Off / High | 23.94 FPS | 26.22 FPS | 78.35 FPS | - | 51.87 FPS |
1080p / MetalFX: Quality / High | - | 38.98 FPS | 104.46 FPS | 12.76 FPS | 51.87 FPS |
According to Tsai's results, the best-performing MacBook was powered by the M3 Max chip, with its 40-core GPU and 48GB of unified memory, with the game achieving more than 78 FPS at 1080p High and upscaling turned off. When he set MetalFX to quality, performance jumped to more than 100 FPS, delivering an absolutely smooth gameplay experience. The next best system tested was the M1 Max MacBook Pro. Despite being a first-generation model, its Max designation allowed it to perform better than the base M4 chip on the MacBook Pro, delivering a consistent 51.87 FPS whether MetalFX is turned on or off.
Those who didn’t get a top-of-the-line MacBook can still enjoy the game with upscaling, as the M4 chip can still deliver more than 30 FPS with upscaling turned on. If you’re not a fan of that tech, you can still get cinematic gameplay with MetalFX: Off, as you still get an average of 26.22 FPS. The worst performer is the first-generation M1 MacBook Air, which the game does not officially support because it only has 8GB of unified memory. As expected, the benchmark only achieved a little over 12 FPS — and that’s with MetalFX set to quality. Andrew didn’t bother testing the M1 MacBook Air with MetalFX: Off, as it might’ve crashed the laptop.
Another interesting test the YouTuber did was to run the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark on the M4 MacBook Pro through the CrossOver compatibility layer. Interestingly, it only lost about three FPS compared to the game running natively. Still, Andrew expects these FPS numbers to improve over the coming months as the developers optimize the game more for the Apple Silicon.
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