Apple's M4 Max is a commendably performant chip and a worthy successor to the M3 Max. The entire M4 series brings impressive performance improvements across the lineup, with the onboard GPUs witnessing the biggest generational uplift so far.
That said, gaming has always been the Mac’s Achilles heel. Although Apple has been hard at work changing that narrative, the story is much the same even in 2024 with a plethora of AAA titles being absent on the platform. However, thanks to a few tools such as CodeWeavers' Crossover and Apple's GPT, certain titles are playable on the Mac, albeit with greatly reduced performance. Andrew Tsai's recent video sheds light on the M4 Max's gaming performance, including both native as well as non-native titles.
Resident Evil 4 Remake: Polished Performance
Resident Evil 4 Remake, one of the best Mac conversions, showcases the M4 Max chip's capabilities when tested in a native environment. The game runs at a respectable 48–60 frames per second while using the 4K high graphics preset, and the frame rate remains constant even during the demanding scenarios. Enabling MetalFX upscaling in Quality mode increases frame rates to a reasonable 60–70 FPS for users who desire smoother performance over visual fidelity. This fluid gameplay experience demonstrates how well the M4 Max can manage even the most visually demanding Mac-native games.
GRID Legends: A Generational Leap
One of the only native racing games on macOS that fully utilizes the M4 Max's power is GRID Legends. The game offers an amazing 100 frames per second at 4K resolution and the top settings. The M4 Max touts a 52% improvement over the previous generation M3 Max, with an average frame rate of 96 FPS as opposed to the M3 Max's 63 FPS. This noticeable improvement demonstrates the significant generational progress Apple has made, especially in GPU performance.
Cyberpunk 2077: Windows Translation Triumph
Cyberpunk 2077 is not yet natively available for macOS, but it runs surprisingly well on the M4 Max via the Crossover compatibility layer. With DirectX 12 translated to Metal, the M4 Max delivers 55% higher frame rates than its predecessor, providing a playable experience even with ray tracing enabled. While frame timings and consistency still leave room for improvement, the chip’s ability to handle such a demanding Windows title is nothing short of remarkable. The game is confirmed to launch on Apple Silicon early next year, setting our expectations high.
Black Myth: Wukong: A Testament to Adaptability
The M4 Max was also put to the test in Black Myth: Wukong, which is arguably one of the most visually taxing games in our test. With FSR 3 upscaling set to 65%, the game runs at 45–55 frames per second at 1440p medium settings while playing via Crossover. Even though performance suffers during intense fighting, the experience might be improved by further adjusting the upscaling parameters. The seamless operation of this DirectX 12 game on the Mac is evidence of Apple Silicon's enormous processing capacity and the respectable performance of the translation layers. However, performance is nowhere near as good as it would have been on a native port, but that is hardly surprising.
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