SteamOS for Apple Macs is finally here: AAA PC games get tested on MacBook Pro
It has become quite clear by now that SteamOS is one of the, if not the, best platforms to play PC games. So, it is not a surprise that someone has decided to port SteamOS to Apple Macs. The project, which is still in active development, is called “FX Steam Launcher” and is currently live on GitHub. YouTuber ETA Prime put FX Steam Launcher on an Apple MacBook Pro with the Apple M4 Max to test some PC games on the device.
FX Steam Launcher works by running an Arm64 version of SteamOS inside a virtual machine on macOS. Once launched, the SteamOS build works as you’d expect, as ETA Prime reports that there is full controller support, etc.
Playing PC games on MacBook Pro using SteamOS
Starting with The Witcher 3, ETA Prime reports that the M4 Max can play the game at 70+ FPS at 1080p resolution with high graphical settings. While the performance is solid, the game does exhibit a graphical bug affecting tree rendering. This is to be expected, as FX Steam Launcher has six layers between Steam and the underlying Apple silicon. So, graphical bugs will creep up due to the sheer complexity of the project.
ETA Prime also measured great performance in old AAA games like Left4Dead 2 and Fallout 4. Left4Dead 2 reportedly ran at 140+ FPS on average, while Fallout 4 ran at a locked 60 FPS at 1080p with medium settings. The same is true for Red Dead Redemption 1, where ETA Prime noted 70+ FPS on average at 1080p/medium. However, like The Witcher 3, the game does suffer from some graphical issues.
Finally, the FX Steam launcher team maintains a dedicated game stats webpage where users can report their experiences running different games on their Apple Macs/MacBooks. For instance, users report that Helldivers 2 has a 99.5% launch rate and can be played at a median FPS of 55 FPS on Apple M5, M4 Pro, M1 Max and so on.
All in all, it is great to see FX Steam Launcher run PC games on macOS. We are excited to see future progress with the project, as the latest MacBook Pro laptops with Apple silicon have the potential to be great gaming and emulation devices.
Source(s)
ETA Prime on YouTube
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