The Mac’s Gaming Moment Still Isn’t Here

Quinn Nelson recently did a solid job of breaking down the launch of Assassin’s Creed Shadows on the Mac. If you’re not tracking these things, that’s a big deal: it’s a flagship AAA game that released on the Mac the same day as on other platforms. That kind of same-day launch is rare for the Mac.

So I bought the game. Not because I’m a hardcore Assassin’s Creed fan (though who doesn’t want to sneak around feudal Japan?), but because I was curious. How would it perform on my M2 Max Mac Studio?

The answer: not great.

Actually, worse than not great. The frame rate was inconsistent, often dipping well below 30 frames-per-second when the environment got the least bit complex. There were moments where the game froze entirely. I went through every resolution and graphics setting, from high to medium to low. I even dropped it all the way down to 720p with the lowest possible settings, and it was still unplayable. Perhaps this is because I use a Pro Display XDR? The above screenshot is what my screen looked like often while trying it out.

This is the first time I’ve ever requested a refund on a Mac app.

I want to root for Apple’s gaming ambitions. The company has been talking more about bringing serious titles to the Mac, and Assassin’s Creed Shadows looked like a step in the right direction. But if Apple wants to make a credible push into AAA gaming, they’ve still got a lot of work to do, both on the software optimization side and with developer support.

M2 Macs

Mark Gurman recently reported there are four M2 Macs in the works.

an M2 Mac mini.
an M2 Pro Mac mini.
M2 Pro and M2 Max 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pros.
the M2 Ultra and M2 Extreme Mac Pro.

These are all rumors, but to play along, if this is true, that would mean the M2 generation is not going to be used to update the entire line. Missing from the list was the iMac and the Mac Studio. I could see a world where Apple decides to skip generations on some of its hardware and lets the iMac and Mac Studio wait for the M3.

I don’t know all the intricacies of production and global supply chains, and maybe they wouldn’t have a choice. Nevertheless, I hope Gurman is wrong. Now that Apple is in control of the chips and the hardware, I would prefer Apple to upgrade all their hardware with each generation.

M2 Mac Rumors

Mark Gurman is back with more rumors concerning the M2 generation Macs. There is a lot in his article ranging from MacBook Air to Mac Pro. If I were a betting man, I’d say that we’ll see the M2 MacBook Air and M2 Mac mini first, sometime this year, but probably not at WWDC.

The only two weird points in the Mac lineup at this time are 1) the continued existence of the 13–inch MacBook Pro, and 2) The lack of a desktop MX “Pro” configuration.

The 13-inch MacBook “Pro”

I don’t understand why this computer exists. Now that there are proper Apple silicon MacBook Pros, this souped up MacBook Air really doesn’t have a place in the line. I think Apple would be much better off dropping this Mac and releasing an additional larger-screened MacBook Air. Gurman’s article makes no mention of a bigger MacBook Air but confirms there will be another version of the 13–inch MacBook Pro. Weird.

The Desktop MX Pro

The M1 Pro chip only exists in the MacBook Pros. If you want a desktop Mac, you can only get an M1 mini or an M1 Max (or Ultra) Mac Studio. Historically, there was a second tier Mac mini that had a bit more power. That seems like the natural spot for the M2 Pro chip to live on the desktop. Gurman thinks that will eventually happen. I hope he’s right.