Considered one of the most artistically pleasing and visually stunning games of all time, Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding has been released for both the MacBook and iOS. It is a completely native port, which means that we’re expecting great performance on the Mac. With the game being so aesthetically pleasing and graphically demanding, how does Death Stranding run on the Mac? We here at MacGamerHQ did a lot of benchmarks and a lot of results to provide you with validated, community-driven feedback and results for Death Stranding on Mac.
Can you play Death Stranding on Mac?
Yes, you can play Death Stranding on Mac if you have an M1, M2, M3 chip or later. Death Stranding features Mac-native support, which means that you’ll be able to play the game on ARM-based Macs. However, the game will not run at all on legacy Intel-based Macs.
Since the game is a Universal application, it also runs on iPads and iPhones, specifically iPhones with an A17 Pro chip or later and M1 or later iPads.
Death Stranding Mac System Requirements
Image Credit: MacProTips
These are the game’s minimum requirements, as confirmed by KOJJIMA Productions:
- MacBook Pro:
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3, 2023) / MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Pro, 2023) / MacBook Pro (14-inch, M3 Max, 2023)
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, M3 Pro, 2023) / MacBook Pro (16-inch, M3 Max, 2023)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, M2, 2022)
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, M1 Pro, 2021) / MacBook Pro (16-inch, M1 Max, 2021)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1 Pro, 2021) / MacBook Pro (14-inch, M1 Max, 2021)
- MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020)
- MacBook Pro (16-inch, M2 Pro, 2023) / MacBook Pro (16-inch, M2 Max, 2023)
- MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Pro, 2023) / MacBook Pro (14-inch, M2 Max, 2023)
- MacBook Air:
- MacBook Air (M1, 2020)
- MacBook Air (13-inch,M2, 2023)
- MacBook Air (15-inch,M2, 2023)
- iMac (24-inch, M1, 2021)
- iMac (24-inch, M3, 2023)
- Mac mini:
- Mac mini (M1, 2020)
- Mac mini (M2, 2023)/Mac mini (M2 Pro, 2023)
- Mac Studio:
- Mac Studio（M1 Max, 2022）/ Mac Studio（M1 Ultra, 2022）
- Mac Studio（M2 Max, 2023）/ Mac Studio（M2 Ultra, 2023）
- Mac Pro（M2 Ultra, 2023）
Can Your Mac Run Death Stranding? Benchmarks & Performance
Image Credit: MacProTips
These are the Mac benchmarks we have gathered so far:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14KVnmlmbMIbK3TEOWhZAD__yRDKDDuKCE6vjwsPTINY/edit?usp=sharing
Death Stranding really runs well on all MacBooks and, in our opinion, is currently the most optimized native Apple Silicon game released yet. The developers have really pulled in all the stops to make sure the game runs well on every Mac, whether it is an M1 (more on that later) or an M3 Max. MetalFX really comes in clutch with the older MacBooks to try and get them to a reasonable frame rate, and even chugs along with the M2 Max and M3 Max, which are aiming to hit higher frame rates. The visual fidelity overall doesn’t seem to be impacted that much when you use MetalFX. You do see a jagged edge and some aliasing here and there, especially in cinematics, where you are right in a character’s face. But, besides that, there really isn’t a lot of difference, and the performance advantage you get is definitely worth it.
The graphics quality within the game is where you’ll start seeing the difference. We recommend you play the game at least on Default or Very High to enjoy the dynamism that the performances of all the actors voicing and playing the characters in Death Stranding have. Coming onto specific devices, The M2 MacBook Air is where the game starts going above the 60 FPS mark on low, which means that you can crank up the settings even further than what you’d think and enjoy the game on Default or Very High as well.
But Death Stranding is a cinematic game. So, we recommend you dial your FPS in and cap it to around the 30-40 FPS mark even if your device can manage more frames and instead focus on getting as much visual fidelity out of the game as possible. There’s no reason for you not to use MetalFX and try and squeeze out as much as you can.
Death Stranding on MacBook: Can it run on a base M1 MacBook Air?
Image Credit: Andrew Tsai
Okay, so news flash: Death Stranding runs very well on the base M1 MacBook Air. On 1080p Low, we averaged around 25 with MetalFX turned off. Bummer, right? But, as soon as we turned MetalFX to Spatial Upscale Performance, we were greeted with a whopping 51 FPS average. This means that you will be able to play the game really well on the base MacBook Air and on any other device, for that matter. You can also go up to 1080p Very High and average around 30 FPS which is what we recommend for the most enjoyable experience. Switching off MetalFX renders the game unplayable and we wouldn’t recommend it, especially because it hasn’t really resulted in any significant performance loss from our testing.
Death Stranding Mac Download
You can download Death Stranding: Director’s Cut for Mac on the App Store. The point to note here, though, is that if you have purchased the Steam version, you won’t be able to play the game on the Mac, as that’s not meant for ARM. So, you’ll need to download the App Store version to be able to enjoy the game on Mac or iOS. The good thing is, since the game does support cross-play, you can play the game on both platforms and have your progress transferred.
Before you go…
Looking for other recent macOS blockbusters? Don’t miss either Resident Evil 4 or No Man’s Sky, both also available on Mac.
So the game’s minimum requirements are ANY silicon based Mac, correct? Why not just say that?