Apple M1 Mac Gaming: 40+ Games Benchmarked

Apple’s new M1 processors are finally here, and as expected, they are much more powerful than the current Intel-based Macs.

What was unexpected, though, is how much more powerful they actually are. Depending on your usage, you could expect 5 to 10 times better performance and better battery life.

Apple made good on its promise that their M1 processors would revolutionize the Mac. But if you’re here, you’re probably wondering: What about gaming?

The community has been hard at work this past week, performing and sharing as many benchmarks as possible.

When it comes to Mac gaming on M1 processors,  Thomas Schranz has been doing an excellent job compiling benchmarks on several games. You can find the Google Sheet here, for reference. Below, I highlight some of the most relevant (and verified) benchmarks available.

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Mac M1 games: How well do they run

The results speak for themselves, but if you just want the main takeaways, there are 2 things to keep in mind:

1. Macs with M1 processors are head and shoulders above Macs with integrated Intel graphics
2. Macs with beefy dedicated graphics cards (such as iMacs and 16-inch MacBook Pros) remain better at playing video games

These are some of the top benchmarks performed so far:

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Your Turn

Are you interested in purchasing one of the new M1 Macs? Perhaps you already have one? If you do, let us know in the comments section! We’ll be compiling our own benchmarks soon too. If you want to be a part of it, let me know!