How Do I Know If My Mac Can Run Games


I have done a fair amount of gaming on my Macbook and that came with checking whether my computer was compatible with a game. Luckily, these specs can be accessed within a few clicks.

You can find out if your Mac can run games by clicking the Apple logo on the top left of the screen and then clicking “About this Mac”. Next, in the overview tab check the Processor (CPU), Memory (RAM) and Graphics specifications. Compare these to the minimum requirements of the games you want to play.

Above is a brief overview to find whether your Mac can play a game. Keep reading for a more detailed guide. I go into why you may not always want to play on your Mac, even if the game is compatible and include some external GPUs. GPUs can enhance your gaming experience from your Macbook.

Steps to Find Out If Your Mac Can Play Games

  1. Navigate to the spec requirements of the game you want to play
  2. Click the Apple logo on the top left of the screen then click “About this Mac”

  3. In the “Overview” tab you can see the specs of your computer

  4. Check whether the specs of your Mac are at the minimum or exceed the spec requirements of the game

Things to watch out For If Your Mac Has The Desired Specs For A Game

After finding out that your Mac can play a game you should still keep in mind that you can damage your Mac. Certain games can be visually graphic, such as 3D games, and this causes the parts in your Mac to heat up. Although there is a fan, this can still damage the internal parts of your computer.

I found there are two things to consider when doing this. First, you need to find out whether your Mac has the correct specs to play a game. Secondly, you need to find out whether you want to put your computer through heavy load if it can sustain it. I bring up the second point, because some games I play ended up playing ended up damaging my battery which cost me $200 to fix.

Boosting the Specs of Your Mac with External Hardware

There are options you can take to boost the specs of your Mac with external hardware such as external GPUs. External GPUs can give your Mac a performance boost and give you a better gaming experience.

External GPUs work well with the 13″ MacBook Pro. These Macbook Pros typically lack a dedicated graphics card which causes issues with graphically intense task. I would highly recommend checking out our article on how to find out if your computer has a GPU and navigate to the Mac guide.

External GPU’s don’t work too well with the Macbook Air as well. The problem is that the CPU reaches a bottleneck and cannot keep up with high-end external graphics cards.

An external GPU setup consist of an external GPU enclosure and a GPU. The recommended GPU enclosure is by Razor and the GPU is by AMD. Below I included both an eGPU and eGPU case for your Mac setup that will improve your gaming setup.

GPU (1) + Enclosure (2)Overall RatingPrice Check
1. RX 5700 XT> 4/5Price On Amazon
2. Razer Core X Aluminum External GPU Enclosure> 4/5Price On Amazon

RX 5700 XT

Tech Specs

Ram Size: 8GB Memory Speed: 14 GHz Graphics Coprocessor: AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT Graphics RAM Type: GDDR6

The Pros

+ Multiple fans for better cooling
+ Built for high-performance and high resolution gameplay
+ Supports up to 8K
+ Great graphics card for the price

The Cons

– size

The RX 5700 XT is great for older and newer Macbook Pros. Apple is working on the W5700X for their newer MacBooks which is similar to the RX5700 XT. This means the drivers that are compatible with this graphics card are getting updates, which may lead to better performance for this graphics card.

Razer Core X Aluminum External GPU Enclosure

Tech Specs

Connectivity: Thunderbolt 3 Built-in Power Supply: 650W ATX PSU with 100W laptop charging Compatibility: macOS

The Pros

+ Fan not
+ Allows plug and play

The Cons

– can be heavy
– thunderbolt cable it comes with is short

The Razer Core X external GPU enclosure is a great container to install your GPU into. Its decently size but should be able to sit on your desk next to your setup. Overall, its a graphics card enclosure that can be used for a list of supported AMD graphics cards.

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