How do Macs run games?
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Spinor
<i><font color="b1373f">The Lonely Physicist</font
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Well... it's only possible (but not always good) if the game box has "Mac OS X" or something as the requirements. Macs are good for nothing anyways. If you are personal one year and a programmer the next that's gonna be a good ~$1000 wasted instead of getting a Windows/Linux PC.
And unless the book is good (as in DAMN), it's gonna crash if you run memory extensive games.
And unless the book is good (as in DAMN), it's gonna crash if you run memory extensive games.
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Hardware-wise, Macbooks (and Macs in general) aren't very great value for what you get. Software-wise, they're capable, as long as you know what you need to run that program (typically WINE is good for running Windows related software, based on what I've heard, but I don't know if it's any good for games) and hunt for Mac OS X specific versions of software, which tend to release after the PC version does if it isn't already programmed into the software for the final release. Though I'm no Mac expert - just kinda a hardware junkie with an affinity for Windows - so there are people far more knowledgeable about running games in Mac OS X on here than myself.
I'd still look at someone else's laptops instead since they are far cheaper hardware-wise, and Windows isn't a terrible OS (how else do you think it's lasted so long?).
I'd still look at someone else's laptops instead since they are far cheaper hardware-wise, and Windows isn't a terrible OS (how else do you think it's lasted so long?).
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I don't know about FPS games, but Any game that runs under Mac OS X (such as any game from blizzard) they run just fine, if not exceptional. However Like AK9 put it bluntly up above, if you really want to game get windows. He does have the option of putting Windows onto the Macbook via Boot Camp, but the drawbacks there are that Windows usually thrashes battery life and having to remember which keys on the mac keyboard are equivalent to the Windows keyboard.
I've been happy with my Mac experience, but I don't game a lot. In Fact the only games on my system are Warcraft 3 and Starcraft, both from blizzard who makes it a priority to make games that work seamlessly on both Windows and Mac. And just for reference I have a 3 year old Classic Macbook Pro (entry level specs) and I can run Warcraft 3 at the highest settings and not a single bit of lag can be noticed.
I've been happy with my Mac experience, but I don't game a lot. In Fact the only games on my system are Warcraft 3 and Starcraft, both from blizzard who makes it a priority to make games that work seamlessly on both Windows and Mac. And just for reference I have a 3 year old Classic Macbook Pro (entry level specs) and I can run Warcraft 3 at the highest settings and not a single bit of lag can be noticed.
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Well, I'd expect a 3 year old computer of reasonable specs to be able to run Warcraft 3, since it was released in 2002. It's nearly an 8 year old game. If it didn't I'd check the hardware and the age of the OS install and repair some stuff.
Macs don't run games well, if at all. If your friend is a gamer, he needs to get Windows, that's all there is to it. WINE is not a solution for gaming unless you like having one frame every ten minutes.
Of course, you could set up boot camp if you wanted to, but then what's the point of getting an Apple in the first place?
Of course, you could set up boot camp if you wanted to, but then what's the point of getting an Apple in the first place?
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Although I hate to admit it, you don't get Macs for games. Let's face it, Macs aren't very good at gaming. You could run Windows in VMware (virtualization) or in Boot Camp (direct boot), but it wouldn't be any better than a regular PC playing the same game. And to whoever suggested Wine, forget about it. I use Wine for my hack in development, but it's kinda buggy, only supports two programs that I need (incidentally, those are the two that I'm probably going to use the most: Advance Map and PKSV [it's the only script ed that works in Wine]), and can't render graphics fast. You'd probably get 0.5 fps in Wine compared to the still-resource-hungry-but-better-overall VMware, which could probably manage 30 fps when running most efficiently.
If (s)he needs to run OS X for any reason, but wants to game, his/her best bet would be to Hackintosh a regular laptop. I recommend th---
*headshot by Steve Jobs*
If (s)he needs to run OS X for any reason, but wants to game, his/her best bet would be to Hackintosh a regular laptop. I recommend th---
*headshot by Steve Jobs*
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I admit that was probably a bad example, but I can say that after reading the most likely scenario of required and recommended system specs that were released for the Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty, My Mac should be able to run it with no problems, glitches or lag. (Starcraft 2 beta system specs, please keep in mind that these specs will most likely change, and have not taken into account what specs are for Mac OS. I'd expect them to be about the same or a little higher or lower, but mostly around the same amount for either OS)
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Not to mention, even games made specifically for Macintosh computers are generally quite bug-ridden, at least initially, simply being ports of Windows games (and if they're not Windows ports, don't expect any of the big high-budget titles). It's also apparently a lot harder to code for the OS, so not surprising.
Serene Grace
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..set a Hackintosh for a nice Windows computer with 500GB HD, 6GB of RAM and the latest nVidia gfx card for under £800 and you're set. I speak from experience here - half the HDD, one partition for Windows and one for Mac - use the Mac for, well, Mac stuff and the Windows for gaming. Also, make sure the parts are right and can work with kexts - and only hackintosh with legally bought copies of Snow Leopard
It's still illegal to use OS X on anything but an Apple computer (at least in most parts of the world). The license agreement that you accept when installing OS X includes a clause that says that you agree to only use it on Apple-licensed hardware, so if you're installing it on something else, you're in violation of a legally binding contract between you and Apple Computer.
Bianca Paragon
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It's actually amusing to note that games released for OSX that are natively ported and not cider ported generally perform better under OSX ~ World of Warcraft being a great example.
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Not unless you stick an Apple sticker on it, as it says you can only install it on "Apple labeled hardware." Technically, an Apple sticker counts. :P
Apple Inc.
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On my Macbook Pro Penryn which is the next model up which is a 2.5 GHz Core 2 Duo with 2 GB of Ram. It also contains a nvidia 8600M GT with 512 MB Vram. It runs Unreal Tournament Beautifully. I don't know about anything else though..
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Your friend can just buy a gaming windows machine and install mac on it. Honestly this is the best solution(to hell with the EULA).
Though if they still want the "real" experience they can just get crossover and use that on games and what not or just boot into windows.
Though if they still want the "real" experience they can just get crossover and use that on games and what not or just boot into windows.
Crossover is WINE + 1. It's not going to work well for playing games because WINE doesn't work well for playing games.
You're quite right. I have many qualms with OS X, Apple hardware, and Apple in general, but ironically enough, the biggest problem with OS X has nothing to do with Apple; it's the fault of game developers and publishers.
Bianca Paragon
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Even tho people doubt WINE's ability to run game code, it's interesting to note that Cider is built on WINE and it's deemed to be an acceptable commercial solution ~ all of EA Games OSX releases use Cider wrapped around a Windows Version.
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WINE runs fine, and Crossover seems to be able to deal with Source-based games really well. Of course it's not going to be as good as running it natively, but it really does do the job.
Either way, if your friend's going to get a gaming machine, just don't get a Mac. o_O
rofl, what? Windows is probably the only OS that doesn't have compilers/intepreters for some of the most popular languages out of the box, while OS X has Java, Ruby, Perl, Python support straight away. (I'm missing others, too)
Sure, if you're developing for Windows, you should get a Windows machine. But isn't that just common sense? You'd have to be clinically retarded to get a machine that you wouldn't be able to test in. :[ Otherwise, Macs are great for development, and Apple is one of the only providers of OS-specific, stable, constantly updated IDEs that I know of.
Either way, if your friend's going to get a gaming machine, just don't get a Mac. o_O
rofl, what? Windows is probably the only OS that doesn't have compilers/intepreters for some of the most popular languages out of the box, while OS X has Java, Ruby, Perl, Python support straight away. (I'm missing others, too)
Sure, if you're developing for Windows, you should get a Windows machine. But isn't that just common sense? You'd have to be clinically retarded to get a machine that you wouldn't be able to test in. :[ Otherwise, Macs are great for development, and Apple is one of the only providers of OS-specific, stable, constantly updated IDEs that I know of.
Misaka Shiori
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I just used Bootcamp to run the games. VMWare Fusion 3 and Parallels Desktop 5 at the moment is a bit too slow to play the games at full frame rate. I have Windows 7 Professional installed on my Late 2008 Macbook Pro which I use for my college work and other stuff, but the games will run at full framerate, but depending on the graphics card, this can be a limiting factor for newer games and running games at high resolution. Playing PC games is the only time I really use Windows since I perfer to do most of my stuff ether in Mac OS X or Linux (which I have installed on my other computer).
However, it's not true that Macs OS X doesn't have any games. It does since some games are either ports or they used Cider, which companies like EA use to run the game on Mac OS X, but it's only limited to Intel Macs.
Also, I have nothing against Hackintoshes, so I leave it at that.
However, it's not true that Macs OS X doesn't have any games. It does since some games are either ports or they used Cider, which companies like EA use to run the game on Mac OS X, but it's only limited to Intel Macs.
Also, I have nothing against Hackintoshes, so I leave it at that.
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Just as an update, apparently Valve is porting over Steam to OS X. Yes, Steam.
The apocalypse is coming.
The apocalypse is coming.