Mac M1 / ARM64 client and game support

[Karisair]

Hi there,

I am using an M1 MacBook Air, and am part of an early access program for Baldur's Gate 3.

There was a message posted in their most recent update stating better ARM64 support, but that Steam does not yet support this. Is there any plan to release a beta update for Steam to allow us to play the latest and greatest in a native fashion?

[4K_240hz_MLED]

Probably won't happen until Windows 11 takes off idk

[Min]

it's been almost a year since m1 launched, a majority of major applications had made transition to apple silicon, even adobe, who's notorious for optimization, had push some of the major apps into native version. sad to see Mac get so little love from valve.

[Karisair]

Maybe. It seems that I can at least launch the ARM64 version through its launcher, so in the meantime I guess I get no new achievements...

[4K_240hz_MLED]

If it's supported on ARM, then try using SAM to force unlock achievements you're entitled to.

[Xykon]

Any progress on an arm build of the steam client?

I'm still not participating in the beta client, but would WOULD if it would mean a native steam client on my arm64 mac.

[Hiro]

If you buy a Mac you probably don't care about games, that is the reality (specially a M1 / M2)...
I would rather see this time spent on fixing / enhancing the client for everyone else.
Like enhancing Linux, that is there for much longer :)

[Xykon]

Not true. new M1 and M2 chips are amazing, and also low power.

A Mac M1 arm64 build for Steam Client is already in the works based on Steamworks SDK v1.5.2 from almost a year ago (https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/pqbtv7/it_looks_like_steam_is_finally_adding_native/). Not sure why Valve hasn't released this yet.

[Hiro]

Product being good for games is different of having good support for games.

Apple never cared much about games.
Instead of using and improving Vulkan, for example, they decided to created their own proprietary Metal-something.
Yet another API that developers need to test and spend time adjusting...

[Xykon]

I agree with you there. Totally brain dead of Apple. Fortunately something a small shim layer (MoltenVK) can resolve.

[4K_240hz_MLED]

Originally posted by Xykon:

Not true. new M1 and M2 chips are amazing, and also low power.

The only amazing thing going for those are its efficiency. They're still inferior to flagship x86 CPUs for both laptops and desktops in performance. Now the M1 Pro/Max and Ultra, THOSE are really amazing. Finally Apple has shown to the world that integrated graphics can compete with mid to higher mid dedicated x86 GPUs.

Of course, I don't really delve too much into Apple news, so if the M2 Pro/Max and Ultra have came out, then they'd be good too.

[4K_240hz_MLED]

Originally posted by Xykon:

I agree with you there. Totally brain dead of Apple. Fortunately something a small shim layer (MoltenVK) can resolve.

Another braindead move was them de facto completely dropping support of 32-bit applications. I know through some form of emulation 32-bit is still technically possible, but the performance and compatibility isn't guaranteed.

I'm aware Windows and Linux have also dropped 32-bit support, but that only applies to hardware and OS variant. 32-bit programs still work fine on those OS.

[CultureBomb]

Originally posted by Hiro:

Product being good for games is different of having good support for games.

Apple never cared much about games.
Instead of using and improving Vulkan, for example, they decided to created their own proprietary Metal-something.
Yet another API that developers need to test and spend time adjusting...

You're missing some context regarding Apple not using Vulkan. For example, Apple released Metal at a time when Vulkan was still in its infancy and was not yet stable on Windows, let alone any other OS. Vulkan is still known for being more unstable than DX11/12, and Metal. In fact, on games that support it, my experience has been that Metal is the most stable graphics API since DX11. That by extension would mean that in my experience Metal is the most stable low level graphics API.

Furthermore, your point of Apple being hostile toward game devs/publishers would have been true anytime before late 2021. However, since then Apple has started to view gaming as their largest remaining untapped source of revenue. Apple introduced a gaming mode in MacOS Ventura, and made major upgrades to it in the recently released MacOS Sonoma such has native support for Nintendo Switch controllers including Joy-Cons. Windows still doesn't natively support the full functionality of Joy-Cons, and Steam only has native support for Switch Pro Controllers. Dolphin runs Pokemon Battle Revolution at a stable 30 FPS at 5K on my MacBook Pro, while my mid-tower Windows 10 gaming rig sporting an RTX 3070 and a Ryzen 5600X runs Pokemon Battle Revolution through Dolphin at 60 FPS average with 15 FPS 1% lows and has crunchy audio no matter what render settings I use. Games that do run natively on Apple Silicon are typically stable, but may not offer the same breadth of features seen on Windows. Once Valve releases a universal binary for Steam I think Macs may start to gain traction among gamers, especially in the laptop market.

[CultureBomb]

Originally posted by Hiro:

If you buy a Mac you probably don't care about games, that is the reality (specially a M1 / M2)...
I would rather see this time spent on fixing / enhancing the client for everyone else.
Like enhancing Linux, that is there for much longer :)

I have used MacBooks as my daily driver for years, and I do very much care about gaming which is why I forked out the money to build a Windows gaming rig back in 2017, and upgraded it just last year. The only thing tethering me yo the Apple ecosystem is their superior audio drivers of which I rely on for audio production.

Apple has the music industry in a choke hold because it's simply too much work and sacrifice to get Windows to have stable audio drivers, and most audio production software isn't available on Linux. Apple audio drivers work out of the box and you basically have to be trying to manage to screw them up.

[『lavavex』]

The only application i have that isnt ARM64 on my M2 MBP is Steam, if we could get an arm version that would be awesome