No More Lagging! Tips & Tricks to Maximize Your Mac Gaming Experience
Gaming on a Mac is no longer a distant dream. The arrival of macOS Sonoma has put the wheels in motion for you to enjoy thrilling titles like Assassin’s Creed: Shadows, Resident Evil 2, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and many more. This is possible because, with Sonoma, Apple has provided a new Game Porting Toolkit to allow game developers to easily bring their games to the Mac and a new Game Mode to ensure that a game gets the highest priority on CPU and GPU.
While Apple has done its bit to help Mac users enjoy their favorite games, it still has some distance to cover when compared to traditional gaming PCs. If you are facing performance issues and seeking ways to boost your gaming experience on Mac, here’s a comprehensive guide to help you game like a pro.
- Start by understanding the basics
Before diving into advanced optimizations, it is critical to comprehend your Mac’s capabilities. While Macs are known for their reliable performance and sleek design, not all models are built with gaming in mind. Hence, you can learn your system’s specifications by checking the RAM, processor, graphics card, and storage capabilities. Go to About This Mac to check the specs.
Next, compare your system’s specs with the minimum and recommended requirements of the game. This will give you an idea of how your Mac can run the game.
Now that you know your system’s capabilities, start tweaking System Settings to augment gaming performance.
- Update macOS to utilize the latest bug fixes, security patches, and performance enhancements.
- Manage background processes by killing Mac process that are unnecessary so that system resources can be freed up. Go to the Activity Monitor to identify and terminate resource-heavy processes.
- Clean your desktop because a cluttered desktop can consume RAM and may slow down your computer.
- Enhance graphics performance
Graphics are an essential component of the gaming experience. You can maximize the graphics performance of your Mac by adjusting game settings. Lowering in-game graphics settings may boost performance.
You can also use an external monitor to offload some of the processing power so you can enjoy a better visual experience.
Plus, disable features like Night Shift because this might impact performance.
- Improve network connectivity
If you are playing online games, a fast and stable Internet connection is paramount. Connectivity issues and lag ruin your experience. Hence, take steps to optimize your network.
If possible, you can use an ethernet cable to directly connect your Mac to your router. This will provide you with a faster and more stable connection compared to Wi-Fi. However, if ethernet cable is not an option, bring your Mac closer to your router and use the 5Ghz network.
You can use Speedtest.net and similar tools to check your Internet speed. Also, check whether there’s enough bandwidth for gaming.
You can use Mac’s Game Mode to optimize system resources for gaming. Plus, you can use Mods to augment your gaming experience. However, when you install Mods, be careful. It must be compatible with your game’s version.
Additionally, check for updates and patches. Installing these would help improve performance and fix bugs.
- Upgrade hardware components (if possible)
If software optimizations are not enough, you may need to consider upgrading the hardware.
You can consider adding more RAM to enhance the game’s performance, especially for playing modern games. Before purchasing RAM, ensure your Mac model is compatible with such an upgrade. Plus, you can consider external GPUs if your system supports Thunderbolt 3. eGPUs can dramatically improve graphics performance so you can smoothly play demanding games.
Additionally, you can expand storage so you don’t have to worry about running out of storage space.
- Regular system maintenance
Last but not least, ensure regular maintenance so that your Mac performs smoothly for a long time. Start by cleaning the debris and dust that might accumulate on your Mac’s exterior cover and impact performance. You can use compressed air to clean vents.
Then, tackle the temperature of your system. Don’t let your system overheat. Use iStat Menus and other applications to monitor temperature and make sure the cooling system is functioning efficiently.
You can also create a schedule to delete temporary files and cache at regular intervals.
Final Thoughts
Apple is doing its bit to allow Mac users to enjoy AAA titles and other thrilling titles. From making improvements to Game Mode and Game Porting Toolkit to releasing the M3 chip to step up the gaming capabilities of Apple’s Silicon and offering a crazy 40-core GPU, Apple is leaving no stone unturned to attract gamers.
However, for a truly amazing gaming experience on Mac, you also need to make some changes to your system, including closing unnecessary background processes to free up RAM and memory, clearing the vents, and improving your Internet connection. Follow the steps mentioned above, and you’ll enjoy a lag-free gaming experience.
