The MacBook Pro with M5 runs Windows games. Apple starts to address its biggest weakness.

Calendar 3/30/2026

Gaming on Macs has been their biggest problem for years, but everything indicates that the situation is beginning to change. The new MacBook Pro with the M5 chip shows that even demanding Windows games can run surprisingly well. Interestingly, we are talking about titles launched through emulation layers, not natively on macOS. Tests show that the performance is good enough that gaming is no longer just a curiosity. This could be the moment when Apple starts to seriously enter the world of gaming.

Emulation does the trick

According to tests conducted by Andrew Tsai, the new MacBook Pro M5 with the M5 Max version handles many Windows games using tools like CrossOver. And these are not lightweight productions. Games like Horizon Forbidden West and Black Myth: Wukong run smoothly, even though they are not designed for macOS. In many cases, they managed to achieve over 50 FPS at 1440p, which not long ago was practically unattainable on Macs.

M5 Max makes up for it with brute force

The new chip from Apple offers a significant jump in CPU and GPU performance. In some scenarios, the GPU can even compete with laptop cards like the RTX 5070, which shows how much Apple has improved its graphical capabilities. Additionally, there is unified memory and high energy efficiency, allowing the hardware to handle demanding tasks even if they are not optimized for this platform. In tests of 20 different games, most ran steadily and smoothly, which would have been unthinkable just a few years ago.

This is not yet full-fledged gaming, but…

Not everything works perfectly. There are still compatibility issues, and laptops with Windows and dedicated GPUs still have the advantage. Nevertheless, the difference is enormous, because what used to be completely unplayable now works surprisingly well. More importantly, it’s not just about the games themselves. If Apple is developing such capabilities through emulation, it paves the way for better native support in the future. And that could be the key to building a real gaming ecosystem on macOS.

Mac is still not the first choice for gamers, but the M5 shows that Apple is slowly addressing one of its biggest shortcomings. And if this trend continues, gaming on a Mac will stop being a meme and start being a real option.

source: digitaltrends.com

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