MacBook Airs aren’t designed to be gaming machines. And yet, many of you reading this are likely carrying some model of the Air with you at all times as a dedicated work/movie streaming machine. I know I am, which made me wonder whether I could also sneak in some gaming time on this device in a pinch. Turns out I absolutely can, so long as I really pick my battles.
A big caveat before we start: even if you are using the new M4 MacBook Air, you’re not going to be able to play any brand-new, ultra-graphics-intensive game releases. One key culprit here is one of the reasons I love a MacBook Air: there’s no fan. That means the device is completely silent, regardless of the strain put upon it. And fancy graphics cause strain, which means added heat.
To ensure that the MacBook Air doesn’t reach heat death, once the device reaches a certain temperature, the performance will start to be throttled to the point where your framerates are going to dip massively. So yeah, while you can play some of the games below at 60 frames per second, within 20 minutes, the heat of the device will cause things to plummet significantly. Unless you’re planning a very short gaming session, I would recommend sticking to 30 fps and 1080p whenever possible.
Death Stranding: Director’s Cut
With the sequel fast approaching, you might be interested in catching up on the country-crossing shenanigans of Sam Porter Bridges from the first game. Good news: Death Stranding: Director’s Cut will run pretty great on newer MacBook Airs. Technically, it can even run on an M1 MacBook Air from 2020, but it’s not going to be the prettiest thing. With newer models, you’ll be able to increase the settings a bit. On my M4 Air, I was able to run the game on “Very High” settings at 30 fps, which looked and played great.
Another visual stunner that does a great job on the new MacBook Air. Control’s simple environments allow for more complex physics simulations, which means you’ll be somewhat amazed by how much chaos you’re able to inflict as you march about the Federal Bureau of Control. You’ll have to dial down the settings to “Low” to maintain the steady framerate, but given the game’s art style, that’s not too much of a hit.
Even though it’s open world, Dredge’s simple environments allow it to actually reach 60 fps without too much of a struggle, making this Lovecraftian fishing jaunt all the smoother. While it’s cool to be able to run super complex 3D games on a machine as light as the Air, I do think Dredge falls in the sweet spot of games that work best here. An added bonus: it’s pretty easy to play without plugging in a controller or external mouse.
Resident Evil 2 Remake / Resident Evil 4 Remake
Ok, back to the fancy ones. These two games were made with the same engine and look stellar. Updating truly all-timer video games like Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 4 is a tall task, and it seems that extra effort was put forth on making sure these games worked great on as many devices as possible. On the M4, definitely stick with 1080p/30 fps for both of these titles, but you should be able to turn on some of the fancy features like high-quality meshes and shadow quality.
Lies of P is an underrated Soulslike is one of the few games of the genre to come close to holding a candle to in-house FromSoftware titles. And hey, it’s about Pinocchio, which is a new one! Keep it at Medium quality, 1080p, and you’ll be treated with a very consistent 30 fps. If you care deeply about hitting 60 fps in Soulslike games (trust me, I get it), you can dial down some of the settings to get you close. Just don’t expect it to be consistent.
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown
Despite being a 2.5D game, I wouldn’t recommend going up to 60 fps on Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, even though the game’s precise platforming and combat are somewhat begging for it. It’s still plenty playable at 30 fps, and as one of the best Metroidvanias made in recent years, it’s not one you’re gonna want to miss.
I’m not much of a Civ guy, but I thought I’d mention this one since it seems like the sort of game people might want to play on a MacBook Air for hours on end. Good news: Civilization 7 does run! And because it’s turn-based, the fact that it’s struggling to hit 60 fps during rounds is no big deal. Keep it at 30 fps and you’ll be fine. (Or you can just play Civ 6, which people seem to like a great deal more.)
Go nuts, y’all. If you can make Stardew Valley slow down on an M4 MacBook Air, I’ll be very impressed. The video above shows the game running great on a 2020 MacBook Air M1, to give you an idea.
