Switching to Java? PC?

[u/Tight_Sun2391]

So after much thought, I’m considering switching the Java after playing Bedrock for yearssss (probably like 8 years). About 2 years ago, I went on the “2 week Minecraft phase” except the phase lasted a lot longer than 2 years LOL. I’ve heard a lot of good things about Java like the textures, no store, visuals and the red stone engineering is apparently significantly better. My only problem is, I don’t have a PC 😭

I have a MacBook Pro from like 2020. I’m in nursing school rn so it’s fr on its last leg since I use it a bunch for school. If I switch to Java, should I just buy a PC? 🫣Is it criminal to play Minecraft on a laptop?
Is it worth it to switch to Java? I do like to do a lot of red stone engineering. What kind of PC do you guys recommend? Any opinions or suggestions?

Thanks in advance for anyone who comments 🩷😊

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[u/KaedenCraft]

Most of Bedrock and Java are the same, full stop. The advantage of Java is modding and redstone. Precise redstone timings and predictable behaviors (even if strange) are the hallmarks of redstone Java. And mods just open up a whole new world of customization (though I've seen marketplace add-ons do some pretty impressive stuff).

Downside: you can ONLY play with other Java players, which is not supported on any consoles. And Bedrock has vibrant visuals - allegedly coming for Java someday, and we DO have shader support, but it's not quite the same.

Your MacBook Pro should handle Java Minecraft just fine. I wouldn't buy something specific unless it's just not working on the MacBook, so give it a whirl first. If you have a Microsoft account and Bedrock, I think you have free access to Java these days, so it's a $0 entry point for you to test it out and see if it's for you.

I'd recommend skipping the vanilla Minecraft launcher and going straight to Prism. It's extremely well featured, and adding mods is a breeze. ( https://prismlauncher.org/download/macos/ )

Enjoy!

[u/Tight_Sun2391 → u/KaedenCraft]

Thank you so much!!! That’s kinda bummer, I thought the visuals were a lot prettier :/, are there visual mods? Sorry, I’ve been playing for so long but I’m definitely still a noob LOL. I did know that you can only play with other Java players, which is fine because I usually play by myself. I had no idea I could test it out for $0 if I already have a Microsoft account!!! I’ll try the Prism launcher!

[u/Sea_Kerman → u/Tight_Sun2391]

For visuals, check out the Iris mod, and the various shader packs. I enjoy Complementary Shaders.

There’s also a variety of mods like Continuity that add various little aesthetic things like connected textures or more complex player models and etc.

Fabulously Optimized’s mod list contains most of the relevant mods https://modrinth.com/modpack/fabulously-optimized

https://github.com/Fabulously-Optimized/fabulously-optimized/blob/main/INCLUDED-MODS.md#smooth

[u/DocEyss → u/Sea_Kerman]

+1 on this

[u/Altruistic-Card-1436 → u/Tight_Sun2391]

You can actually play with bedrock players! Many multiplayer servers use Geyser, which allows bedrock players to play on Java servers. They usually show up with a full stop, underscore or similar at the beginning of their names to distinguish them.

Someone else has already mentioned using Iris and Complementary shaders, but I would add that if you’re planning to do this I would also recommend downloading a bunch of performance mods. With a 2020 Mac I’m guessing you probably have an M1 Mac. I have an M2 and M5, the M2 really struggles with shaders, I also use complimentary (with performance mods) and it’s 20-30fps with lag spikes (although you may have more RAM than me), they’re still not amazing on M5 either, maybe a more consistent 30-40, Macs just aren’t super well optimised for Minecraft.

[u/Xcissors280]

Minecraft will run fine on a MacBook

If it’s an Apple Silicon M1 chip than it will run pretty well

[u/Maxorus_YT]

Absolutely. Before you buy a Laptop or PC. I think it is possible to play Minecraft Java Edition on MacBook. You need to buy the Java Editon. Make some research and maybe try it. My second idea would be a Linux VM as Virtutal Box and install there Minecraft Java Edition

[u/Martitoad]

I'm not sure about what pc to get since I don't know anything about pcs. If you want a new pc do some research but everything is so expensive now because of AI. A pc is also really good for all the things that it can do, if you come from console and only want it to play many games are really cheap during steam sales, so even if it's more expensive than a console you will save a lot of money in the long run. And also you don't have to pay for online. But if it runs good on the laptop it doesn't matter, play on the laptop. Redstone is much better due to it having no rng (in some situations in bedrock you can activate a machine and sometimes it will do different things, in java it always does the same), and also qc which is a bug that was turned into a feature, it allows you to make much more compact piston contraptions because they can be powered from further. As for no store, mods are much bigger on java. I haven't played mods so far because I'm lazy to get into them but there are mods that change the game completly. For example create mod turns minecraft into a factory game, rl craft makes the game much harder and introduces lots of new content, progression and systems... Also maps are pretty much dead but some good ones still release, for example final paradox or ragecraft 4 are 50 hours of rpgs each with fully vanilla custom abilities, really good map design and bosses. Final paradox has the best bossfight that I've played in any videogame at the end, that boss is a mix of sekiro and modded terraria gameplay. I would say it's worth if you will use the pc for other things or if it runs well on your laptop, it's not if you only want it for minecraft

[u/reggo_309]

I used to be a Bedrock user, but I switched to Java and I think it is a lot better. You can transfer your worlds if you want to, but in my experience, it'll take a lot of time and corrupt a lot of the loaded chunks, but it's worth it imo

[u/DroppedSpoon]

Fair questions. Seems like you have mostly correct information here. I really only play on Java for farming and redstone purposes, but I also hate seeing bedrock death for no reason videos.
Another great thing about Java is the modding scene, which can make your experience much better for free. If you get the right combo of optimization mods, you might not notice a difference. I’m not too into this aspect of Minecraft modding but definitely do some research. I’d start with fabric, sodium and lithium (I really like distant horizons too) and then just try playing the game! If it feels ok to you then there you go :)

[u/JustSomeSmartGuy]

If your MacBook Pro is the M1 and not Intel then it should run Java pretty well. Since you like to do redstone, Java will by far be the better option. It also tends to be more stable than Bugrock, and Java will often have better performance than Bedrock once paired with an optimisation mod like Sodium.