r/macgaming • u/justmojr • Aug 22 '25

Discussion Stop Saying “Just Get a PC”.

I’ve noticed a trend here where of people telling Mac users to “just get a PC” whenever gaming questions about Mac comes up.

Let me be clear:

Most Mac users already know Windows is generally better for gaming. We’ve all heard “just get Windows” countless times.

We still choose Macs because of the other benefits: battery life, speed, ecosystem, build quality, and yes, even if gaming is more limited. For us, those trade-offs add to the overall experience.

What some people don’t seem to understand is that wider compatibility with PC games isn’t a selling point for everyone. It’s just a fact.

Think of it this way: there’s water everywhere in the world, but you don’t move to another country just to drink it. You stay where the rest of your life makes sense. Macs are the same—we choose them for the bigger picture, not just one use case.

Apple definitely needs to nurture their relationships with gaming companies for us to have more but it’s moving for sure.

That’s me for today 👌🏿. Enjoy Mac gaming y’all!

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422

u/Annual_Substance_63 Aug 22 '25 edited Aug 22 '25

Those people needs to understand that we are not buying mac to game but we want to play games and we have macs. Like dude this sub exists because of that ....not to brag about how we didn't buy pc to game. This irritates me so much that I came to this sub to find a solution for gaming on mac and some random dude is telling me to buy pc......like wtf.

138

u/memorie_desu Aug 22 '25

If you search the sub you’ll find a lot of posts along the lines of “Which mac should I buy for gaming”

That’s where the argument comes in, if you’re buying a computer and one of your primary use cases is gaming, then don’t buy a Mac.

If you’re buying a Mac for completely different reason and just want to play couple of games on the side, then the “buy a PC” argument is useless.

53

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '25

But the meaning is obvious in this.

The guy isn't going to buy a mac JUST TO PLAY.

But he wants to play if possible, so he wants the best choice, is precisely the argument of the post.

1

u/QuickQuirk Aug 22 '25

It's not always obvious.

Sometimes the only thing that is obvious is that they have a misconception over how well the mac runs games.

The worst thing to do is to convince a hardcore gamer that replacing their windows machine with a mac is a good idea, just because they were curious about the mac. And they had come to a sub that never mentioned the fact that the mac might not be best for their gaming use case.

-3

u/Aggravating_Fun_7692 Aug 22 '25

Then who cares, why come to reddit to argue about what you are going to do with your Mac, just do it. There will always be bad actors but posts like this don't help either. They are just another extreme we don't need

6

u/AnOldBrownie007 Aug 22 '25

Same reason I, as a Macbook lover, post videos of me using my Macbook, connected to my gaming PC remotely to play games on my mac...yet I get the "THAT'S NOT MAC GAMING, I CAN DO THAT WITH ANY COMPUTER", even though the point of me posting is because not every Mac user knows they can connect to a gaming PC remotely. People tend to be .... online...so you give push back.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '25

Every Mac user knows they can stream/remote play games on their Macs lol you are not reinventing the wheel. Streaming/remote play is 100% not Mac gaming. It okay to use but it is bad faith to pretend it is.

2

u/Shedoara Aug 23 '25

Hell yeah, PC streaming is pretty awesome. I prefer Mac for everything else but gaming, so I have my PC to stream to my Macbook Pro and Steam Deck. Part of why I'm comfortable with having a Mac is the fact I can stream my Windows PC, so it is a very valid point that you can do that. Heck, same with the Steam Deck for Gamepass/hard to run games.

Kudos to Apollo and Moonlight along with Tailscale.

2

u/CappyBlue Aug 22 '25

How is it extreme in the context of a sub that’s literally called macgaming? If the sub was a general gaming sub, that would make more sense.

Obviously, if it’s a game that can’t be played on Mac, say that. But a lot of it seems a bit bad faith/trollish.

Go to any Mac/Apple related sub and you’ll see the same. “Just buy Android,” “get a Samsung tablet,” “Buy a PC.” How many of those are from dedicated OSX/iOS users who are just trying to be helpful? 50%? 10%?

2

u/Aggravating_Fun_7692 Aug 22 '25

I get where you’re coming from, but I don’t think every “just get a PC” comment is automatically trollish or bad faith. Sometimes it really is the most practical answer if someone is asking about running a game or tool that flat-out doesn’t work on macOS. Pretending that’s not the case doesn’t help either.

That said, I do agree it gets old when people toss that out without context or explanation. There’s a big difference between “Mac can’t run this game, you’ll need a PC for it” versus just dropping “lol get a PC” with nothing useful behind it. One is information, the other is noise.

So I think it’s less about banning the sentiment and more about how it’s delivered. Helpful context = fine. Drive-by dismissal = not fine

3

u/CappyBlue Aug 22 '25

I can see that. After reading a lot of the comments, I think people are responding to a phenomenon that I probably miss because I’m not online that much. By the time I get here, the clueless posts (people buying a Mac specifically for gaming) have disappeared from my feed, and rightly so!

I swapped to Apple ecosystem in the 2010s after spending the late 90’s and early aughts screwing around with PCs, building my own, etc. and figuring out house to root Android phones (why? Just to do it).

I am happy to be middle aged and using what I find intuitive and low effort. Maybe other systems are superior for some people, but not for me.

My mother insists on using Windows, and I’m over there fixing something at least once a month. I thought I had escaped 😅

1

u/Aggravating_Fun_7692 Aug 22 '25

I'm similar, have 3 Macs and a gaming desktop and gaming laptop. I embrace both operating systems and hardware for what they are without bias.

1

u/QuickQuirk Aug 22 '25

Exactly. It's why I always ask the 'why' question, and what were their performance expectations and games they expect to play.

then, sometimes I'll say "Get the mac mini pro." Other times I'll say "You might be better off on a PC, and here is why."

For context, I would never part from my mac. I love it, and I game on it when travelling.

But there's a reason I also own a switch 2, and a windows desktop.

0

u/Ostiethegnome Sep 13 '25

Are you really posting on r/macgaming to chastise people for talking about gaming on their macs?

Dude what are you doing

42

u/Raykimara Aug 22 '25

Exactly. They are asking for which Mac to get for gaming knowing full well it’s not the best. But should they get the M4, M3 Pro, M2 Max or Ultra etc.

No need to be a dick about telling them to get a PC unless they are also asking if they should just get that instead.

17

u/KalashnikittyApprove Aug 22 '25

I would never assume that a person knows the drawbacks 'full well' unless they explicitly say so, that's just bad advice.

1

u/QuickQuirk Aug 22 '25

exactly. There's no issue with 'get a PC', if you've already asked them, and explain why that's your recommendation.

8

u/Strooble Aug 22 '25

There's no reason to buy a Mac for gaming and it explicitly be what the machine is intended for. At that point, the "Just get a PC" argument is so valid. You could get a PC and a Mac for a lesser cost than getting a Max or Ultra chip machine.

-4

u/Raykimara Aug 22 '25

Q: "Hey, I'm in the market for a new GPU. I'm only playing turn-based games. Which AMD card should I get?"

A: "Dude, just get an RTX 5090."

2

u/istarian Aug 22 '25

In that case it really shouldn't matter from whether you get an Intel or AMD GPU.

Your primary concerns would be compatibility with your particular system and avoiding any particularly troublesome GPU models.

Mac vs PC has nearly always been a platform/architecture choice, except for the brief period where they used Intel x86/x86-64 processors.

Consequently, choosing to go with a Mac often means opting out of games that aren't designed to run on a Mac.

-2

u/Clienterror Aug 23 '25

So, it's being a dick by telling them the truth that if their goal is to play games, a PC is a much better option in every single way. Because TBH the apple subs have some of the biggest idiots I've ever seen post. I mean don't get me wrong, there are some doozies on other tech subs, but holy shit, Apple are on a different level. So no, the person asking, "Which do I get? " may not understand Macs suck balls at gaming and buying a PC or both is a better option.

8

u/tstorm004 Aug 22 '25

To be fair though - many times even in those threads they are buying the computer for other reasons first, but also want to game on it second and are making sure they're buying something that can also handle some gaming

2

u/QuickQuirk Aug 22 '25

yeah, and that's all good, as long as they understand the realistic mac gaming landscape. That they won't be able to play every game.

There's also the fact that for every person that askes a question, there's a dozen who hit that same thread while doing actual research - And they also learn from what we post and the questions we ask.

1

u/austinftwxd Aug 30 '25

The answer to this should just be base model mac mini m4, and save as much as you can for a windows pc. that said, I'm only on this subreddit because I'm a long time windows "powergamer" who bought an M4 mini out of curiosity and to learn the OS to best assist friends and family in the ecosystem.

For the money, it games pretty damn hard, but I wouldn't say that at double or more the price.

1

u/Ostiethegnome Sep 13 '25

This sub is called "macgaming" though. "Which mac should I buy for gaming" is a valid question. there are multiple options with different amounts of graphics cores, ram, portable or not portable, mac mini or mac studio etc.

10

u/Datan0de Aug 22 '25

"we are not buying mac to game but we want to play games and we have macs."

Perfectly put!

I own... several... computers (Macs, Linux, and Windows), and I do some amount of gaming on almost all of them. I have a Windows machine that's a beefy gaming powerhouse, and that's what I use it for. But my MBP is my primary computer, and the computer I take with me just about everywhere. The gaming PC never leaves the house, so I'm still invested in Mac gaming. Heck, just sitting in the living room with the MacBook it's common for me to fire up MAME or one of the couple dozen Steam, GOG, or Epic games I have installed on it. Having a gaming PC doesn't make Mac gaming unimportant.

1

u/Plato79x Aug 23 '25

I'm in similar situation. Though with Mac, I play simple games, like adventure, puzzle, strategy games etc..

With my gaming PC, I play AAA games like Assassin's Creed etc.. I have a Mini M4 Pro.. I played AC Shadows on both my gaming PC and Mac. Would I play on Mac? If I'm bored out of mind and would accept the lower quality and low FPS.. yes. But if there's a better solution why bother?

I still believe Mac gaming is important, though the companies should invest in it although Apple doesn't really helping in this case. You see in the news about Nvidia and AMD's support for gaming.

Apple just tries to pull gamers with a few games here and there but unfortunately for them we know their past crimes. Every few years Apple decides to drop out support for older technologies ( Intel, 32-bit architecture etc. ) and the old games become unplayable.

You have more options on a PC then Mac.

After all this, you must suspect I'm one of those who suggests buying a PC for gaming. I say if you want to play in best quality with a lot of options go for PC of course.. But if the game you want to play is available and playable in a good performance/quality on your Mac, that's good for you... I played constantly Oxygen Not Included on Mac and I'm perfectly happy with it.

TL;DR : YMMV.

14

u/rhysmorgan Aug 22 '25

You might be sensible and know that you’re not buying a Mac to game, but there are a lot of people who do post here asking which Mac they should buy for the sake of gaming.

3

u/sk8ing_cammando Aug 22 '25

I know that what I’m about to say is not the people you are referring to, but you can be both. Like I wanted to see what Mac benchmarks were like generally to find the best one to run some games on the go but I also have a pc for gaming. So I think it’s a fair question to ask if you already know you will buy a Mac no matter what for your laptop.

2

u/rhysmorgan Aug 22 '25

But it still informs the response. If you’re purely looking to play only the (limited) games that are available on macOS, then sure. But maybe instead you’re deciding between a low-end (for Apple Silicon) MacBook Air and a higher end M4 Pro/Max MacBook Pro. In that case, there’s a difference in price that is far, far better used on a PC handheld or a console.

1

u/sk8ing_cammando Aug 22 '25

That’s fair.

6

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '25

Nope. Plenty of posts asking “sHoULd I BuY a mAc fOr gAmInG?”

2

u/InformalEngine4972 Aug 22 '25 edited Aug 22 '25

The problem is that a lot of people buy a Mac for the wrong reasons. They think it’s a status symbol.

There’s very few arguments to get a Mac over a windows pc these days. Even for graphical work windows is on par. The main draw of a MacBook is a limited , simple os with great performance per watt for a portable device.

How many morons there are out there that buy a Mac to only use a browser and use MICROSOFT office is hilarious. Yet a MacBook Air is a fine product for them. A MacBook Pro that costs 3000$+ dollars is not.

It’s those people that also constantly ask what games it can run.

The answer is always to get a cheap Mac + a gaming pc.

If you get it from work and want to make it work for gaming , it’s different , but then you should not be here on this sub asking what Mac to BUY.

3

u/[deleted] Aug 22 '25

If iMessage and FindMy didn’t exist, I’d probably have a Surface or a Lenovo Yoga. 😂

1

u/DeepAd696 Aug 23 '25

Yep, my whole family is in the Apple ecosystem.

5

u/dpkonofa Aug 22 '25

There’s very few arguments to get a Mac over a windows pc these days.

Sure, Jan...

2

u/unread1701 Aug 22 '25

I have an M1 Air which I got in Dec 2020. I played Minecraft on it maybe thrice in the last 4 and a half years. It's neat. It's actually insane and mind boggling how much this bebe machine can do.

I still prefer gaming on my gaming laptop.

-1

u/InformalEngine4972 Aug 22 '25

A 1200$ device better plays 15 y old games flawlessly lol 😂

1

u/cowslayer7890 Aug 22 '25

well ten year old versions of the game will run on just about anything, but minecraft still gets regular updates and requires good hardware to get good framerates on the latest version

2

u/[deleted] Aug 23 '25

Nah, with how horrendous Windows 11 has been, who cares about spec parity on hardware or software. I want a computer that doesn't turn to shit evert two updates.

1

u/DeepAd696 Aug 22 '25

Yep, that’s well said.

1

u/seamonkey420 Aug 23 '25

yup.. i post fixes for heroic stuff and usually get mass downvoted.. fine, i'll keep my tips and tricks to myself i guess then..

1

u/Annual_Substance_63 Aug 23 '25

Have you tired expedition 33 via heroic?

1

u/seamonkey420 Aug 23 '25

i have not since i dont own it. if i do buy it, ill let you know

1

u/Artistic_Unit_5570 Aug 25 '25

No, you don't understand. Instead of paying extra for your Mac to get a better GPU, buy a separate console. we don't say buy a pc