Valve releases Steam Link macOS app on the Mac App Store

Valve has quietly released a macOS version of its Steam Link client, making the platform available for Mac users from the Mac App Store.

Steam Link is a platform that allows users to play games streamed from a host computer to devices like an iPhone, iPad, or Apple TV. As of Monday, the list of compatible Apple devices now includes the Mac, as spotted by Reddit users.

"The Steam Link app allows you to play your Steam games across all your computers. Just pair an MFI or Steam controller to your Mac, connect to a computer running Steam on the same local network, and start playing your existing Steam games," Valve says of the platform.

According to Valve, the macOS Steam Link app works best over a 5GHz Wi-Fi network or Ethernet. The app requires macOS High Sierra 10.13 and later, and both the host computer and the receiving devices need to be on the same local network.

"Video and audio data is sent from your computer to the Steam Link, while your controller input is sent back in real time. Virtually every game that your computer runs can be played on your device using Steam Link," Valve says.

Apple initially rejected the Steam Link app from the App Store in 2018 because of developer guidelines barring streaming games. A year later, it made its return to the platform to the App Store after Valve and Apple worked together to resolve guideline issues.

The Steam Link app is available as a free download on the Mac App Store via this link.

8 Comments

MacPro 18 Years · 19845 comments

About 3 years ago

Can the PC version stream to Apple devices? That would be nice as everything worth having on Steam is PC only. My hope is one day 4K streaming from PC host to any Apple device including Macs on the same LAN.

nicholfd 6 Years · 828 comments

MacPro said:

Can the PC version stream to Apple devices? That would be nice as everything worth having on Steam is PC only. My hope is one day 4K streaming from PC host to any Apple device including Macs on the same LAN.

Yep - system hosting Steam can be a PC or Mac.

rob53 13 Years · 3312 comments

Steam Link is an Intel app, not Universal. Why did they release it this way???

cloudguy 4 Years · 323 comments

rob53 said:

Steam Link is an Intel app, not Universal. Why did they release it this way???

Because latency/lag is an issue with Steam Link even with good Wi-Fi. Coding the app natively reduces the lag. Also, as I stated earlier to an editorial on this topic, there are maybe 5 million M1 Macs in the wild with the vast majority being 8 GB RAM Mac Mini or MacBook Air devices that secondary or tertiary devices for enthusiasts, devices for (mostly smaller) development shops or machines for "entry level" users who rely primarily on first party Apple software and web apps (because that was all one could use the Intel Core i3 Mac Mini and MacBook Air for). Apple Silicon is going to have to pick up more market share before writing apps for it is going to be a moneymaking endeavor.

InspiredCode 8 Years · 405 comments

Although I wish Valve did a better job with OpenVR on Mac, it is great that they champion cross-platform gaming. The Wine project has also been running significantly more games on Mac due to their support of the project. I hope Apple keeps Rosetta 2 around beyond the transition period since it is a great companion to Wine. Many Windows games run amazingly well using Steam, Wine (PortingKit or Crossover), and Rosetta 2. The AoE Definitive Edition series seems to run better on my M1 then on my highly speced Windows machine.