Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition hits Apple Silicon Macs in 2025

The futuristic, neon-lit world of Cyberpunk 2077 is officially coming to Mac, bringing Apple gamers an experience many have anticipated since the game's initial release.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition will launch in early 2025, available through the Mac App Store and Steam. It's exclusive to Macs powered by Apple Silicon, taking advantage of advanced hardware capabilities in Apple's M1, M2, and the new M4 MacBook Pro models.

The game supports path tracing and frame generation, which are essential for delivering intricate graphics and lifelike environments. Gamers will also enjoy Apple's Spatial Audio for immersive soundscapes that further enhance gameplay.

Apple Silicon's performance capabilities are increasingly optimized for gaming. The upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 release will use Apple's Metal graphics framework to improve performance and efficiency in resource-heavy applications.

Metal is a crucial component in running visually demanding titles like Cyberpunk 2077. It enables developers to fully utilize the Mac's GPU. The collaboration between Metal and Apple Silicon aims to deliver seamless gameplay, stunning visual quality, and optimized power consumption.

For existing PC players, there's some good news. CD Projekt Red confirmed that players who already own Cyberpunk 2077 on Steam can access the Mac version without needing a new purchase.

Apple's recent rebranding of the Mac as a capable gaming machine aligns with CD Projekt Red's release. Historically, Apple computers were not considered gaming contenders due to inadequate hardware and software support for AAA titles.

The company's increasing focus on optimizing Metal and the enhanced performance of Apple silicon are rapidly transforming the computer gaming landscape.

Alongside the release of Cyberpunk 2077, Apple is gearing up for other major game titles to join the macOS platform. With Assassin's Creed Shadows and an expansion of Resident Evil 4 also expected on Mac in early 2025, the company's gaming strategy looks to grow further.

The popularity of these AAA titles on macOS could prompt even more developers to prioritize Apple compatibility in their gaming roadmaps.

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9 Comments

spacepenguinbot 12 comments · 13 Years

About 3 weeks ago

For reference, this game was released for Windows in December of 2020, so it will come to the Mac at least 4 years after the original release.

Galfan 10 comments · 2 Years

spacepenguinbot said:

For reference, this game was released for Windows in December of 2020, so it will come to the Mac at least 4 years after the original release.

A win is still a win, the game is still THE windows benchmark of the latest GPU’s. It’s still proof that devs are picking up the skill set (even if it’s a port) to develop for arm and the metal framework. So maybe with it we get game launches in the future that are in line with other platforms

9secondkox2 3125 comments · 8 Years

Great step forward. This game is a benchmark for modern graphical capability.

If Apple is touting this, then they’re feeling pretty great about what the m4 GPU can do.

Not exactly a brand new game, but this one wasn’t ready to launch when it did, being unplayable in some cases, leading Sony to stop selling it until CDPR got their stuff together. In a sense, Mac gamers are getting the game as it was intended.

Hopefully we start seeing simultaneous releases with PC AAA games this coming year, especially as Mcrosoft embraces ARM.

mpantone 2243 comments · 18 Years

9secondkox2 said:

Great step forward. This game is a benchmark for modern graphical capability.
If Apple is touting this, then they’re feeling pretty great about what the m4 GPU can do.

Not exactly a brand new game, but this one wasn’t ready to launch when it did, being unplayable in some cases, leading Sony to stop selling it until CDPR got their stuff together. In a sense, Mac gamers are getting the game as it was intended.

Hopefully we start seeing simultaneous releases with PC AAA games this coming year, especially as Mcrosoft embraces ARM.

It depends on the title and the interest by the publisher. One big problem with gaming on macOS or Linux is the current lack of support for particularly for anti-cheat software and to a lesser extent DRM software as well.

Hopefully AI-assisted software engineering will eventually make macOS and Linux ports easier. But publishers/developers still need to purchase the AI accelerators (not cheap) and employ qualified/experienced engineers to operate these AI tools. You don't just press the big green "Convert to macOS" button and grab a cup of coffee. Not yet at least.

Marvin 15335 comments · 18 Years

9secondkox2 said:

Great step forward. This game is a benchmark for modern graphical capability.
If Apple is touting this, then they’re feeling pretty great about what the m4 GPU can do.

The game's marketing page says it will support frame-generation, which hugely increases frame-rate and is needed for the highest-end graphics. An Nvidia 4070 can run this game at upscaled-1440p (720p-native) with pathtracing and frame-gen over 60FPS. M3 Max and M4 Max are around the same as a 4070.

Apple said they are using 2nd-gen raytracing cores in M4 so there must be some improvements there too. The MBP presentation said 2x faster raytracing cores.

In a compatibility layer, Cyberpunk runs pretty smoothly on the Max chips without pathtracing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEhdqqO1y-Q

A native build should be faster than this.

This video shows the difference frame-gen makes, FPS goes up 50-100%:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G4lnBgGj6yM

Frame-gen is part of AMD's FSR3 and Apple's MetalFX is reported to be based on FSR so the Cyberpunk game will likely use a newer MetalFX. They may apply this to other games like Resident Evil so they run better on mobile.

This is also the same base engine as Witcher 3, which still doesn't have a native Mac port so at least now it has a Metal renderer and can be ported. Witcher 4 will use Unreal 5 so that will already be supported.

Pathtracing is the peak of real-time rendering and can do photorealistic rendering so if Apple can handle this, there's not a higher quality bar to reach.