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Cloud Gaming on M1 Mac
I flipped my life on its head about a month ago. I sold my Windows-powered gaming rig and replaced it with an M1 MacBook Air. The only non-Apple product in my house at this point is a work supplied laptop. Gaming is hard. I miss it. But, cloud gaming to the rescue!
I had grabbed Nvidia GeForce Now when I had originally installed Fortnite on the M1, and quickly realized that the Apple/Epic Feud is a real thing. I have wanted to try Xbox Game Pass for a while and hadn’t bitten the bullet…until about two weeks ago.
Throughout the course of this short article, I’ll share my experiences with both, and maybe help those who want to branch out and try other options.
Nvidia GeForce Now
Nvidia’s cloud gaming service released back in 2017. While cloud gaming is still trying to gain traction, if anyone can make it work, the world’s premier video card manufacturer should be able to. I think they do.
While their model is a little different from Microsoft’s, one of the perks is an actual client you can download free. If by some chance you are like me and have a huge Steam library, or Epic library, or Origin library, you get the idea. If you already own games, this service could work for you. I haven’t run into any issues apart from a few latency warnings and that’s only when every tablet, phone, and streaming device has been turned on in my house. You can easily connect your existing accounts, fire up a game and be off to the races in just a few minutes.
I should also point out, that at this point I haven’t upgraded my account from the free version. You are limited to one-hour gaming sessions, ray tracing is not available, and occasionally, you have to sit in a queue, but to be able to freely play games that I already own make it all worth it.
I’ve played my fair share of Fortnite and Apex on the platform and have found it enjoyable as well as free. If you are looking for something with a little more power than your Mac, it’s worth giving GeForce Now a try.
