How to Play Cyberpunk 2077 on Mac

Last updated on November 23rd, 2025 at 02:48 am

Ok, ok, I will be frank enough, when I got to know that Cyberpunk 2077 is coming to Mac, I was not sure. Finally receiving a native release, five years after being launched? The thing is that here, however: the CD Projekt Red simply removed it. None of that streaming, none of that bizarre compatibility layers. Pure, native shipping and Apple Silicon gaming.

And in case you are seated there wondering whether your Mac could play Night City, here is everything that I found out after trying it with my own fingers.

What You Really Need to Play Cyberpunk 2077 on Mac.

To begin with, not all the Mac will work. It requires an Apple Silicon chip (M1 to M4), with the macOS 15.5 or newer, and 16GB or more of unified memory. What, those 8GB MacBook Airs? They’re out.

The Mac App Store version consumes 159GB. Steam, GOG, and Epic allow you to choose your language, which reduces the size to 92GB. When you are space constrained, do away with the App Store.

I ran this on an M2 MacBook Pro having 16GB of RAM. This is what you could possibly be applying:

• M1 16GB: 1440×900 at 30 FPS (completely playable, but do not look like a miracle)
• M3 Pro 18GB: 1920×1080 60 FPS (it is the sweet spot)
• M3 Max and over: 2.5K x 1.4K at 60 FPS, ray tracing mode.

To Perform Maximally well (Or at least without a PhD in Settings)

Image Credits: SixColors

My biggest suggestion is here:My best suggestion is the following: Seriously. The game analyzes your hardware and gives you an automated change in to optimised settings. Don’t mess with it right away.

However, when you continue to have stutters, the following is what actually worked with me:

Turn off frame generation. On anything that is under M3 Max it is reverse, but frame generation is more problematic than beneficial. You will have more FPS figures, but the reality? Choppy and weird.

Global Resolution MetalFX Dynamic On. This is the response Apple gave to the DLSS created by NVIDIA. It also optimizes resolution dynamically to ensure that it can maintain the smooth framerates, and to be honest, it is quite good.

It requires some ray tracing, which is unavailable below M3 Max. The ray-traced reflections are cool, alright. But they will load up your framerate so much that it is not worth it in lower-end chips.

One of the strange workarounds I have found: are your keyboard preferences slow? One weird trick that I have discovered: are your Vsync options slow? The default mode of the game is 30Hz, which is mushy. Enable it to one of the native refresh rates of your display (usually 60Hz) and there is no input lag.

Where to Actually Buy It

Already having Cyberpunk 2077 in the Steam, GOG, or Epic stores, then you get the Mac version at no cost. It works on PC cross-saving.

Buying fresh? Your best bet will be either Steam or GOG. Compressed size, performance equal and you are not locked into the Apple ecosystem.

And one more: in case you are attempting to install it on an external SSD and the system crashes repeatedly, transfer it to your internal drive. Big games cause external drives to change their mind.

FAQs

Can I play Cyberpunk 2077 on an M1 MacBook Air?

It only works with 16GB RAM version. The 8GB ones are not supported. You will have 30 FPS at reduced resolution, though it is playable in case you are not an obsessive graphics expert.

Does my Mac get hot running this game?

It will heat up, but not like it will on my Macbook Pro M1 Pro and I am stunned at what Apple vendors just yanked away. MacBook Pros will get kicked in by fans, but so will. The system will not have a chance to overheat.

Should I wait for updates before buying?

Currently it is running fine on majority of the supported Macs. CD Projekt Red listed Metal 4 features alongside the next macOS release, which may also improve its performance even further. But honestly? It is hard enough to play back.

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