Is it possible to play Arma 3 on Mac?
A long, long time ago, in 2013, Bohemia Interactive gifted us Arma 3 on Microsoft Windows. Sometime later, in 2015, versions for macOS and Linux were released. Arma 3 is an open-world strategic military shooter played by numerous active players even to this day. The gameplay is very realistic because Bohemia also made sims for the real-life military to train, so they knew what they were doing. There are tons of content, DLCs, and an endless amount of mods made by the dedicated community. Thanks to the easy built-in modding system supported by the developers, any person can create their unique content. In general, Arma 3 is more multiplayer than singleplayer, but guess what, there are great solo mission mods. Resting at the top 50 by the count of active players, it won’t be a problem to play with people online. The only bad news for macOS owners is that Bohemia Interactive stopped updating and supporting the macOS Arma 3 on version 1.82, while the game still receives updates on other platforms (version 2.06). You can play the old version with your friends, of course, but it seems that the performance on macOS is much worse than, for example, on Microsoft Windows. So we offer you some ways to play the latest version of Arma 3 on your macOS. It’s pretty simple. You only have to follow our guide.
Play Arma 3 on Mac with Parallels
Arma 3 game requires lots of PC resources, but if you have a powerful Mac computer (iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac Pro) Parallels Desktop can be a solution. This is software for Windows virtualization on Mac with the full support of DirectX and GPUs. It allows you to install Windows 10 on Mac with a couple of clicks and switch between MacOS and Windows instantly. You can run Windows just like on a regular PC, install Steam and enjoy the Arma 3 game on Mac.
Note: Recommended devices to run resource-demanding games: MacBook Pro (models with Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac (models with Intel processor, discrete graphics cards, and 16 GB of RAM or more), iMac Pro (all versions are suitable), Mac Pro (all versions are suitable). Parallels on Mac computers with M1 (M1 Pro, M1 Max) chips may not support recent games. Games that require DirectX 12 and later currently not supported by Parallels.
Play Arma 3 on Mac with Boosteroid or Nvidia GeForce Now
Update: Boosteroid and Nvidia GeForce Now fully support Arma 3! Play the advanced game on a Mac, old Windows PC, and even Android!
If you have an old Mac, or it cannot satisfy the Arma 3 game system requirements, there is an easy solution. Cloud gaming provides you with sufficient cloud resources for a fixed fee. All you need is a browser or a small client program and a good internet connection starting from 15 MBits/s. There are several great services, that provide such an opportunity, among the best are Boosteroid, AirGPU, Xbox Cloud Gaming, and Nvidia GeForce Now. Among them, only Boosteroid and Nvidia GeForce Now have Arma 3 in their game catalog, and you can play on any Mac computer (starting from MacOS 10.10) and even Android! Boosteroid and Nvidia GeForce Now can stream games with high resolution (1080p), every service has its pros and cons.
Play Arma 3 on Mac with BootCamp
Note: Mac computers with new Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3 Pro, or M1, M2, M3 Max) currently do not support BootCamp. In this case, please, use the options above to run Arma 3 on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets all the system requirements above, this is probably the best way to play Arma 3 for now. You need to set up a dual boot of Windows and Mac via BootCamp. BootCamp allows users to choose the system to work in on startup, however, you won’t be able to switch between systems like in Parallels. You will need to reboot your machine every time you switch from Mac to Windows and vice versa. Remember that Mac is just a computer, that uses common processors, RAM, disks, and other components. So you can install Windows on Mac by allocating disc space of a minimum of 64 Gb (to be able to run Windows and a couple of games). To set up Windows via BootCamp, please, do the following:
For OS X El Capitan 10.11 or later
Mention, that for MacOS versions prior to OS X El Capitan 10.11 you will need to create bootable Windows USB.
- Download Windows ISO file
- Open Boot Camp Assistant (Go to Applications > Utilities)
- Define the Windows partition size, choose downloaded Windows ISO file
- Format Windows partition and go through all Windows installation steps
- When Windows boots for the first time, follow on-screen instructions to install Boot Camp and Windows support software (drivers)