Is it possible to play Cyberpunk 2077 on Mac?
Cyberpunk 2077 might be the most expected and hyped up game of 2020. Explosively taking over the charts, it has conquered the hearts of many gamers. The CD PROJECT RED team has brought in a role-player world with an amazing story unfolding inside of the modern, yet scary and dark future. Before starting the game, players have to choose the past of the main character, be it a nomad, street kid, or corporate worker willing to bend the rules, exploit secrets, and weaponized information. Being saturated with crime and violence, Night-city offers a never-ending experience to fight through the challenges and gain your name on the streets. Lots of implants and biotechnologies available under your sleeve to improve the character and slash through tons of enemies. The game will vary depending on the choices you make during dialogs and missions. On top of that, Cyberpunk 2077 had been in anticipation for the graphical part. A variety of fancy settings allowing to tune the graphics up to a level you could ever imagine. All of it and more is available on Windows, PS4, and Xbox platforms. Those lacking these devices, but willing to play on Mac, are on the right page as we are going to show the ways to do it.
Play Cyberpunk 2077 on Mac with Parallels
Cyberpunk 2077 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 Cyberpunk 2077 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 Cyberpunk 2077 on Mac with Boosteroid or Nvidia GeForce Now
Update: Boosteroid and Nvidia GeForce Now fully support Cyberpunk 2077! Now you can enjoy the game on an old Windows PC, Mac, Nvidia Shield, even on Chromebook and Android!
If you have an old Mac, or it cannot satisfy Cyberpunk 2077 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 small client program and a good internet connection starting from 20 MBits/s. There are several great services, that provide such an opportunity, among the best are Boosteroid and Nvidia GeForce Now. Both services have Cyberpunk 2077 in their game catalog, and you can play on any Mac computer (starting from MacOS 10.10) and even Android!
Play Cyberpunk 2077 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 Cyberpunk 2077 on Mac
This method is simple but time-consuming. If your Mac meets the system requirements above, this is probably the best way to play Cyberpunk 2077 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)