Is it possible to play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Mac?
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is an action-adventure RPG, the fifth installment in The Elder Scrolls series, with a huge open-world fully explorable from the outset. Players will play the role of Dragonborn, Dragonborn, who arrives in the province of Skyrim, located in the continent of Tamriel on the Nirn planet in the time of the return of the legendary dragons, which, according to legend, will destroy the world. Dragonborn will have to experience numerous adventures on the way to his goal – to stop the dragon lord Alduin, who is going to unleash his rage and anger on the whole world. Players are free to choose whether to go through the storyline, do side quests, or just wander around the world. In Skyrim, there is no clear concept of “character class” – the protagonist can be developed as the player likes, creating all sorts of combinations of standard “role-playing” classes. Versions for Windows, PlayStation, and Xbox One were released, however, for some unknown reason, Mac users were deprived of the opportunity to play this popular game with convenience. In this tutorial, we show how to play any version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (including the latest one: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Anniversary Edition) on any version of MacOS easily.
Play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Mac with Parallels
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim requires lots of PC resources, but you can play the game if you have a powerful Mac computer (iMac, iMac Pro, or Mac Pro), and 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 Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 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 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on Mac with cloud gaming services
Update: Xbox Cloud supports The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to the date and you can play it on Mac on high settings right now! Register and explore cloud gaming now!
If you have an old Mac, or it cannot satisfy The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 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 15 MBits/s. There are several great services, that provide such an opportunity, among the best are Xbox Cloud, Google Stadia, AirGPU and Nvidia GeForce Now. Xbox Cloud has The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim in their game catalog, which gives you an opportunity to play this excellent game on Mac or even Android!
Play The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 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 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 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 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim 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)