How To Optimize Mac For Gaming
As simple as it sounds, this trick can help you optimize your mac for gaming. For the most part, configuring the graphics settings for your game is one of the most ideal approaches to ensure that it will operate a little more seamlessly. However, you can also try switching between windowed mode and full-screen mode.
- Both macOS and third-party software updates can help improve your machine’s overall performance. How you update an app depends on the app and how you installed it. For example, apps you install from the Mac App Store will be updated by the App Store.
- How to Optimize Your Mac for Gaming You can start by freeing up disk space on your machine. Your hard drive is not an essential component for gaming, but it is needed in order to install games onto your machine, as well as for running games and apps smoothly.
- Method 4: Improve multiplayer performance in games Games that have few players generally provide better performance than games that have many players. To improve multiplayer performance in games, reduce the number of players who can play the game when you set up a LAN or Internet multiplayer game.
When you think of a Mac, gaming is not always the first thing that comes to mind. That used to be the realm of PCs, but today's Macs are more powerful and tailed to the needs of gamers. Nonetheless, even if you own an old Mac desktop or laptop, there are ways to optimize it for gaming. This article shows you what you need to do in order to prepare your Mac to handle the heavy graphics and processing power that most new games require.
Before we describe the three method keep in mind that finding duplicate files is a tricky thing because of different file names, different versions of the same file, different download times and so many more variables. The first method shown below will make your manual search a little easier and a little more fruitful.
Tips 1. Boost Performance by Closing Others App during Gaming
Freeing up RAM is a little trickier because it's a dynamic resource. However, there are a couple of things that can be done.
First, one of the biggest memory drains in your system is the web browser. Some are more insatiable than others, but they're all resource-hungry applications. So are Java and Flash, so make sure that all browsers and their plugins are closed when it's game time.
Also make sure that apps that start at startup aren't running in the background. Essentially, any background non-essential process should go. This can be done: Apple icon (upper left corner) -> Force Quit... Choose the apps to be closed at gaming time.
If you want to stretch it even more, you can also consider disabling some Mac OS X (macOS) features, such as Siri or animation. If you're an amateur gamer the difference will barely be noticeable, but if you have a low-RAM system, it could yield positive results. If you have an older 4GB RAM Mac computer, we would recommend doing a full housekeeping run before you opt to upgrade your hardware for gaming.
Tips 2 : Optimize Mac Running Memory for Gaming
If you have a Mac that's a year old or more, then the first thing to do is cleaning out all the junk that's been collecting over that period of time. A utility like TunesBro CleanGeeker can help with this. CleanGeeker's deep scan capabilities will help you find and remove junk, duplicates, large files you don't use and even apps that aren't relevant to you any more. In addition, it can help optimize your startup items so you have an optimized booting time.
Highlights of TunesBro CleanGeeker
- Remove invisible junk anc app caches.
- Find and remove duplicates files for making more room.
- Clean real-time memory used by other apps.
- Turn off apps being opened at the login.
Step 1Download TunesBro CleanGeeker
First, download and install TunesBro CleanGeeker on your Mac. When you launch the app, you'll see several options on the left panel, such as junk, duplicates and large files. You will also see several other utilities that you will need for this Mac optimization exercise. Just follow the steps shown below:
Step 2 Clean up Memory and Uninstall Unwanted Apps
Find 'Memory' option and click 'Deep Scan' at the bottom. You will get the memory boosted in a few seconds. The app shows up how much memory it saved this time.
In the Utilities section, click on 'Uninstaller' and remove any app that you don't use anymore. Most users will have lots of these, and some of them may be utilizing more resources and occupying more memory space than you realize. TunesBro CleanGeeker's Uninstaller will remove every remnant of the apps that are removed, freeing up significant space.
You can also use the 'Optimization' tool to prevent certain apps from launching on startup. It will make your Mac more responsive and boot faster.
Step 3Scan and Delete (Junk/Cache/Large File)
In the main 'Junk' section and click on the Quick Scan button to allow the software to get into your system and identify all the unnecessary files like temp, cache, language files and so on. Review and then delete all the files you don't need.
Tips 3. Upgrade Hardware for Mac (10X Booster)
And this is the next stop. Upgrading your RAM increases compute power by that much more. In the example just shown, upgrading your hardware to 8GB of RAM will increase your Mac's processing to handle all but the most resource-intensive games. You'll still be limited by the graphics card, but shouldn't have problems rendering game content at the required frame rate. If you're going to be doing a lot of gaming, you can even consider an upgrade to 16GB.
You might also consider putting in a SSD because it can handle system tasks and load times better than older hard drives. Of course, there's always overclocking, but that's inadvisable on a MacBook Pro or MacBook Air because of overheating problems. You could probably do it on an iMac, but that might mean replacing the stock fan for one that can cool a lot better. Nonetheless, overclocking will most likely void your warranty, and just not worth doing on a Mac.
Summary
Overall, upgrading RAM, optimizing RAM usage and keeping your Mac clean are probably the three most effective things you can do to prepare your Mac for a life of gaming. Get a tool like CleanGeeker, upgrade your RAM and keep resource-hungry processes closed during your gaming sessions. That's your best bet.
Related Articles & Tips
We may not think of gaming when it comes to Mac. But nowadays, there are a whole bunch of games for such devices. In fact, some of the most popular PC games are now available for OS X.
Macs are simply great as gaming devices. However, keep in mind that even such quality devices require maintenance in order to stay conditioned.
Now, in this article we will see how we can optimize mac for different kinds of games. We will guide you on how to do some hardware and software adjustments so you can keep your Mac as optimize as possible even in long period of gaming time.
So, without further ado, let’s get this on!
Understanding Your Graphics
You might not really think about it since OS X does most of the device’s tasks in terms of handling your system’s drivers, graphics, and other settings. But the thing is, you can do certain stuff to understand how your Mac device manages settings and how you can further enhance it.
Even though you can’t simply go and install your very own drivers, the GFX Card Status provides you some familiarity about if your Mac is utilizing integrated graphics, as well as if it is switched over to a dedicated card. Moreover, you can even force OS X to utilize one card or another by using the program.
In addition, you will be able to make wiser configuration to your games’ graphics settings if just get familiarized with all those options and toggles.
After understanding each option, you will most likely be more comfortable making changes and configuring certain things in your games in a way that significantly enhances the performance of your Mac during gaming time without compromising the quality.
Try Full-Screen Mode vs. Windowed Mode
As simple as it sounds, this trick can help you optimize your mac for gaming. For the most part, configuring the graphics settings for your game is one of the most ideal approaches to ensure that it will operate a little more seamlessly.
However, you can also try switching between windowed mode and full-screen mode. You see, even windowed mode taking up your Mac device’s entire screen can effectively smooth things out. In addition to that, which one works best for you will most likely depend on how heavy your games are.
Keep Your Other Applications Closed
If you tried playing on Windows, you are most likely used to the performance trade-off of keeping other applications running while you’re playing, that’s why you must also be ready for it in OS X.
This is particularly true for some heavy web browsers and applications out there that tend to consume more system resources the longer they have been running. To get the most out of your gaming sessions, try closing Chrome or Firefox.
Java and Flash are some of the types of heavy plugins for web content that is worth disabling while you’re playing. Such plugins tend to drag down your device’s system resources while you are playing full-screen games.
You can simply get rid of Java and Flash completely, or you can install Flashblock for Chrome or Firefox, or ClickToFlash for Safari in order to halt them from loading until you need them.
Installing Windows
Do you know that you can always install Windows on your Mac device?
Regardless if you utilize Boot Camp to dual-boot or give up on OS X completely, you can operate Windows as well as your favourite Windows games and applications on your Mac hardware.
In fact, it is one approach to get your game on in a way you are most likely familiar with. And utilize all of the tools and configurations you know. In addition, if you are operating Windows, you need a boarder range of games available for you to game.
For the most part, a Mac device actually makes a great Windows computer. And even though it is not primarily engineered for gaming, most units separate graphics, which make them pretty great for the task.
Clear Up System Clutter and Some Disk Space
How To Optimise Your Mac For Gaming
For all you know, one of the most ideal approach to keep your device in top shape is to simply clear up your uninstall unnecessary programs, hogging start-up applications, and program clutters.
You see, some of the Mac games you want to play may acquire some disk space for scratch while you are playing. And for sure, if you’re sure of disk space, you’ll feel the negative impact.
This is particularly true if you are playing Steam games. So, in this instance, you would want to cut Steam off from the main disk space and transfer it on another hard disk so your primary space won’t get affected, and ultimately you’ll have a seamless gaming experience.
In addition, you can also use some clean-up programs to make things more efficient such as Onyx and iBoostUp. CCleaner for Windows will also work great for OS X.
Turn-off OS X Features You Never Use
Notification Center and Dashboard are some of the OS X’s features that you might never actually be using. The thing about such features is that they consistently operate in the background, which ultimately affects your gaming experience.
NotificationCenter
So, with that said, here’s the tutorial for turning off Notification Center:
- Simply open a Terminal Window (i.e. Applications, then Utilities, then Terminal).
- After that, you should enter this command to halt Notification Center from launching again:
launchctl unload –w
/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.notifactioncenterui.plist
- After that, enter this command to completely halt the feature:
Kiall NotificationCenter
How To Optimize A Mac For Gaming
- Following these steps must immediately stop the Notification Center.
- Now, if you want to use Notification Center again, simply open a terminal window again and enter this:
launchctl load –w
/System/Library/LaunchAgents/com.apple.notificationcentralui.plist
- After that, go to finder and press Command, Shift, and G, then you must type in /System/Library/CoreServices/. Just search for the Notification Center and launch it again.
Dashboard
And that sums up for disabling Notification Center. Let’s now proceed on turning off Dashboard:
- Just open a Terminal Window again (i.e. Applications, then Utilities, then Terminal).
- After that, input this command to turn off the Dashboard:
Defaults write come.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled –boolean YES
- Then input this command to restart the Finder:
killall Dock
- The Finder will just automatically restart, with the Dashboard completely turned off.
Since both Notification Center and Dashboard operate consistently in the background, you can clear up some storage space for your Mac games so they can run more smoothly
Final Thoughts
After trying or implementing one or two of the suggestions we mentioned above, your gaming sessions should be more smoothly. Similar to many systems out there, you need to tweak the graphics settings of your Mac device in order to ensure that everything is perfect.
But simply because you are playing on a Mac device doesn’t necessarily imply that you need to be okay with the performance you have.
How To Optimize Your Mac For Gaming
Remember that similar to a Windows computer, hardware comes with a crucial role, and there is a lot you can do to utilize it and significantly enhance the performance of your device before hitting the natural ceiling. For sure, you won’t be able to configure or control everything out there. However, there are certain things you can perform in order to boost your play time.
How about you? Do you know any optimization tips for Mac gaming that we weren’t able to mention? If so, kindly share them in the comment box below!