MacPorterSteam on Apple silicon: M1, M2, M3 and M4 Macs
People searching for Steam on an M1 Mac, or on an M2, M3 or M4, usually want to know two things. Does the Steam app run on these chips, and will it play the games they own? The first answer is yes. The second needs more care, and this article separates the two.
Does Steam run natively on Apple silicon?
The Mac version of Steam installs and runs on Apple silicon Macs. It gives you the store, your library, friends and downloads. What it can install is limited to games that have a macOS build, and on Apple silicon that usually means an Intel build running through Rosetta 2 or a build compiled for arm64. A large number of popular games have no macOS version at all, so they show no install button on a Mac.
So Steam itself is not the obstacle. The catalogue is. If you want the reasons behind the gaps, read why Steam games are missing on Mac.
What changed with M-series chips
Apple silicon uses arm64 processors, whereas Windows games are built for x86 and x86-64. A Windows game on an M1, M2, M3 or M4 therefore needs its processor instructions translated as well as its Windows API calls and graphics. The chip generation matters for speed, not for whether this is possible. The same approach applies from M1 upwards.
It is also worth knowing that Rosetta 2 translates Intel Mac software. It does not provide Windows. Our article on whether Rosetta 2 can run Windows games covers that distinction.
Running the Windows version of Steam on an M-series Mac
The alternative to the Mac client is to run Valve's Windows Steam client and install Windows builds of your games. This opens up the full Windows catalogue in principle, although each game still has to cope with the translation.
MacPorter does this on Apple silicon. It installs the real Windows Steam client in a compatibility environment built from Wine for the Windows API, FEX-Emu for x86 and x86-64 to arm64 translation, and DXMT for Direct3D 11 to Metal. Everything is built for arm64. There is no Rosetta 2, no virtual machine and no Windows licence involved.
Setup
- Confirm your Mac is an M1 or later and runs macOS 26 or newer.
- Drag MacPorter to Applications and open it.
- Wait while it installs the engine, creates the Windows environment and runs Steam's installer. This took about 45 seconds on an M2.
- Sign in to Valve and use your library.
There is no Terminal work and no Homebrew. Steam and each game appear as separate Mac apps with their own Dock icons and place in the app switcher. See the step-by-step install guide for more.
Which chip do you need?
Any Apple silicon chip from M1 onward is supported. We have not published benchmarks comparing M1, M2, M3 and M4, and we would rather not guess. What we can say is that we tested on an M2 MacBook with 8 GB of memory. The Steam store, library, friends and downloads worked, and a cold start to the main window took around 35 seconds.
Memory is likely to matter more than the chip for many people. If you have an 8 GB machine, read Mac gaming with 8 GB of RAM before you set expectations. A MacBook Air has no fan and will throttle under sustained load, which is covered in playing PC games on a MacBook Air.
What does not work
- Intel Macs are not supported by MacPorter.
- Anti-cheat. Games that rely on Easy Anti-Cheat, BattlEye or kernel-level anti-cheat often block non-Windows systems, or the publisher forbids running them this way. MacPorter warns you before launching those games, and many competitive shooters will not work. See anti-cheat games on Mac.
- VR is not supported.
- Some games will not run, or will run poorly, whatever chip you have. We do not claim that specific titles work.
For games that cannot run locally, MacPorter can suggest GeForce NOW, which streams from a remote machine. Whether that suits you depends on your connection and the game's availability on the service.
Native or translated: which should you pick?
If a game has a good native Mac build, use that, because it avoids translation overhead. If it does not, the Windows route is how you play it at all. You can use both side by side, since your library and account are the same either way.
Cost and trust
MacPorter is a once-off licence priced in rand, sold via Yoco, and there is a 14-day free trial. It is notarised by Apple and is not on the Mac App Store, as App Store rules forbid running downloaded Windows code. You sign in to Valve directly, so MacPorter never sees your password. It is not affiliated with Valve, and Steam is a trademark of Valve Corporation.
Frequently asked questions
Is there a native Steam for M1, M2, M3 and M4 Macs?
The Mac Steam client runs on all of them. The limit is the number of games with a macOS build, not the client.
Do I need Rosetta 2?
Not for MacPorter, which uses its own arm64 translation. Rosetta 2 only helps with Intel Mac software, and it does not run Windows games.
Will an M4 Mac run more games than an M1?
A newer chip should give you more headroom, but compatibility is mostly decided by the game, its graphics API and any anti-cheat, not by chip generation.
Can I try it before paying?
Yes. There is a 14-day free trial, so you can test the games you own first.