Final Fantasy XIV on the M1 MacBook Pro (Apple Silicon)

VI is excited for Dawn Trail and has gone all in on FFXIV on his M1 Mac Book Pro.
VI's Laptop
- Mack Book Pro Apple M1 Max / 64 GB of Ram
VIs Wifes Laptiop
Mack Book Pro Apple M2 / 16 GB of Ram
FFXIV FREE TRIAL -
freetrial.finalfantasyxiv.com...

[@MarekGamer76]

Using XIVonMac on my M3 Max MBP. Runs smooth as butter, with stunning visuals on a monster ultrawide monitor. Love it!

[@vithedesigner]

M3 Max MBP!? Let’s go! Like I said, best of so many worlds. If you know, you knoooow!

[@anthonyzheng7274]

Same here, M3 Max MBP running the Mac version through XIVonMac. Consistent 60fps at 4k/native and max settings. If I want 120fps I drop the resolution to 1440p and turn off tessellation

[@ResistRevoltRebuild]

Dope vid bro!

[@HaylieNyght]

Such a cool video! Love hearing your families experience with XIV and differece systems to play on. I have been a PC FFXIV player for about 5 years now and I do play FFXIV on my M2 Macbook air for evernything outside of battle content. I have leveled my island, worked on housing, done crafting and gathering. Its great for working on quests and non intensive content. Personally I still prefer to do my raiding on my PC but that is just a comfort preference. Hope you and your wife have a great time in DT!

[@vithedesigner]

Thanks so much for the comment! I plan to involve the family in my content in some interesting ways so more to follow. Looking forward to DT. Wishing you the same!

[@WanderinginTheWayback]

We Love to See It!!

[@seif443]

While I primarily play XIV on PC, I've got it working on my M3 MacBook Air for when traveling. I 100% agree with you that a MacBook Pro would be better, not only for the higher performance but also the cooling solution. Having said that, I've not had any issues running it on the Air at a slightly lower graphics setting and capped at 60fps to not over tax the hardware for wastes frames. System load generally sits between 80-90% on the GPU. Machine does get warm but far so good with no issues.

[@vithedesigner]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing because we almost bought the Air for my wife and then we decided to play it safe with the pro.

[@seif443]

@@vithedesigner Yeah good choice. For those on a budget but wanting a bit more performance, some retailers are selling the older M2 Pro for about the same price as a M3 Air, trying to clear old stock.

[@Caediae]

Hey brother great video! I’d recommend checking out how to set up cross hot bar properly with controller (im a controller player too) you can double tap each triggers for two top bars and hold both triggers down for two more (I usually merge the double hold down for a single bar and have mount, tank stance and sprint plus L On it so i dont have to figure out which I need to hold down first) gaming FFXIV with a controller is great when you can actually use the Cross Bar effectively.

[@Caediae]

Its in settings, you’ll have to click enable expanded controls but theres a few guides online

[@vithedesigner]

Facts! I’m up on that. I think I have it set up similarly! Just a few more days till DT! I appreciate the comment!

[@angelopascutti3258]

Hey man, could you run the Dawntrail Benchmark and post results for us? I'm considering in switching from Windows/Intel to Mac. All my daily programs works flawlesly in Apple OS, and the only game I play is FFXIV.

[@vithedesigner]

Sorry. Can’t… the Bench mark is PC only.

[@vithedesigner]

But I plan to do a follow up video to this to test DT.

[@angelopascutti3258]

​@@vithedesigner oh i see... i didn't notice it was windows only lol. well, i will follow for updates ^^ Dawntrail hype train is hyped af! \o/ forge on

[@Frogstomp333]

0:37 if you got money for MacBooks then you got money to dust your shit

[@ciscoserrano]

Oh please. My tv stand gets like that too. It’s normal to be a little behind on dusting.

[@Frogstomp333]

@@ciscoserrano that isn't cash money of you

[@AhhSozMedia]

I am using the macbook pro M1 16GB but i am getting some serious lag which I was not experiencing in EW but now that Dawntrail is out, is there anything I can do? or do i need to get a better MacBook...

[@vithedesigner]

I think it’s the congestion. I’ve experienced the same on early access. Should get better with time. In the less congested areas, it runs great. Been a bit better today. Give it a week. Working on a video but it’s to early to tell.

[@AhhSozMedia]

@@vithedesigner thanks for this, I did consider this but I thought nah. Great video and keep it pushing 👊🏿

[@AeroLancaster]

Love seeing the Apple love, coupled with FFXIV! Can't believe we are about a week away from Dawntrail!

[@vithedesigner]

Facts! I’m so hype! Appreciate the comment!

[@kiretan8599]

Just built my first pc for dawntrail as my old 1050 laptop wouldn’t be able to run the new graphics update. I was so happy the moment I set everything to max 😂 its like night and day, an entirely different game, no slowdowns, no fps drops, and finally frontline and pvp doesn’t look like a stop motion movie 😂. Goodluck in dawntrail.

[@vithedesigner]

Yes sir! Wishing you the same!

[@ProfitSlim]

Excited for any fellow gamer of color, hopefully the fps doesn't drop too much after the graphics update.

[@vithedesigner]

Thanks fam! We will see. I’m not worried though.

[@aysetillman3860]

I can't drop any solidarity for Apple, but dope video!

[@vithedesigner]

Thanks fam!

[@Yue665]

Video is great, just the turn down or turn off the background music. It's a bit too loud and detracts from the rest of the video.

[@mattalcazar3413]

100%

[@MrWhiterunGuard]

Do I need another key for the Mac or can I just use the key from my PC? I have a Mac Studio M2 Max 32gb can it play this?

[@vithedesigner]

You will need to buy the Mac Key. The Mac Studio is more than capable. I appreciate the question.

[@kawaspresso3228]

You can run the game with a windows licence with XIVonMac launcher

[@kawaspresso3228]

M2 max with 30 GPU cores is getting 92fps average for dawntrail benchmark on 1080p

[@vithedesigner]

@@kawaspresso3228 Did not know this! Thanks!

[@jomanaitor]

I'v been playing FF XIV since ARR in PC,and really can't think another way to play it. I tried with controller on ps4 and ps5 and played on steam deck,but the confort of the keyboard+all the support software that is only on windows that makes the life at the game soo much easy. with controller I've managed to do only dungeons and gathering content oh and if you want it in a laptop,there's much better optons in pc. for example I have a rog flow x13 that can run perfectly fine the game at 1080p more than 60 fps. is lighter than a macbook air,performs better and has a simmilar price. onestly,apple can do a great job in a lot of things,but gaming is not one of them

[@vithedesigner]

I think the PC gamers are missing the point here… People don’t just buy computers for gaming. There are a ton of startup founders, creative professionals and college students who like Apple… Most people either pic Mac or PC. Since M1 arrived, things have been changing… this video is for the emerging market of Mac users who traditionally couldn’t run games like FFXIV. Apple doesn’t have to deliver PC gaming computer performance on mass…. If it can consistently provide competitive console level performance, they win…. Only the vocal minority cares about high end performance, mods, parsers and 3rd party add ons. Most people just want the game to work every time they turn it on….

[@jomanaitor]

@@vithedesigner see,so the point is: if you happen to have for another reason a mac and you don’t wanna spend money in a pc,the m1 delivers. I tought that your point was to buy a mac for playing ff xiv.

[@vithedesigner]

@@jomanaitor no sir…. The point was, if you love your M1, FFXIV is another reason to love it more…

[@jomanaitor]

​@@vithedesigner mmmm... sorry,I can't understand you,I buy computers objectively based on wich will cover my specific needs the best, not subjective things like my love for a pc part.

[@vithedesigner]

@@jomanaitor I think everyone does that… there are some people out there that purchased Macs for reasons outside of FFXIV… I’m simply letting them know that with the arrival of M1, Mac owners can play FFXIV and that the experiences is on par with a console. I just can’t get why PC users get so triggered by this…

[@humgoesonforever]

I mean, but people could spend much less on a PC for similar fps on lower specs. i suppose it's nice if you play games on a laptop.

[@vithedesigner]

True but here’s the thing… people love their Mac’s… honestly if it’s about money, you can run this on an XBOX Series S…. People who buy Macs don’t do it for gaming so this scenario becomes a pleasant surprise when the find out that they can. I appreciate the comment.

[@iaxx23]

I randomly got this video recommended. Here's some constructive feedback. The background music is way too loud and it's distracting, especially since it has lyrics. Worth mentioning in the video is that a Mac is a poor substitute for the console experience. You get an objectively worse experience than playing the game on a PS5/XBSX and you're also missing out on all the modding and addons you can get playing the game on PC. The benefits are portability and ease of use but it is probably one of the worst ways to experience the game.

[@vithedesigner]

Thank you for your comment. I'll strive to improve the music in my future videos. Regarding your point about Mac being the worst way to experience the game, I think you are missing the point. As a PC user, you might not fully appreciate the context of the video. Most people use either a PC or a Mac. Gaming PCs are versatile, serving both professional and gaming purposes, whereas Macs typically do not cater to both needs simultaneously. Consequently, most Mac users opt for consoles for gaming. This goes double for non-PC Final Fantasy fans. The Apple Silicon community represents an emerging market in gaming. Many Apple Silicon owners buy their laptops for work, school, or content creation / creative work and prefer not to own PCs. This video aims to inform them that the best MMO on the market runs great on Mac. I am not trying to get PC users to switch… As a console gamer, we don’t have access to add-ons, mods, etc, so why would I mention those? The Mac experience runs just like a console: Reliable with the added Portability, Track Pad, and Keyboard.

[@jotaku24]

i play FFXIV on my macbook pro m1 max @ 120 fps on my 4k tv, you just need to update ur hdmi cable, and let me tell you is a day a night diference!

[@vithedesigner]

Say Less! Let’s go! Ordering one today!

[@Jdboss881]

Great video I never tried playing on Mac before thx!!!

[@Swyre]

Oh thank the algorithm I found your channel! Finally a ffxiv content creator that I can watch!

[@vithedesigner]

I appreciate the comment. Honestly, this is my first FFXIV video, but I plan to make more content like this! Stay tuned!

[@brainshack9077]

30-60 FPS. Lol

[@Jisseikatsu]

🥱🥱😴😴

[@pb5335]

just another reason to not have kids lol

[@The_Lesser_Evil]

Honey, wake up new vsauce vid just dropped. It said something about running FFXIV in 30 - 60 fps lmaoo

[@vithedesigner]

Drop the link... not sure how "vsauce" is... If you watch my vid, you can see the screenshots of the game running at 120. Numbers don't lie... Honey... lol😂.

[@The_Lesser_Evil]

​@@vithedesigner 30 - 60 fps lmaooo 120 at lowest setting in the inn doesn't count

[@vithedesigner]

@@The_Lesser_Evil Sad… that’s proof you didn’t watch the video… all good though. The algorithm is loving all this engagement. Keep it up! Subscribe! More to come.

[@The_Lesser_Evil]

@@vithedesigner I didn't you lost me at 30 - 60 fps lmao, but sure play on your Mac. You're welcome to use inferior product, it's legal

[@obscuratea]

@@The_Lesser_Evil I have a starforge PC with a 4080 and an M3 Macbook Air. Game runs great on both. In most instances with the M3MBA I'm well above 60fps. ALSO, you don't really want FF14 to run above 60fps bc the physics are tied to the framerate. Apple's M chips are actually kinda crazy. I used to hate on apple HARD because they couldn't keep up with PC power but with the rate they are going the M4 or M5 will likely be almost on par with conventional high end gaming PCs.