Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro

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Apple Mac
  1. Is Overwatch Playable On Mac
  2. Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro 2020
  3. Overwatch On Macbook Pro
  4. Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro 15
  5. Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro Max

Megan Spurr (Parallels' Social Media & Community Manager)

I am an equal opportunity gamer, so I play on consoles, tables tops, and a PC gaming rig at home. I don't rely on my Mac for gaming – I primarily use Parallels Desktop for Mac to virtualize games on my Mac when I can't be at home to pick a game out of my Steam library. That isn't the same story for a lot of Mac gamers though – they were as shocked as I was when Blizzard released Overwatch and saw that they didn't have a Mac edition! There are a ton of people trying to play Overwatch on Mac. As much as we would like to be, we are aware at Parallels that we are not yet the premier gaming resource for people who want to game on their Mac (but trust me, we're working on it!). Underlying architecture make it difficult to virtualize graphics in 3d environments that so many AAA titles require these days.

If you have Overwatch already, I am so happy to say that you now have an option to virtualize Windows and play it on your Mac! (as our product manager Kurt is demoing below. Just because you can play Overwatch on your Mac, doesn't make you good at it as he is also demoing below!

  1. My macbook pro is 15-inch, 2018, Processor: 2.9 GHz Intel Core i9 Memory: 32 GB 2400 MHz DDR4 Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 630 1536 MB. Can I play three kingdom well? My biggest concern is the overheating problem.
  2. Gaming On A MacBook Pro. As we mentioned above MacBook Pro's arent ideal for gaming but they can be used to play certain games & can perform quite well depending on a few factors. Although if you want to do some serious gaming on your MacBook you will need to install windows which is quite easy to do via Bootcamp.
  3. Overwatch Mac OS X Full Game has been tested on an MacBook Pro with requirements listed below. Any macbook that have at least this requirements can play the game right now. Overwatch Mac OS X Full Game will need an CPU with at least 2.1 GHz speed and 4 GB Ram Memory. As free disk space is recommended to have approximately 30 GB.

So when I came across this tweet, I was impressed that someone was playing Overwatch on their Mac, and then proceeded to share with everyone in the office. (You have to admit, it's pretty funny seeing all the characters in Overwatch bald – all but Winston – how odd is that??)

We reached out to Blizzard about this problem and we were so thrilled to work with them! Not long after that we were playing matches in the Parallels office on our Macs!

Overwatch on Mac

If you have Overwatch already, I am so happy to say that you now have an option to virtualize Windows and play it on your Mac! (as our product manager Kurt is demoing below. Just because you can play Overwatch on your Mac, doesn't make you good at it as he is also demoing below! Ha!) – https://youtu.be/p-0Mf8EWIB0

Parallels doesn't give you the exact performance you would have if you were playing on your gaming PC, but we do give you the opportunity to play Overwatch those times when you're not on your PC at home! I wouldn't recommend you jump into a competitive match, but Overwatch on your Mac is a great way to fill that Overwatch shaped hole in your heart while you're on your Mac!

Try Parallels Desktop 12 for Mac for yourself – our trial is free for 14 days. Free download voice changer software for pc full version. You can see for yourself how great it is to play Overwatch out and about on your MacBook!


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I recently bought a Thunderbolt 3 eGPU enclosure for my new 2018 MacBook Pro and wanted to write about my experience with it thus far.

Introduction

First, a little about me and why I wanted to buy an eGPU in the first place.

I like to upgrade my computers about every five years so the timing of this MacBook release worked out perfectly for me. I had a gaming desktop with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 in it and I mostly (only) play Overwatch on it. I use macOS App development and need Xcode.

My gaming desktop has all black parts in it, my desk is black, all my accessories are black; needless to say, I like things to match. Since they sadly don't make black MacBooks my MacBook is space gray. I have a Space Gray [Henge Dock](). And now I have a Space Gray eGPU enclosure.

The eGPU Enclosure

There are plenty of Thunderbolt 3 eGPU enclosures available for purchase today. Apple currently recommends any of the following:
  • Blackmagic eGPU3
  • Sonnet Radeon RX 570 eGFX Breakaway Puck
  • OWC Mercury Helios FX3
  • PowerColor Devil Box
  • Sapphire Gear Box
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 350W
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 550W3
  • Sonnet eGFX Breakaway Box 650W3

eGPU.io has a more extensive list with plenty of setup guides, reviews, and benchmarks.

Mantiz Venus MZ-02

Looks alone is what initially brought me to the Mantiz Venus MZ-02 by Mantiz. I bought it off of Amazon. It doesn't make much sense to me but buying the enclosure on Amazon is cheaper than buying directly from Mantiz's website – even though they are shipping themselves through Amazon.

Sadly, the metal on the Mantiz Venus is more brushed (lines) than the MacBook so it isn't a complete match, but it is much closer to matching than a white or black enclosure. It isn't too noticeable at a distance so I don't really care since the enclosure will be on the far corner of my desk.
In my opinion the benefits of the Mantiz MZ-02 compared to more popular eGPU enclosures are:
  • It provides 87W of power to the MacBook Pro 15″
  • Matches MacBook Pro (offers both Silver and Space Gray options)
  • 5 USB ports, 1 SATA interface, and 1 Gigabit LAN Ethernet port
  • Customer support

The Mantiz MZ-02 does not come without its' disadvantages. It does not currently draw enough power for high end graphics cards. This means it can't run the Radeon Vega 64. If you care, it also is not one of the recommended eGPU enclosure by Apple.

Most of the negative reviews on Amazon reference a design flaw on the main board – but apparently they have been fixed and I did not have any of the issues described in the negative reviews. eGPU.io rates the Mantiz fifth overall so if you are considering buying an eGPU enclosure I strongly encourage you to research other ones. I don't think there is a 'perfect' eGPU yet – or at least I can see positives and negatives with each.

Troubleshooting and Setup

Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro

Per, Mantiz's website they only officially support macOS 10.13.4. Forgot my macbook admin password. If you buy a MacBook now, it most likely will have a greater version so your eGPU enclosure will be DOA (officially). Thankfully, Mantiz's unofficial support is pretty solid for macOS.

Nvidia cards are also not supported on macOS so some modifications are necessary to get the card to work on macOS. It involves disabling SIP so I have not done this and have very little desire to do so. However, Mantiz said they would do this for me via TeamViewer if I wanted. I would much rather just upgrade to an Vega 56.
Since my setup is not officially supported I was pretty bummed. I missed the caveats when I was purchasing the enclosure. Apparently, Mantiz also charges a 20%+ restocking fee on Amazon so I decided to try to make it work. I went on eGPU.io guide but nothing I found there worked. I then reached out to Mantiz via their Facebook messaging platform and they responded in around an hour (12 hour time difference). They pointed out that they had sent me a guide in an email the minute I had bought the enclosure, but I had neglected to read it. On their guide they didn't have specific instructions for the 2018 MacBook but the instructions were similar to the 2017 version. For Boot Camp, you will have to uninstall the AMD Radeon driver that is currently on your machine using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). I did this but my eGPU was still not being recognized. Mantiz's support decided they would TeamViewer onto my machine and do the setup for me. It turned out the problem was that I '…plug in ogpu to laptop ‘w/o PSU switch on' too many times.' A simple power cycle and reboot with the eGPU plugged in was all I needed to do. I originally was hot plugging it in since I was getting strange boot up issues (which I read was normal with macs) before I uninstalled the original graphics driver.

Is Overwatch Playable On Mac

To summarize the Boot Camp Setup for the 2018 MacBook Pro 15″ is:
  1. Ensure Windows is updated to at least 1803. Restart if necessary.
  2. With the eGPU not plugged in, run DDU and remove the pre-installed AMD Radeon driver. Restart.
  3. While the MacBook is powering on, plug in the eGPU
  4. Upgrade/install the graphics driver
You should update your Thunderbolt 3 firmware for the Matniz MZ-02. Although I didn't experience this, the firmware upgrade will fix any USB lag you might have.
You will need to buy a longer Thunderbolt 3 cable. The one they provide is less than 2 feet. Thankfully Mantiz makes a 2 foot Thunderbolt 3 cable which is available on Amazon.
Play

Per, Mantiz's website they only officially support macOS 10.13.4. Forgot my macbook admin password. If you buy a MacBook now, it most likely will have a greater version so your eGPU enclosure will be DOA (officially). Thankfully, Mantiz's unofficial support is pretty solid for macOS.

Nvidia cards are also not supported on macOS so some modifications are necessary to get the card to work on macOS. It involves disabling SIP so I have not done this and have very little desire to do so. However, Mantiz said they would do this for me via TeamViewer if I wanted. I would much rather just upgrade to an Vega 56.
Since my setup is not officially supported I was pretty bummed. I missed the caveats when I was purchasing the enclosure. Apparently, Mantiz also charges a 20%+ restocking fee on Amazon so I decided to try to make it work. I went on eGPU.io guide but nothing I found there worked. I then reached out to Mantiz via their Facebook messaging platform and they responded in around an hour (12 hour time difference). They pointed out that they had sent me a guide in an email the minute I had bought the enclosure, but I had neglected to read it. On their guide they didn't have specific instructions for the 2018 MacBook but the instructions were similar to the 2017 version. For Boot Camp, you will have to uninstall the AMD Radeon driver that is currently on your machine using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU). I did this but my eGPU was still not being recognized. Mantiz's support decided they would TeamViewer onto my machine and do the setup for me. It turned out the problem was that I '…plug in ogpu to laptop ‘w/o PSU switch on' too many times.' A simple power cycle and reboot with the eGPU plugged in was all I needed to do. I originally was hot plugging it in since I was getting strange boot up issues (which I read was normal with macs) before I uninstalled the original graphics driver.

Is Overwatch Playable On Mac

To summarize the Boot Camp Setup for the 2018 MacBook Pro 15″ is:
  1. Ensure Windows is updated to at least 1803. Restart if necessary.
  2. With the eGPU not plugged in, run DDU and remove the pre-installed AMD Radeon driver. Restart.
  3. While the MacBook is powering on, plug in the eGPU
  4. Upgrade/install the graphics driver
You should update your Thunderbolt 3 firmware for the Matniz MZ-02. Although I didn't experience this, the firmware upgrade will fix any USB lag you might have.
You will need to buy a longer Thunderbolt 3 cable. The one they provide is less than 2 feet. Thankfully Mantiz makes a 2 foot Thunderbolt 3 cable which is available on Amazon.

After the eGPU was installed I experienced frame stuttering while playing Overwatch. I would get consistent 144+ fps and then drop to 80 fps and back again. This would make the game lag. This can be fixed by disabling Xbox DVR, thus ensuring your battery settings are not throttling PCI/USB. Enabling application control in Nvidia settings also helps with the lag; as well as playing with the overwatch video settings – enabling triple buffer, and enabling v sync. Disabling the integrated graphics driver might also help.

Clamshell support is not on by default in Boot Camp. You can easily enable this in the power settings.

Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro 2020

Conclusions

If I had done more research about eGPU's for MacBooks I probably would not have bought one at all. They aren't fully supported by Apple:

Overwatch On Macbook Pro

macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 and later doesn't support eGPUs in Windows using Boot Camp

Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro 15

This is very unfortunate but very typical for Apple. Their trackpad driver sucks in Windows so why wouldn't their eGPU support?

Can I Play Overwatch On Macbook Pro Max

If you want a plug and play experience with eGPU on Boot Camp – you won't get it. A dedicated graphics card is always going to be better than eGPU but Thunderbolt 3 is getting there. I like the convenience of being able to play games on my MacBook and not having to have two different computers so overall I am very happy with my purchase.




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