Testing Valve Games on Intel Macs
This page is intended as a local focal point for efforts concerning the running of Valve games on Intel-based Apple Macintoshes.
Since modern Macs essentially consist of high-powered laptop PC hardware with legacy systems such as the BIOS removed, there is no real technical hindrance to running exclusively PC software such as Half-Life 2. Hardware compatibility should not be an issue; work has moved from patching Windows XP to boot on the Macs' EFI firmware to persuading Windows drivers to work correctly for such hardware as the iMac and MacBook Pro's ATI X1600 graphics cards and the like.
Note:As of 2006-04-05, the OnMac.net efforts are made irrelevant thanks to Apple's Boot Camp system for installing Windows XP on an Intel Mac - one which includes full hardware drivers for all available platforms! Older information continues.Links to pirated software are not permitted; it is assumed that anyone wishing to run Windows in this manner will have a suitable Windows license for the purpose.
Overview
| Confirmed Working | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| # | Console | Engine | Quality |
| 1. | Mac Mini | Source | Good |
| GoldSrc | Great | ||
| 2. | MacBook Pro | Source | Poor |
| Unconfirmed, or Doesn't Work | |||
| 1. | 17" iMac | ||
| 2. | 20" iMac | ||
Progress
Microsoft DirectX 9.0c is now successfully running on intel macs.
Mac Mini
Working
- Half-Life 2 is now very playable on the mac mini, especially considering the integrated graphics.
- Autosaving does not work. Needs to be disabled using sv_autosave 0
- Half-Life runs very well using both D3D and OpenGL modes.
- Video of Mac Mini running Half-Life 2 Here and Here
17" iMac
Not yet working, or not yet tested.
- No video drivers yet.
20" iMac
Not yet working, or not yet tested.
- No video drivers yet.
MacBook Pro
Not working well
- Video of HL2 running on MacBook Pro - in software mode.
- No video drivers yet.