Fallout is having a big year. This is crazy considering we don’t expect to see the next installment in the major series, Fallout 5, for a very long time. It will arrive after Elder Scrolls 6, which itself seems like an eternity away.
Why all this heat? Amazon made a Fallout TV show so good that we’ve heard friends and family talking about it. This includes people who would never have considered playing a real Fallout game.
However, this could change. SteamDb suggests that thousands and thousands of people are coming to or returning to Fallout games. And in what seems like a rare, timely video game, Fallout 4 has received a next-gen update. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series players benefit from higher resolutions, new quality modes, and improved frame rates.
PC players get new content and the Steam Deck crowd gets a verified tag. But us Mac fans? In the cold. Fallout 4 was never released on Mac and probably never will be.
That doesn’t mean Mac users can’t play it, though. We spent hours this week trying out different methods to get it working, using an old MacBook Air M1 from 2020. Nothing flashy.
Below are what we consider to be the three best and simplest methods – two of them can even be used on the best iPhones and iPads.
How to play Fallout 4 on Mac
Play Fallout 4 offline on Mac
- Buy Fallout 4 on Steam
- Download and install Crossover by Codeweavers
- In Crossover, tap install and search for Fallout 4
- Follow the on-screen prompts and select Fallout 4 from Steam.
The Easiest Way to Play Fallout 4 on Mac
- Sign up for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
- Go to the Xbox Cloud Gaming website
- Sign in to your Xbox account using the avatar button at the top right of the screen.
- Search for Fallout 4 in the search bar
- Connect an Xbox (or compatible) game controller to your Mac and run Fallout 4
The Best Way to Play Fallout 4 on Mac
- Buy Fallout 4 on Steam
- Download and install Nvidia’s GeForce NOW app
- Search for Fallout 4 in the GeForce NOW app
- Wait for your session to load and search for Fallout 4 in the Steam window
- Tap install and when done, tap play
Advantages and disadvantages of method 1: Crossover (offline version)
Benefits
- Does not depend on streaming
- Free trial available
- Reasonable performance
The inconvenients
- In-game visual and audio issues during testing
- The configuration is a little unclear
- Purchase required to play longer
Crossover is, in theory at least, one of the most interesting pieces of software available to Mac users. It lets you play countless PC games and apps on Mac, without feeling like you’re forcing your Apple computer to run Windows.
In our experience, it performs significantly better than its main rival Parallels, although this package is much more flexible because it runs a virtual version of Windows.
In concept, Crossover is the perfect way to play Fallout 4 on Mac and it works surprisingly well on a base M1 MacBook Air as long as you’re willing to lower the resolution and settings a bit from the native resolution and settings. “ultra” visuals.
However, there are some problems.
Crossover currently only works with the Steam version of Fallout 4, not GOG or Epic Games. It’s also not free beyond the 14-day trial period, which we highly recommend you try. Otherwise, it costs $74 per year or $494 for “lifetime” support and access.
It’s not without its issues when running Fallout 4 in particular. Some sounds, usually music, stutter. And we noticed some visual issues in the opening sequence where you witness the start of the game’s apocalypse scenario.
Crossover has some settings you can change to try to resolve issues and achieve better performance. But it relies on trial and error. Although creator Codeweavers has a section of its website where users can report on game compatibility, there are no details on what settings they recommend using.
We hope that one day Crossover will be the best way to play Fallout 4 on Mac. But for now, it requires a little patience.
Fun fact: Crossover is made by some of the same people behind the open source WINE project. It’s responsible for the core software behind Apple Game Porting Toolkit (which would be here if it were easier to use) and forms the basis of the compatibility layer used by Steam Deck.
Method 2: Xbox Game Pass
Benefits
- Extremely easy
- Does not require a copy of Fallout 4
- Gives access to many other titles
The inconvenients
- Requires compatible gamepad
- Soft image
- Low-end Xbox equivalent
For sheer ease of use, you can’t beat Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Cloud Gaming. It can be used in a browser window, you don’t need to own a version of Fallout 4, and there are no contracts that mean you have to pay for more than a month at a time. Happiness.
Ready for bad times? You’ll need the top tier of Game Pass to access Cloud Gaming, and it costs $16.99 per month.
It also won’t let you see Fallout 4 at its best. While the picture quality is pretty good compared to what game streaming looked like years ago, Cloud Gaming is currently running the Xbox Series S version of games, not the Xbox Series X ones.
The image also looks softer and less detailed than it would on an actual console, thanks to the way the video stream is compressed to use less bandwidth and reduce latency. We still find Fallout 4 perfectly enjoyable via Game Pass, but there’s a slight Vaseline-stained look when Fallout 4 is played on a Mac.
You also can’t play it with a mouse and keyboard, as some purists will say you should. And remember, we’re playing an Xbox console version of the game here, so you’ll need a game controller.
Method 3: Nvidia GeForce NOW
Benefits
- Free version available
- Low latency
- High visual quality
The inconvenients
- Queue for free streaming
- Premium subscription is expensive
- Only works with the Steam version of Fallout 4
GeForce NOW is in a sense the worst of all worlds. You end up streaming a game over the Internet, rather than locally on your Mac’s current hardware. But you still have to have it. And, at the time of writing, only the Steam version is supported.
However, GeForce NOW is currently our preferred way to play Fallout 4 on Mac. You’re effectively playing the game on a high-end cloud gaming PC, which means you can use one of the best gaming controllers for Mac or a mouse/trackpad and keyboard.
The graphics are also excellent, as is the image quality of the stream itself. Every time you stream a game, you have two image quality issues: what are you Really the game is played behind the scenes, and to what extent is the image crushed as it moves down the figurative pipe?
These aren’t major concerns with GeForce NOW, which makes Fallout 4 look great. You can also try it for free as the service has an ad-supported tier.
This limits the power of your virtual cloud PC, but it’s more than enough for Fallout 4. And based on our testing, a MacBook Air is limited to 900p resolution (1080p is the official maximum).
Wait times are the real reason why you should abandon the free version once you try it. Although these can be relatively short at low demand times of the day, at one point we found ourselves in a queue of over 200 people – it took us well over an hour to get through. finish them. Sessions with the free version of GeForce NOW are also limited to one hour. For the most part, the free GeForce NOW isn’t a really feasible way to game.
There are two key GeForce NOW paid subscription tiers. Priority increases your power ceiling, for greater headroom for high-end visuals and higher frame rates. It costs $9.99 per month or $49.99 for six months.
GeForce NOW Ultimate provides the equivalent of a PC with an RTX 4080 graphics card, increasing the maximum resolution to 4K and the maximum frame rate to 120 fps (at 4K resolution). This naturally increases demand on your home Internet, and Nvidia recommends at least 45 Mbps for a good time. It costs $19.99 per month or $99 for six months.
Verdict: What is the best way to play Fallout 4 on Mac?
Sad but true, the most stable, easiest, and safest way to play Fallout 4 on Mac is to use a game streaming service. Our favorite GeForce NOW doesn’t even make the best use of the recent “next-gen” update, as PC users already had much of what the upgrade promised.
However, is GeForce NOW a good way to play Fallout 4? Absolutely, especially if you’re willing to pay for higher quality access to avoid having to wait for a server location.
However, we absolutely recommend everyone to try Crossover’s 14-day trial. We didn’t manage to get Fallout 4 to work perfectly, but it works well enough and lets you play countless other PC games on Mac without streaming.
