"Cyberpunk 2077" for the Mac: purchase options and what it needs

Long awaited, now finally here: as of this week, the science fiction epic “Cyberpunk 2077” can finally be played on the Mac. The first announcement that the Ultimate Edition of the title was coming to macOS was made last December. The title is now available on several sales platforms. The prices are different, as are the installation methods. Users also need to check whether their Mac is even suitable. An overview.

Requirements for the Mac

First of all, it is important that the Mac used is a system with an Apple Silicon chip (from M1 upwards). However, “Cyberpunk 2077” does not support Intel Macs. Furthermore, a current macOS Sequoia, currently 15.5, must be running. The absolute minimum requirement is an M1 Mac with 16 GB RAM and sufficient space. If you buy the game from Apple's Mac App Store (see below), the download alone is a whopping 159 GB, as all language versions are apparently also downloaded. At least 15 percent extra SSD memory should be considered for the installation.

However, the manufacturer's CD project does not recommend the M1, as this is only supposed to deliver 30 FPS at 1440 x 900 or 1600 x 900 pixels. Instead, a proper configuration including ray tracing support would be an M3 Pro with at least 18 GB of RAM. Then 60 FPS at 1800 x 1125 pixels or 1080p (1920 x 1080 pixels) should be possible. It is quite useful that “Cyberpunk 2077” can adjust itself to the maximum quality. There is a “for this Mac” preset in the settings. The manufacturer lists further details on even higher-quality settings up to “Very High Fidelity” with an M3 Ultra or M4 Max in a help document. However, the best ray tracing is not recommended there either.

Buy “Cyberpunkt 2077”

Probably the easiest way to get “Cyberpunk 2077” for your Mac is the Mac App Store. As usual, Apple's online store makes it easy to buy and install. Disadvantages: As mentioned, the download is unnecessarily large and the price is also not ideal. Apple and CD Projekt would currently like to have 82.90 euros for the only available Ultimate Edition. However, you can save money on other platforms, as some of them are currently running price promotions.

In the Epic Games Store, for example, you currently pay 43.99 euros (until the end of July). GoG customers are even cheaper at 37.59 euros. The offer ends on July 24, but there does not seem to be an offline installer currently, although the title is DRM-free and activation-free. On the other hand, you can hardly save anything in the Steam store, which is also popular on the Mac: Valve currently wants a minimally reduced 82.78 euros for “Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition.”

(bsc)