How to play Apex Legends on Mac

Game overview

Apex Legends is a free-to-play Battle Royale shooter game developed by Respawn Entertainment and published by Electronic Arts. It features a character-driven, squad-based gameplay where players select from a roster of Legends, each with unique abilities and playstyles. The game emphasizes strategic squad play and innovative combat mechanics. Each Legend in Apex Legends has distinct abilities, including tactical, passive, and ultimate skills. This variety allows players to choose characters that suit their playstyle and contributes to a dynamic and varied gameplay experience. The game incorporates significant strategic elements, which vary with each match due to the different combinations of characters and player decisions. This depth keeps the gameplay engaging and challenging. Unlike many other Battle Royale games, Apex Legends does not have a solo mode; it is designed around duos and trios, promoting teamwork and coordination. Apex Legends has a strong community and supports esports with tournaments that attract competitive players, further boosting its popularity. Running Apex Legends on a Mac is not straightforward, as the game is not natively supported on macOS. However, there are a few methods that Mac users can try: using Windows via Boot Camp and cloud gaming services.

1. Play Apex Legends on cloud gaming services (Boosteroid and AirGPU)

Cloud gaming allows you to play Apex Legends on any Mac, however, it is more suitable for career mode and local gaming, because lag may cause inconvenience while playing in online mode. However, in some US and Europe locations cloud gaming can be a great option to play Apex Legends on M1/M2/M3 Macs.

Cloud gaming platforms stream games from remote servers, offering high performance without demanding hardware. Cloud gaming services are expanding the accessibility of gaming by eliminating many of the traditional barriers, such as the need for constant hardware upgrades and the initial cost of games. As internet speeds increase and technology advances, cloud gaming continues to grow as a popular alternative to traditional console and PC gaming.

Boosteroid

Boosteroid is a cloud gaming platform that allows users to play video games directly from the cloud on various devices, including PCs, smartphones, and smart TVs. This service provides access to a wide range of games without the need for powerful hardware. With Boosteroid, gamers can stream their favorite games over the internet, bypassing the need for downloading or updating games locally. The platform operates on a subscription model, offering different tiers to accommodate various user needs and preferences. Boosteroid is known for its ease of use, enabling seamless gaming experiences across different operating systems and devices, promoting greater accessibility and convenience for gamers worldwide.

1. Visit Boosteroid, sign up, and subscribe.
2. Search for the Apex Legends game and play directly in your web browser.

Note: Boosteroid streams games seamlessly, making it accessible on most internet-connected devices.

AirGPU

AirGPU is a cloud gaming service that offers users the ability to rent high-performance virtual gaming PCs on demand. This platform enables gamers to stream the latest and most demanding games directly to their devices without the need for high-end local hardware. AirGPU provides a flexible rental model, allowing users to pay by the hour for access to powerful gaming rigs equipped with top-tier graphics and processing capabilities. The service supports a variety of devices including desktops, laptops, and some tablets, ensuring that users can enjoy a premium gaming experience from virtually anywhere. AirGPU stands out by offering personalized settings and configurations, giving gamers the freedom to customize their virtual machines to meet specific gaming needs.

1. Sign up at AirGPU and rent a high-performance virtual PC.
2. Connect to your cloud PC, install Apex Legends from any digital platform.
3. Enjoy the game with high-quality graphics.

4. Use Boot Camp (for Intel-based Macs only)

Note: Boot Camp is not supported on Macs with M1/M2/M3 chips. To be able to play Apex Legends comfortably, your Mac need to have powerful Intel CPU and discrete graphic card, which can be true only for latest 2019 Intel MacBooks Pro and more powerful Macs Pro or iMacs Pro.

Boot Camp is a utility software included with macOS that allows users to install and run Windows on Macintosh computers in a dual-boot configuration. By partitioning the computer’s hard drive, Boot Camp enables a Mac to boot either into macOS or Windows, providing full system performance for Windows as it runs natively on the hardware. This solution is ideal for Mac users who need to run Windows applications that do not have macOS versions or who require the performance benefits of running certain programs directly on the hardware without virtualization overhead. Boot Camp simplifies the installation process, guiding users through the setup with step-by-step instructions and making it straightforward to switch between operating systems.

1. Get the Windows 10 ISO file (Windows 11 ISO file) from the Microsoft website. Choose the version that matches your license.
2. Find Boot Camp in the Utilities folder within your Applications. Open it to start the setup.
3. Use Boot Camp Assistant to allocate space on your hard drive for Windows. Follow the on-screen instructions to adjust the partition size.
4. Follow the prompts in Boot Camp Assistant to begin the Windows installation. Your Mac will reboot into the Windows setup.
5. During the Windows installation, choose the BOOTCAMP partition and format it.
6. Complete the installation by following the Windows setup instructions.
7. To switch between macOS and Windows, restart your Mac and hold the Option key to select the operating system you want to use.
8. Once Windows is installed, set up Apex Legends like on any PC.

Other methods

Using virtualization software like Parallels or CrossOver to run EA Sports FC 24 on a Mac can lead to issues with the game’s anti-cheat system. Users may encounter an anti-cheat error when trying to run the game on a virtual machine using Parallels 19 or via Crossover. This error prevents users from running Apex Legends.

Among other workarounds, one may think of running iOS or Android versions of the game via emulators like Bluestacks, however while test it results in ten year ban. Unfortunately, strong game anti-cheat rules leave Mac users only one or two options to run the game.