Cloud gaming on Mac: GeForce NOW, Xbox Cloud and what won’t work

GeForce NOW supports macOS 10.15 or later, on Macs released in 2009 or newer. The native Mac app also supports NVIDIA’s higher-end features: 4K and 5K streaming, ultrawide resolutions, RTX, HDR, Cloud G-SYNC and frame rates up to 360 fps, on compatible plans and hardware.

If you use GeForce NOW regularly on a Mac, install the app. The browser version works — Safari 16.4 or later, Chrome 77 or later, or Opera GX at play.geforcenow.com — but several of those features are only available in the app.

HDR, and which Macs support it

HDR10 and 10-bit colour are Performance and Ultimate features. NVIDIA lists the eligible hardware: a MacBook from 2017 or later, a MacBook Air from 2018, a MacBook Pro from 2018, an iMac from 2020, a Mac mini from 2018, a Mac Pro from 2019, or any iMac Pro or Mac Studio. Ten-bit colour covers every Apple-silicon Mac. On a MacBook Air, HDR on an external display needs an Apple-silicon model.

There is no Mac app. You play at xbox.com/play with any Game Pass plan, Essential, Premium or Ultimate, and Microsoft asks for macOS 14.1.2 or later with Safari 16.0, Microsoft Edge, or Chrome 85 or later.

Mouse and keyboard controls work in Edge and Chrome, but not in Safari. If you want to play with a mouse on a Mac, use one of those two.

Amazon Luna runs in a browser at luna.amazon.com. Amazon publishes apps for Fire TV, Windows, Android and some TVs, but not for macOS. Part of the catalogue comes with Prime, with paid channels on top.

Shadow works differently from the other services here. Instead of giving you access to a catalogue or to games you own, it gives you a full remote Windows PC. That makes it more flexible, but also more expensive, and probably unnecessary if you just want to launch a few games.

PlayStation Plus cloud streaming does not support macOS. Sony offers it on PS5, PS4, Windows PCs and the PlayStation Portal, and there is no Mac app or browser version.

Some games published by Sony have PC versions that appear on other services, so an individual title may still be reachable. Our catalogue answers that per game.

NVIDIA publishes the clearest figures, and they are a reasonable guide to the other services: 15 Mbps for 720p at 60 fps, 25 Mbps for 1080p at 60, 35 Mbps for 1440p or ultrawide at 120, 45 Mbps for 4K at 120, and 65 Mbps for 5K at 120. It also asks for latency under 80 ms to its data centres.

• Use the 5 GHz band, or ethernet through a dock or adapter.
• Any Bluetooth controller pairs in System Settings, including an Xbox or DualSense pad.
• Close anything else using the connection heavily, such as a video call.
• Our Servers page shows which regions are busy before you start a session.

• Nothing works offline, which matters more on a laptop.
• Competitive games with kernel-level anti-cheat are missing from most services, and a Mac cannot run them locally either.
• GeForce NOW and Boosteroid stream games you already own, and the service still has to support them. Xbox Cloud and Luna give you a catalogue that ends when the subscription does.
• Catalogues differ by country.
• Session limits and monthly hour caps apply on the paid tiers.

Start on the GeForce NOW free plan with games you already own. It costs nothing and tells you within an evening whether your connection is good enough.