Cities Skylines on M1 Mac: A Surprisingly Good Experience

In recent news, Parallels launched a version of its Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualization software that works seamlessly on the M1-based MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, and Mac mini. This has sparked interest in whether these M1-powered devices can handle resource-intensive games like Cities Skylines.

As it turns out, Cities Skylines does run on an M1 Mac, although with some compromises. In my experience, running the game on a Mac Mini with an M1 chip, I was surprised by how well it performed. The game ran smoothly, and I didn't encounter any major issues or crashes.

Of course, there are some limitations to consider. For one, the M1 chip is not optimized for sustained performance, which can lead to throttling over time. This may affect large cities in Cities Skylines, causing frame rates to dip. Additionally, the game's graphics settings need to be lowered to achieve a playable experience.

Despite these limitations, I was impressed by how well Cities Skylines ran on my M1 Mac Mini. The game was still enjoyable, and I didn't feel like I was missing out on much in terms of visuals or performance.

It's worth noting that the Mac Mini has an 8-core GPU, while the MacBook Air has 7 cores. This may provide a slight advantage for the Mac Mini when it comes to graphics-intensive games like Cities Skylines. However, I didn't notice any significant difference during my testing.

Overall, while running Cities Skylines on an M1 Mac may not be ideal, it is definitely possible and can still provide a good gaming experience with some compromises. If you're looking for a portable gaming solution, the MacBook Air might be a better option, but if you're willing to accept some limitations, the Mac Mini can also work well.

Cities skylines on m1 mac