I just got a new computer - an M1 Macbook Air. Figuring I'd take this new hotness out for a spin, I booted up World of Warcraft and set all the graphics to the maximum, ultra mode. Expecting that this would be too much, I was shocked to discover that... actually the game runs great, with a higher framerate than what I was getting with everything set to "3" on the old machine.
That machine was a 2014 Mac Mini, which, when I got it about a month or two into Warlords of Draenor, I was blown away - being able to go through The Everbloom, seeing the dynamic water effects in every puddle, was pretty glorious.
Now, I don't know much about how computers actually work, but even those effects seemed to slow my old computer down to a crawl in Shadowlands - just entering Ardenweald put the framerate at about 4 until I turned off those effects.
I have yet to see how this does in a crowded raid environment (I might try a World Boss before I do something requiring coordination like an LFR wing.) I know that Macs aren't generally built to be gaming machines, even if Blizzard started as a Mac game company. But just the fact that I can go do world quests and other outdoor content with the graphics all set to their maximum is really exciting.
(Not to mention other reasons to feel... well, more relieved than excited, but it's a good feeling here today, er, yesterday - the 20th.)
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