Valorant is among the most popular games in the world, and its popularity is growing day by day. Valorant was on Windows first. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S were included in the list of platforms on which the game can be played on August 2, 2024. In 2025, Riot Games officially announced the start of open beta testing of the game on mobile devices in China. However, full Valorant support on macOS is not yet expected.

Don't worry, even if you do your job on your Mac and sometimes you want to relax in a Riot Games shooter, we can help you with that. We've gathered all the information you need to play Valorant on your device in this article.

Check your device

To start with, to find out if you can run Valorant on your computer or not, you need to know the model of your Mac machine. The thing is that the shooter by Riot Games can be installed only on the Windows operating system, but not all Apple machines can handle it. To install the above-mentioned OS, you need to use Apple's own program - Boot Camp, which only works with Intel-based computers. To find out if your computer will allow you to play Valorant, you need to go to your Macbook's settings and look in the Chip tab. If it's an Intel processor, then by all means go ahead and continue reading the article, but if it says that it's an Apple-based chip, then sorry to tell you that you won't be able to use the Boot Camp program and thus install Valorant on your Mac.

Other than the fact that your Mac must have an Intel processor, there are system requirements your computer must meet in order to play Valorant:

• Processor: Intel Core i3 4th generation or above equivalent.
• Memory: 8GB RAM or more, 16GB or more recommended
• Storage: Minimum 130 GB of free space (30 GB for Windows, 60-70 GB for Valorant, and more)
• Graphics: Dedicated GPU NVIDIA GeForce GT 730 or above equivalent with 2GB VRAM or above is recommended

In case you do not wish to look up information on which processor your device has, below we will leave a list of which Macbooks have Intel processors so that perhaps among this list, you will see your computer.

• MacBook series 2015-2019
• MacBook Air and Pro series 2012-2019
• Mac Pro Series 2013-2022

Installing Windows

After you've checked if your device is compatible with Windows, you should download and install the OS image. Enable the full security feature before installing if it was turned off previously. Take caution: Valorant isn't compatible with Windows 7, 8и and previous versions of Windows 10. This can also be an issue for previous generations of processors.

You then need to open Boot Camp and continue the installation according to the provided instructions. You need to remember that you need to allocate enough space in your storage media for the operating system to function well. The minimum memory requirement for installation is 64 GB. We recommend that you allocate 150 GB so that you don't face any problems in the future as you won't be able to change the allocated size of memory later. If you've done everything correctly, you'll have to install Windows. You may have problems with the installation if you have never used Windows before, but there are more than enough guides on the internet on how to install the operating system, so you should not have any problems with them.

Downloading Valorant

To be able to start playing the desired shooter at last, you need to download and install it. On the official website of Riot Games you need to find the Play For Free button, log in to your already created account, or make a new one. You will then be provided with a download link, using which you can easily install Valorant on your PC.

Installation of Valorant requires 50-55 GB of free disk space, so we would recommend at least 70 GB for the initial install and 25-30 GB of free space after installation. This will not cause problems with future updates. Installation itself is simple: download the client from the Riot Games site, log into your account and follow the prompts.

Along with the game, Riot Vanguard will be installed on your Mac as well. It is a well-known antichit, due to which the company is fighting with dishonest players. Users quite frequently have issues with it. Upon the game launch, Vanguard begins to produce all kinds of errors suddenly. Most of the time this is due to the system, but as you will have a new emulation of Windows, then you have nothing to worry about. If an error does occur, you are meant to go to the official Riot Games site, where they have solutions for most of your problems.

Optimizing Valorant

Once the game is installed and you've signed in to the client, it needs to be optimized so that Valorant is as compatible as can be with your device. When developing the shooter, Riot did not optimize it for Apple devices, and the sole method listed can be described as "homemade." That's why you need to set up the game so that Valorant, even on a mac system, gives you the most enjoyment possible.

For this, enter the tab settings and perform a few simple actions. First, set the screen resolution - all depends on your monitor, but you need to set the parameter in Valorant half of the monitor resolution. In the same menu enable the option Max FPS Always - it sets the limit for the frames per second. This has a beneficial impact on both the device's performance while playing and the stability of the image.

Then you need to turn down all the graphical settings to minimum. This will allow you to play the game with more comfort and with optimal performance. Most importantly, keep multithreaded rendering enabled: this feature provides the best FPS gain and image stability by utilizing all the processor cores.

On the side, we note that another Riot game - League of Legends - is already supported on macOS officially, so there is nothing more to do in that regard. It is not clear why the developers do not optimize their shooter for Apple devices and when it will be released. After all, with the console version of Valorant coming out in 2024 and the release on mobile devices approaching, macOS will remain the only platform without support.

By the time you are reading this article, it should be clear to you by now that at least Valorant is playable on a Macbook. Now you know what you need to do to play Valorant on macOS. All you need to do is to carefully follow all the above steps persistently, so you can safely launch Valorant on your device and enjoy playing.