Valorant, the shooter from Riot Games, is becoming increasingly popular each year, but the main player base is, of course, PC users. The game is not yet available on gaming consoles, and the mobile version is still in beta testing. This raises the question: can you play Valorant on any computer? Unfortunately, the answer is no. If you are an Apple user, you might be disappointed to learn that Valorant is not officially available for Macbook.
However, don't start feeling down just yet. Even if you use a Mac for work and occasionally want to relax with a little bit of Valorant, we can help you. As Valorant gained popularity, Apple users began to devise their own methods to play the game. Today, Bo3's editorial team will tell our readers how to play Valorant on Macbook and what steps you need to follow to install the shooter on your platform.
Check your device
First of all, to find out if you can run Valorant on your computer, you need to identify the model of your Mac device. The issue is that the Riot Games shooter can only be installed on the Windows operating system, but not all Apple devices are compatible with it. To install the aforementioned OS, you need to use Apple's official program Boot Camp, which is only compatible with devices based on Intel processors. To find out if your device allows you to run Valorant, go to the Macbook settings, and look in the Chip section. If it's an Intel processor, then continue reading the article, but if it says Apple-based chip, then we have bad news for you, you can't use Boot Camp, meaning you can't install Valorant on your Mac.
If you don't want to look for information about the processor in your device, below we leave a list of Macbooks with Intel processors, so you can possibly recognize your computer among them.
- MacBook series from 2015 to 2019
- MacBook Air and Pro series from 2012 to 2019
- Mac Pro series from 2013 to 2022
As you can understand, Intel processors are predominantly installed in older Mac models, so installing Valorant on the most popular current models with M1 chips is not possible.
Install Windows
Once you've determined that your device is compatible with Windows, you need to download and install it. Before starting, you need to enable the important Full Security feature if you have disabled it in the past. For this, you need to visit the official Apple support website and find the necessary information in the relevant section. Now you need to prepare your computer for installing Windows. First of all, we want to note that you need to carefully choose the operating system. Starting in December 2023, Valorant will no longer support Windows 7, 8, as well as older versions of 10. Read more about this in our material. Therefore, we recommend choosing newer versions of Windows 10 or 11, but the latter can also have their own problems.
After that, you need to run Boot Camp and follow the installation instructions carefully. It's important to remember that to function properly, the operating system needs enough space in your storage. This depends on the version of Windows you plan to install, but usually, the minimum amount of memory needed for installation is 64 gigabytes. We recommend allocating 80 gigabytes to avoid any future problems, as it will be impossible to change the amount of allocated memory later. If you have done everything correctly, you will need to install Windows. You may face difficulties in installing it if you have never used Windows before. Still, there are plenty of guides on the internet for installing the operating system, so you should not have any problems following them.
Download Valorant
To finally start playing the desired shooter, you need to download and install it. On the official Riot Games website, you need to find the Play Free button, then log in to your existing account or register a new one. After that, you will have access to a download link, using which you can easily install Valorant on your Macbook.
For installation, you will need to have 8 gigabytes of free space, but in reality, this figure is a bit larger. Eight gigabytes are only needed for the initial game client, while the actual size of Valorant takes up several gigabytes more. We recommend having 20 or more gigabytes free to avoid problems with lack of space during updates. The installation process is very simple; you just need to log into the Riot system using your personal account data and follow the installation program's recommendations.
Also, along with the game itself, Riot Vanguard will be installed on your Mac. This well-known anti-cheat software is used by the company to combat dishonest players. Users often face difficulties with it. When starting the game, Vanguard may unexpectedly issue various errors. Most often, this is related to the system, but considering that you will only have a new Windows emulation, there should be no problems. If an error does occur, you need to go to the official Riot Games website, where most of your problems can be solved.
Set up Valorant
After the game is successfully installed, and you have logged into the client, you need to optimize it to make Valorant as compatible as possible with Mac OS. In developing the shooter, Riot did not adapt it for Apple devices, and the only described method can be called "homemade." That's why you need to set up the game so that Valorant, even on a Mac system, provides the maximum possible enjoyment.
For this, enter the settings section and perform a few simple actions. First, you need to set the screen resolution, which depends on your monitor, but we recommend setting the resolution in Valorant to be half of what your monitor is.
Then, you need to reduce all the graphics settings and set them to the minimum level. This will allow you to better enjoy the game and make it more optimized. In this section, it's also worth enabling VSync, which sets your FPS value to 60 and prevents it from fluctuating. Thanks to this, the image on your monitor will be quite smooth, which will increase the comfort of the gaming process.
We also want to note that another discipline from Riot, League of Legends, has official Mac support, so there's no need to perform any extra actions there. It's still unknown why the developers haven't adapted their shooter for Apple devices, and when it will be possible. Rumours suggest that Valorant will be released on gaming consoles in 2024, so perhaps along with this, the developers will fully adapt the game for Mac OS platforms.
After reading this article, you should understand that Valorant can be launched on a Macbook. Now you know what you need to do to play Valorant on Mac OS. Simply follow all the above-described steps clearly and sequentially, thanks to which you can confidently launch Valorant on your Macbook and enjoy the game.
Comments