Fortnite is one of the most popular multiplayer battle royale games on the market today.
It has more than 350 million active users, having spiked massively in popularity since its release in 2017.
The game is available to play on PC, Android, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
But is it available on iOS or Mac?
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Can A MacBook Run Fortnite?
The MacBook OS is capable of running Fortnite, but the game is no longer being supported on Apple devices as of August 2020.
This means that you’ll be unable to connect cross-platform and you won’t be able to play the newest season of the game.
Here’s what you need to know about playing Fortnite on a MacBook.
Is A MacBook Powerful Enough To Play Fortnite?
The newer MacBooks, like the M1 MacBook Air, are powerful enough to play Fortnite – you can even play in the highest resolution (2,560 X 1,600) without seeing much of a drop-off in performance and still getting up to 90 frames per second.
That’s with the M1 MacBook Air base model.
If you were to play Fortnite on the M1 MacBook Pro with its 16 GBs of RAM, you would have even fewer performance issues
Newer MacBooks can handle playing Fortnite a lot better than older MacBooks but they will still begin to heat up once you’ve played for a while.
Is An Older MacBook Powerful Enough To Play Fortnite?
If your MacBook model is from before 2012, you won’t be able to play Fortnite because it won’t support metal graphics technology which is needed to run the game.
The specs and OS version will probably also be far too old and outdated to support the game.
If you really want to play Fortnite on your pre-2012 MacBook, you may be able to install Windows on it via Boot Camp.
But if your Mac is older than 2010, Windows won’t be supported and you’ll have to install it from CD.
You might be able to find one on eBay or some other online marketplace.
A Windows 7 disc would do because you can download Windows 10 afterward.
Once you get Windows up and running on your MacBook you should have no problems installing and playing Fortnite.
Just set resolution, frame rate, textures, and everything else to as low a setting as they’ll go and then hope for the best.
It will probably be a stuttering experience and I don’t imagine you’ll be getting many kills.
If your MacBook model is from after 2012 then you should be able to install Fortnite onto it and play straight away.
If you’re playing on an older MacBook Pro that still has respectable specs, you’ll probably have an okay experience playing Fortnite.
But if you’re playing on a 10-year-old basic Mac model, the frame rate is going to be slow and textures are not going to look great.
How To Download Fortnite On Mac OS
Do an internet search for Fortnite and open up the Epic Games search result.
Click on the yellow download button in the top right-hand corner of the window.
When you see the message asking “How You Want To Play” click on “PC And Mac“.
From here, you’ll have to sign up for Epic Games or sign in to your account.
Once you have successfully signed in your download should automatically begin.
Once the file has finished downloading you can click on it and choose where you want to save it.
Then, open up the file that says Epicinstaller.
You will then see a pop-up and you’ll have to drag the Epic Games launcher into your Applications folder.
Next, go over to the launchpad on your taskbar at the bottom of your screen and click on the “Epic Games Launcher” to open it.
Once you open Epic Games you will have to sign in again, click “Continue“, go back over to the launcher, and refresh the page.
Once the Epic Games launcher is prepared, you’ll have to choose an install location and choose whether you want the game to auto-update or not.
Then, click “Install“.
Once the game has fully installed you can launch it from the quick launch area and you’ll be off and running.
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Why Was Fortnite Pulled From The Apple App Store And Google Play Store?
The issues between Epic Games, the studio behind Fortnite, and Apple when, in August of 2020, the studio implemented a direct payment option within the game for in-game purchases.
This option bypassed the Google Play Store and Apple App store, cutting out their portion of the revenue.
Both companies rebelled against this by pulling the game.
In response, Epic filed lawsuits against both companies for anti-competitive and monopolistic practices.
While Epic has managed to get around Google’s insistence by achieving access through the Samsung Galaxy Store or directly through their website, they’ve been unsuccessful with Apple.
As of the writing of this article, the company is still in the middle of its legal battles with both major tech giants.
They state their reasoning for continuing to fight as being “committed to securing lasting freedoms for all [developers].”
What Does This Mean For Fortnite On The Mac?
If you already have the game downloaded onto your MacBook or iPhone, then you are still able to access the software and play.
Because of the legal difficulties and repeated blockades from Apple, however, Fortnite has not been updated on Mac since version 13.40, leagues behind the current version 17.10.
This means that players have no access to the latest season of the game or any technical updates released since this version.
This can severely limit the game’s performance and cause it to lag and stutter.
It also means that Mac and iOS players can’t interact with any other kind of player, as cross-play is no longer supported.
This severely limits the variety of battles and the competitive nature of the game.
How To Improve The Quality Of Your Fortnite Experience On Mac
Many things can affect the performance of your game, even on Mac.
The kind of MacBook you have will determine your overall compatibility with the game, and your internet connection speed will have a massive effect on lag and loading times.
That being said, some adjustments can be made to the game itself to improve your experience.
There are three main components to the quality of your experience on Mac.
Adjust Display Resolution
Macs have high-resolution displays, as they’re designed with art and graphic design work in mind.
To adjust for this, you’ll want to stick with 1080p resolution and as close to 60fps as possible, though 30fps is still perfectly playable if your computer is struggling.
Monitor Quality Presets
There are five settings for the graphics in Fortnite – Low, Medium, High, Epic, and Auto.
For the most control over your game’s performance, set the graphics to Low and adjust upwards as necessary to find a middle ground between smooth performance and graphic quality.
Try Turning On Or Off Vsync
Vsync reduces screen tearing in the game, but can cost significant amounts of performance on some devices.
If you’re seeing a massive dip in quality, try turning Vsync off, but otherwise, it’s best to keep it active.
Understanding Quality Issues When Playing Fortnite On MacBook
It’s impossible to say that Mac users will have the same level of performance and quality that players on other platforms will have – that’s simply not true.
Because the game is running on an older version, the longer you play, the lower the game quality will become.
There are no updates, and new material is completely unavailable.
There’s also no way to reinstall the game if the copy you have is corrupted in any way.
This is the situation in mid to late 2021, but both Apple and Epic Games are leaving a lot of money on the table so you’d imagine they’ll work out a solution before long.
Still, you can make the experience enjoyable if you manage your settings – and your expectations – well in advance.
