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Full guide to playing Valorant on Mac & which models can do it

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Macs aren’t designed for intense gaming sessions, which explains why Valorant isn’t officially compatible with them. Those who want to scratch the hero shooter itch can still do so, if they know how.

Valorant is now playable on consoles and will soon be available on mobile devices as well. However, Riot’s popular shooter remains inaccessible to Mac users. Playing Valorant on a Mac can be challenging since Riot Games does not offer a native Mac version of the game. That doesn’t mean Mac users have to do without, though.

Which Mac devices can run Valorant?

Intel-based Mac owners can create a partition using Apple’s desktop virtualization tool known as Boot Camp, install Windows, and then run Valorant on the Windows partition. Unfortunately, Apple Silicon (M1/M2) Macs do not support Boot Camp.

Here are the Mac versions that can run Valorant with Boot Camp support:

  • MacBook Air (2017 and later)
  • MacBook Pro (2015 and later)
  • iMac (2015 and later)
  • Mac Mini (2014-2020)

The gaming experience on older Mac devices may not be on par modern devices or full gaming PCs due to system requirements that Mac doesn’t match. To improve performance, try reducing game resolution and changing all game parameters from High to Low, which can help increase framerate. Since Valorant is not a visually heavy game, compromising on graphics shouldn’t make much difference in the gameplay.

How to play Valorant on Mac

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Here’s to play Valorant on Mac if your device is Boot Camp compatible:

  • Get a Windows ISO file by visiting the Microsoft Windows 10 download page
  • Download the 64-bit version to a location where you can easily access it
  • Navigate to applications > utilities > Boot Camp Assistant
  • Check the “create Windows 10 installation disk” checkbox and click “continue”
  • Select the Windows ISO file you downloaded, and allocate disk space for Windows. Make sure you allocate enough space for both Windows and Valorant (at least 100 GB recommended)
  • Boot Camp will partition your drive based on the space you allocated.
  • Click “install” to begin the installation process
  • During installation, you may be prompted to enter your Windows license key
  • After entering the password, follow the on-screen instructions to install Windows

Your Mac is now ready to run Valorant on the new partition. The final step is to download the game.

  • Open a web browser in Windows and navigate to the Valorant official website
  • Click “Play Free” to download the installer
  • Run the installer and follow the on-screen instructions
  • Valorant will download and install the necessary files, including the Vanguard anti-cheat system

If you followed the instructions correctly, Valorant should run smoothly. However, players will need to tweak in-game settings to get decent FPS on Mac.

Written by Fariha Bhatti X Twitter Logo

Fariha is a content writer who grew up playing such games as Metal Slug and King of Fighters. She briefly ended up in the corporate world before finding her way back to gaming. With bylines at WIN, PCGN, and One Esports, Fariha can talk all day about FPS games, especially Valorant. She has a degree in criminology and a problematic spending habit when it comes to CS2 skins. She can be followed on Twitter / X at @Frizbyx.

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