Game Dev on the 'Cheapest' Mac Studio. UE5, Unity, Xcode.

In this video I'm looking at game development on the base model M1 Max Mac studio using Unreal Engine 5, Unity 3D and xCode.

Timecodes:
0:00 - Opener
0:31 - Intro/Agenda
1:36 - Quick Resume
2:05 - Unreal Engine 5
5:20 - Unity
8:03 - The Unfulfilled Plan
8:52 - The Conclusions

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Audio file(s) provided by Epidemic Sound

[kurtnelle]

Dude, you're making videos like you've got a million subscribers. Nice presentation.

[dduff]

I am a 3d/ motion graphics artist. Back in November, i got a new M1MAX Macbook Pro. Since then I have been trying to figure out how it was going to fit into my PC workflow. Then I had a hard deadline coming up that required me to switch my simulation work over to my MacBook, while my PC was busy with another task. I have been working on this simulation scene that has a few dozen objects bouncing around a room. I had been working on this job for about a week, so I knew what to expect for my simulation times. By the way, I was using C4D. My Macbook pro DISTROID my PC in sim times. I was used to setting up the scene and it takes 20-30 minutes to cache for real-time playback....my MacBook was 7-10 minutes! it was SO FAST that I found myself watching the non-cached playback and was able to identify issues I was having. My PC is running a 10-core i9 that's 3-4 years old. it's not a THreadripper, but it's no slouch. Now I find myself thinking about how to divide up my jobs to take advantage of the M1s power. And don't even get me started about aftereffects. my 45-minute render on the PC was closer to 15 minutes on my Macbook. Not only render times but the Interface and feedback is WAY better. I have been building HUGE animations for LED walls and for delivery I need to chop them up in pixel-accurate 'slices' for the playback on these specialized playback systems. My master QuickTime file for one animation was 8k and come in at 35 gigs. My PC struggles when I start masking it and moving my 'slices' around in a new comp. My M1 Macbook pro feels like I'm working in HD! But not everything is all roses. Redshift GPU rendering is a joke. One frame of one of my projects took 3 minutes on my PC with a 3090 & 3080...My MacBook pro took 35 minutes. That is so far from acceptable it's not even within consideration. But I am interested to see what the new Redshift 3.5 CPU looks like. In conclusion, being an old school Mac Guy that was forced to make the switch to PCs about 8 years ago, I am happy to see Apple come back with such strong machines. But I realize My work is in the top 3-5% of all users that will push their hardware this hard. The fact that Apple has delivered this much power....IN A LAPTOP FOR ME...is a real accomplishment. The only thing needed for Apple to be really taken seriously as a production machine again is to mend the broken bridges with NVIDIA. But from what I hear neither side is willing to work together. So if I had to buy a new system today....it would still be a PC, But in a year? That may change.

[Weird_Quests]

I'd love to see more VFX and 3D rendering projects on the new systems - such as Blender, After Effects, CInema4D etc...

[ReavenZero]

Man, you Videos are always a joy to watch. Entertaining, Informative and very well produced.

[johntnguyen]

This was exactly the video I was looking for. I'm just starting out learning game dev and virtual vfx production with unreal (I'm a motion designer/vfx artist)...and was about to either build or buy a new computer. This really answers pretty much all the questions I had about which kind of computer to go with for the immediate future! Thanks so much! As for future tests with software...even though I've pretty much decided to go with a Puget Systems PC, would still love to see more vfx and motion graphics pipelines tested out on the new macs (blender, maya, c4d. after effects, nuke, etc).

[DirkTeucher]

The thing about PC/Windows/Linux VS Apple is that game engines like Unreal Engine and Unity makes a considerable effort to enable cross platform development on Windows Linux and Apple. However Apple refuses to allow you to make games for Apple or iOS without buying an Apple mac to compile the code with Xcode. I own an iPhone and I cannot install games onto it using my windows/linux machines. You just cannot test your game or VR project on an Apple device if you do not compile the game on Apple hardware. There is no good reason at all for me to buy into this closed garden business model. None. The only reason Apple does this is to make more money for themselves and to control developers, it does not help me as a developer. It does not help the 3d ecosystem and it pushes me away from any desire to support that business model because it does not help improve the 3d industry at all. Apple needs to learn to cooperate.

Apple does not want to play nicely with the other kids. So as a game dev I avoid Apple for anything related to 3d work or app development unless I absolutely have to for things like porting over from Android or for client work. Even then the 3d performance on Mac is abysmal even on the M1 for things like path tracing so you end up having to cut things out and reduce the fidelity to get 30fps. No thanks Apple, keep your studio.

[TheOfficalAndI]

Thank you for the video.
It makes it more clear that M1 isn't ready to be used as a productivity allrounder.
I am not sure yet if i am gonna stick with one engine, or which one that would be, so staying in the windows ecosystem makes more sense for me.

[GetSwifty]

Just on the last point about the price comparison.
It would only make sense to get the Mac studio or better if you're 100% targeting iOS/macOS (no other platforms at all).

Anything other than that, your money is better spent on a PC and using a cloud Mac to compile for Apple platforms. The development process will be far smoother in both Unity and Unreal on a PC. Plus, you'll have access to more games in your down time and save a lot of money.

If you have the cash — do both by maxing out a PC, and then going for the cheapest m1 Mac you can find.

The top end Macs are just not worth it for development. If you're working with proprietary software like Final Cut Pro, Logic, etc, or your company is making the purchase, that's a different story.

I'm speaking as sole Mac user and full time iOS/Mac developer. When I've worked on game projects, it's been painful.

[kloakovalimonada]

Very well done. Actual real world usage. Subbed!

[gregjoblove]

Running a 16" MBP from 2019 with an intel chip, and ran into many of the same problems with UE5. I think it may be more of a Mac issue rather than an Apple Silicon issue, but who's to say.

[Weird_Quests]

So general idea at the moment is that Apple Silicon is not ready for game development pretty much?

[jadz_yt]

My iMac 3.6Ghz Intel i9 with AMD Radeon Pro 5700 XT loaded UE5 in 20-30mins and runs fine with no crashing....

[xvfx]

would love to see updated video on trying this with the new baseline m4 mac mini

[MadBunnyRabbit]

Not gonna lie, was a bit surprised how bat UE works on macs, but then I remembered the state of gaming on non windows platforms XD

[austonlopez]

I can get Unreal to run on my 16" MacBook Pro M1 Pro. It is not super smooth but it never crashed. I used the MetaHuman and the Lyra sample projects and it was ok. Like 60-70% performance. Some glitches with hair in MetaHuman, and it was 20-30 FPS in Lyra. When you first load the project it takes 9-12 minutes to load but after that it took 2-5 minutes.

[MattHalpain]

wow ! You are awesome. I did not know your are such the artist of 3D assets for games.

[audguy]

Still watching, but the first launch of UE5 is brutal on any system . My I9 9900k 64 gig of ram and 3080ti still took north of 45m to finish starting up.

[Andrew-tlgk]

Unreal not running native on Apple Silicon is a SHAME. It doesnt support Lumen and Nanite aswell thats awful. I am working with Unity for a while now and wanted to check out Unreal and seriously cant believe it.

[mattieisonline]

Please share your experience with Maya.

[thomaspipermusic]

Could you show cinema 4d and octane x. Thanks love the video. Hey also does UE5 lumen work on Mac m1 I can't seem to find out a definitive answer any where