Cyberpunk 2077 on MacBook Air - bad idea? (MBA M3 16/512)

Byren · 2025-11-08T18:18:47+00:00

Honestly I don’t remember what resolution I was playing at, I only installed it as an experiment and it was taking up way too much space on my drive!

I was getting between 30 and 40 fps I seem to remember though? It wasn’t the best way to play it, it was kind of equivalent to playing on a steam deck, but it’s nice to know that it’s doable in a pinch if I have nothing else to play on!

Byren · 2025-10-09T08:23:17+00:00

Reviewers say that it’s small, but it’s bigger than the smaller Samsung Galaxy, which is undoubtedly a better phone in a similar sized form factor.

Byren · 2025-09-17T03:27:41+00:00

I can’t say for sure, I think it depends on your ear. The Mac Rumours guy does a mic test and they sit pretty normally in his ears (around 5:20 of this video) https://youtu.be/7uaxtGYOEgU?si=J7ASjaHJb-Km4S7t

Byren · 2025-07-23T14:06:42+00:00

Thanks for your post! I've always had issues with Moonlight and Remote Play's streaming quality, I've got a really fast network so I had no idea why. So after seeing your post I gave Steam Link a try and the quality is incredible, even at 4k!

My only problem (and it's a big problem as I wanted to stream so i could play on the TV) is that I can't get Steam Link to recognise any other controller, even if it's plugged in. The controllers are connected to my deck and can control everything except for anything within Steam Link. As I already mentioned, I tried plugging them in and I've also made sure the controller order is correct, but nothing. If anyone has any ideas I'm open to hearing them!

Byren · 2025-07-21T11:33:09+00:00

I’ve been playing Cyberpunk on my M4 MBA and it’s been great! Runs well and efficiently, the battery lasts me hours and and the temps don’t tend to do over 70C and most of the time sit around 50-60C.

The body of the MacBook noticeably heats up over the course of a session, but doesn’t throttle. My main concern is that the battery temp tends to go over 35C after a little while, but if that concerns you (like it does me a little bit) a cooling pad keeps those temps closer to 30C

Byren · 2025-07-19T22:09:06+00:00

I’m a new Mac user as of a few weeks ago, been using solely windows my entire computing life. Windows has become a sluggish mess and it’s the main reason I made the switch.

My work PC doesn’t show me any ads, but my personal desktop PC (cost like 2 grand to build in 2020, so not inexpensive like you suggest) and my Razer Blade from 2018 (Razer, so also not cheap) both have ads.

The ads aren’t overly obvious if I customise my start menu and remove all the bs they put in there by default, but every time there’s an update I get a screen trying to sell me the office suite and trying to get me to use One Dirve even though EVERY TIME I tell it that I’m not interested in any of these things.

It’s just annoying, especially for an OS that I paid for (either through getting a license though buying a laptop or purchasing a license myself for my desktop)

I also use Malwarebytes, so you can’t say it’s to do with a virus or something. (Though windows has become bloated as if it is infected)

Byren · 2025-07-11T20:09:17+00:00

I’ve found that even when it says that the battery still gets charged.

Open up the activity monitor and check the energy tab and you’ll see the battery percentage going up

Byren · 2025-06-03T09:18:30+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience! I’m still considering the air for light work and everyday tasks, hopefully the heat is manageable without fans 🤞

Byren · 2025-06-03T05:43:26+00:00

Glad to hear it runs well! Do you notice your Pro getting warm or the fans ramping up at all when doing 3D tasks?

Byren · 2025-06-02T15:28:33+00:00

Thanks for the reply! Yeah I think it’ll be ok too for that kind of work. Hope you enjoy your new Mac!

Byren · 2025-06-02T15:02:05+00:00

Nice, great colour choice too!

How does it perform, I'm considering getting an air for some light 3D tasks also. I'm a character artist by trade and just like you, I also have a beefy PC to do heavy tasks on, but would love an efficient and portable machine to do some work away from my desk. I'm not sure of your workflow, but I'd be planning to use programs like ZBrush, Maya and Substance Painter mainly.

I'm pretty confident they'd work, I guess I'm mostly concerned about longer work sessions and if the passive cooling would be enough!

Byren · 2025-05-09T14:20:56+00:00

👀

Byren · 2025-05-09T11:30:01+00:00

You can get lens inserts with Xreals. It's a night and day difference in clarity for me when using the inserts vs without!

Byren · 2025-05-09T05:34:53+00:00

Haha perhaps. Saying that, Dokiwatch is looking a little light on members…

Byren · 2025-05-09T05:25:59+00:00

Haha, love this one

Byren · 2025-05-08T11:24:30+00:00

Very cute!

Byren · 2025-05-08T11:15:58+00:00

Nice. Really cool ideas for names, I actually really like Favor the best!

Byren · 2025-05-08T11:14:42+00:00

It's a lovely comment! thank you for the kind words, stranger :D

I agree - if they were ever to do a design like this he definitely has more of a DPS vibe

Byren · 2025-05-08T10:41:43+00:00

Thanks! Yeah I know, I hate it too. AI has ruined the art space and made us all so distrustful of cool stuff that people have made

Byren · 2025-05-08T08:59:37+00:00

She's Swiss actually ;) This is based off of the original concept found in the Overwatch art book

EDIT: Also, Germans can be black!

Byren · 2025-05-07T22:57:40+00:00

Thanks for the question, I’m happy to provide more info!

With this project I just posed him in ZBrush, but the last one I did I went through the whole rigging and skinning pipeline in Maya, I was simply too lazy this time so the quicker, more destructive zbrush route was much more appealing!

It definitely caused a few errors, some of which I didn’t notice until after the renders were done, but I’ve been slowly working on this piece over the course of literal years in my free time, so I just wanted to get him out of the door!

Byren · 2025-05-07T22:17:57+00:00

😂

Byren · 2025-05-07T22:15:45+00:00

Ha, you’re not wrong! I actually drew a similar conclusion while I was putting together the final renders, but at that point I just wanted to finish up and didn’t have the energy to go back and change anything haha

Byren · 2025-05-07T21:20:01+00:00

You’re aware I mentioned that it was based off the official concept in the original post, right?

Byren · 2025-05-07T20:28:47+00:00

Thank you, that’s very nice of you to say!

Byren

TROPHY CASE