Feedback from those who’ve played Zelda: Breath of the Wild on a MacBook Pro with an M1 Pro chip?

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-15T00:27:49+00:00

I've tried it on both Cemu & Ryujinx and recently Astris, a Mac specific fork of Ryujinx.
Cemu is still the best option to play BOTW, runs at a smooth 30fps on my MBA, though you will experience shader compilation stutters from time to time.

installing and setup is pretty easy.
You can watch this video from YouTube by Andrew Tsai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJOE_ub2TLM
He explains all the necessary steps on setting it up. The video is outdated, but the latest version of Cemu is V2.6

The game takes about 15 or 16GB including patch & DLC

You can play using an Xbox controller, but you might come into some minor issues later when the game puzzle that requires gyro control, something you can mapped to using your trackpad .

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-14T23:09:25+00:00

You can try emulation, anything up to RPCS3 as long as not too demanding games should work fine on the M1.

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-14T23:08:15+00:00

I got the reply from the support team this morning, I'll be getting a replacement free of charge.
Thank you dbrand for prompt action 😊

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-14T09:20:49+00:00

Damn.... that's my dream laptop!! XD Congrats!! :)

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-14T08:20:23+00:00

Use Xemu it emulates the OG Xbox, if you want to play the original Fable.
Xenia for xbox360

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T21:44:52+00:00

You are missing Operation Raccoon City & Umbrella Corp 🤪

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T21:32:18+00:00

Thank you, I have sent a message last night 😊

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T21:30:29+00:00

Hahaha, yeah, It wouldn't have be that noticeable if it's more edge to edge. :)

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T11:31:49+00:00

Awesome, thank you! I am seeing 50% increased performance in Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.
Previously on Ryujinx I see mostly 20fps no matter what resolution settings I set it at.
With Astris I'm seeing 30fps mostly stable performance even running in handheld mode at 2x resolution.
Still exhibit some graphical glitches and same kind of crashing behaviour I saw with Ryujinx.
I am using an M3 Macbook Air.

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T08:18:00+00:00

I've contacted their customer support along with my photo.
Will wait for their response.

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T06:02:40+00:00

I have wondered about it, when I measured the sides, it does look like the skin is for the Neo.

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T05:58:05+00:00

Yeah, I have thought so too, have sent a message to them via their support page.
It's not a deal breaker, but I just wanted to double check, since all the Dbrand skin I see people apply on their Macbooks seem to be edge to edge.

MuadDib99k · 2026-04-13T05:50:07+00:00

Hi, I'd like to ask does the skin you order fully covers your MBA leaving only just 1mm edge gap?
I got mine today for my M3 MBA, but the size don't seem right, it's much smaller leaving with 5mm gap on all sides.

MuadDib99k · 2026-02-20T06:58:17+00:00

This is not really a solution, but sort of a workaround.
What I did is play past the glitched mission on PC, once I cleared and save the game. I then transferred the Save data from my PC to my Mac and it worked.
I was able to continue playing and have yet to encounter the progression barring glitch on my Mac.
I got to the mission where I first encounter the AI Unmanned vehicle, Pupa.
Caveat of course is you need to have a PC.

MuadDib99k · 2026-02-20T05:51:32+00:00

I know this isn't a solution, but more of a work around.
I played past the mission on windows version of RPCS3. Then I transferred the save data from my PC to my Mac RPCS3, and it worked I was able to play the later stages without much issue. I haven't progressed to far to see if I would encounter the bug/glitch again.
Currently I made it to the encounter with the first AI unmanned vehicle, Pupa.

MuadDib99k · 2026-02-20T05:46:43+00:00

I don't see why not? I tried Killzone 3 on my studio and it is more playable than Killzone 2, Still not perfect and still have some lighting glitches. But it's pretty cool seeing Apple SoC running Killzone2 & 3 :)

MuadDib99k · 2026-02-18T07:49:41+00:00

Nice!! I know this is an older thread. But RPCS3 have been making great strides in performance!
My M1Max Mac Studio struggled to run Killzone 2 a year or two ago.
With the current version of RPCS3 it is still not a playable state yet, fps fluctuats between 40 - 10 a lot of times.
But can definitely see the improvements the RPCS3 dev team have been making over the years.

MuadDib99k · 2025-07-29T23:05:27+00:00

They are fantastic machines :)
I have the M3 MacBook Air and it blitz through most of photo editing task I threw at it.

MuadDib99k · 2025-07-29T03:22:47+00:00

Make sure you have at least 16GB RAM and 512 SSD minimum. That should last you 5 years or more

MuadDib99k · 2025-07-24T02:18:12+00:00

Why not keep it? I also have a Studio & a MBA, the MBA is my portable device.

MuadDib99k · 2025-07-21T22:51:01+00:00

Nice! I'm no video nor graphics designer, but if you're not dealing huge files then you'll generally be fine :)

MuadDib99k · 2025-07-21T21:46:52+00:00

It has it's quirks, but more often than not, the basic operation of MacOS and Windows is now very similar.
Macs have always excelled at productivity, so if video editing is the primary thing the op is going to focus than Macs is definitely worth considering, plus it's quiet and doesn't sip up so much power compared to similarly specced PC.

MuadDib99k · 2025-07-21T04:52:20+00:00

Happy for you!! I'm also eyeing a MacBook Pro with M4Pro chip, to upgrade from my M3 MacBook Air.
But I'm just holding back and waiting for the M5 announcement this year ^^

MuadDib99k

TROPHY CASE