3 days ago
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'Cyberpunk 2077' On MacBook Pro M4 Max Shown At Apple WWDC On Ultra Settings At 120fps
Apple has shown off the gaming prowess of the MacBook Pro M4 Max at its Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) 2025, by providing a first look at CD Projekt RED's RPG Cyberpunk 2077 running on the system with ultra settings, and at 120fps. @geekculture At WWDC 2025, Apple and CD Projekt RED showed off Cyberpunk 2077 running natively on the MacBook Pro M4 Max! CD Projekt RED's Paweł Sasko takes us through how the team used Apple's suite of technologies to run the game on Ultra at a smooth 120fps. #Apple #WWDC2025 #MacBookProM4Max #CDProjektRED #CyberPunk2077 ♬ original sound – Geek Culture
Featuring a snippet of live gameplay taken while exploring Dogtown's EBM Petrochem Stadium in the game's Phantom Liberty expansion, CD Projekt RED provided a sneak peek into some of the technologies used to achieve its performance milestone on Apple's platform. The complete Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition, which includes the base game, the Phantom Liberty expansion, Update 2.0 with all its content, as well as any free DLCs, is slated to go on sale on the Mac App Store, Steam and Epic Games Store.
According to the developers, the game is able to hit such high framerates at ultra settings due to two factors: Apple's MetalFX upscaler integration and optimisation of the game's REDengine framework. Robert 'Radek' Malinowski, Global Communication Director (left), Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director (right)
'When it comes to the REDengine, it's a very scalable technology, and we always try to squeeze out as much performance as we can, no matter the platform, be it Apple devices, the Nintendo Switch or PC and consoles,' explained Paweł Sasko, Associate Game Director at CD Projekt RED.
To achieve maximum performance, the CD Projekt team worked closely with Apple on the utilisation of its MetalFX upscaling to deliver higher definition images from a lower definition source, and MetalFX frame interpolation, which generates in-between frames for smoother, more fluid motion. Additionally, optimisation methods were implemented like FP16, or 16-bit Floating Point, which uses 16 bits instead of 32 bits to relieve the load on the system's CPU, pushing out more performance with minimal detriment to image quality.
Today my chooms at Apple Park we're showing Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition to international press and content creators — running on a MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip, hitting 120 FPS on Ultra settings. Coming in 2025! 🥰🍎 — Paweł Sasko (@PaweSasko) June 10, 2025
The brief section of gameplay did highlight some impressive shaders on display, courtesy of Apple's Metal shader converter, providing not only crisp visuals but also realistic interactions between projected lights and objects in the environment. In a 12-minute demo, Sasko used a controller to navigate the game, previewed interactions with in-game characters, including the cameo appearances by the developer's co-founders, Marcin Iwiński and Michał Kiciński, character movements and more importantly, the lighting and shadows generated within the game, to make the sharp visuals and complex colours stand out.
Framerate-wise, the game seemed smooth for the most part, apart from noticeable dips in certain sections when panning the camera. It's also to be noted that the team claimed that the game was able to hit 120fps in that particular scene, so it remains to be seen if the game can maintain those figures in more complex scenes like combat, or open world traversal when Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition launches on the Mac App Store sometime in 2025.
For more on WWDC 2025, check out our coverage on Apple iOS 26's enhanced UI with Liquid Glass and intelligent features, and the 10 Apple Unified OS 26 features we can't wait to see and use.
Sherwin once held the Matrix of Leadership, but wisely passed it on to the rightful leader of the household. Apple Cyberpunk 2077 MacBook Pro M4 Max WWDC 2025
