7 Days to Die on M1 Mac: Runs great on Apple Silicon

7 Days to Die can run on M1 Macs via Rosetta 2.

[toc]​ 7 Days To Die is an open-world zombie survival game. Imagine Minecraft, but with scarier non-cuboid zombies dying to shotguns. Even in its current early-access state, the gameplay looks impressive.

However, depending on how powerful your Mac is, there can be some “jerking” issues with your gameplay. Thankfully the issue is usually resolved with some in-game setting adjustments.

More M1 gaming? Visit our M1 Supported Games list for 100+ Mac games we have tested and confirmed as M1-compatible.

7 Days to Die M1 Mac support

7 Days to Die runs on M1 Macs with Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2.

7 Days to Die M1 support (using Rosetta 2 and Metal)

As you can see below, the game is still written for Intel-based Macs, but thanks to Rosetta 2, 7 Days to Die can nonetheless run great on M1 Macs.

What is Rosetta 2? Rosetta 2 is a translation process that enables an M1 Mac with Apple silicon to use apps built for Intel-based Macs.

Other M1 games you may like:

	ARK: Survival Evolved	Survival	Rosetta
	Rust	Survival	Rosetta
	UNTURNED	Survival	Rosetta

We tested the game using the following M1 Mac:

14-inch MacBook Pro (2021): Apple M1 Pro chip with 8-core CPU, 14-Core GPU, and 16GB of Unified Memory

7 Days to Die M1 Mac benchmarks

These are all the official benchmarks results so far (including tests from other members of the community):

PS: You can activate the FPS counter in-game by pressing the F8 key.

As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:

• Below 20 FPS: Unplayable: Laggy gameplay, full of stutters and slowdowns.
• 20-30 FPS: Borderline: Can be OK in slow-paced games. Still, not optimal.
• 30-45 FPS: Playable: Acceptable for most (most gaming consoles do this).
• 45-60 FPS: Smooth: Fluid gameplay, with no perceivable stutters.
• 60+ FPS: Very Smooth: For hardcore and professional players, a luxury for most.

We usually aim for 30 FPS, because 30 FPS is enough to guarantee a smooth and fluid experience for most casual gamers.

7 Days to Die Mac requirements

These are the game’s official Mac requirements:

⚠️ According to these system requirements, a Mac with integrated graphics should not be able to run it. But we can confirm it’s definitely possible.

7 Days to Die on Mac: Verdict

Even in its early access state, 7 Days is a surprisingly fun zombie game. While still in its rough stages, there is strong potential for it to become the next big zombie game hit.

7 Days to Die M1 Pro Mac gameplay

There is a large emphasis on crafting and environmental interaction in this game. Similar to Minecraft, all the terrain in this game is destructible, allowing you to manipulate terrain for moats, mines, and other cool base-building plans. However, while the gameplay is promising, the storyline for this game is rather weak. Thankfully this is bound to change, as the developers seem interested in creating a complete storyline.

It’s hard to find a good zombie game, especially for us Mac Gamers, so hopefully, this one ends up well. But one last time, for the record, the game is still in Alpha, meaning it’s still a work-in-progress, with tons of bugs and performance issues (which explains the low reviews across the board).

7 Days to Die Mac download

You can download the game from Steam.

But more importantly, if you have your own M1 test results to share, on this game or another, let us know on our Discord server!