Garry’s Mod can run on M1 Macs via Rosetta 2.
[toc] Garry’s Mod is a physics sandbox game built on a modified version of Valve’s Source engine. This is a game with no objectives, but Garry’s Mod (or GMod for short) gives you so many tools to just have fun!
PS: Make sure you opt-in to the beta program on Steam if you want to play it on an Apple Silicon Mac.
More M1 gaming? Visit our M1 & M2 Supported Games list for 100+ Mac games we have tested and confirmed as M1-compatible.
| Art | Game | Genre | 64-bit? | 64-bit | API | M1 Support | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Garry's Mod | Sandbox | Yes |  | TBC | Rosetta | Good |
Garry’s Mod M1 and M2 Mac benchmarks
The table summarizes our benchmark results as well as results from other members of the community (you can request more benchmarks on Twitter):
| Game | Machine | Resolution | Settings | FPS | Tester | Tested |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Garry's Mod | 💻 M1 MacBook Air 13", 7-core GPU, 8 GB | 2560x1440 | - | 120+ | YouTube | 18/8/2022 |
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 (frames per second) because 30 FPS is enough to guarantee a smooth and fluid experience for the average casual gamer.
M1 & M2 Mac support: Rosetta
Garry’s Mod runs on M1 Macs with Apple Silicon via Rosetta 2.
The game is still exclusively written for Intel-based Macs, but thanks to Rosetta 2, Garry’s Mod can nonetheless run great on M1 and M2 Macs. Just make sure you opt-in to the beta program on Steam and select “Chromium + 64-bit binaries” if you want to play it on an Apple Silicon Mac. Go to: Properties > Betas > Chromium + 64-bit binaries.
PS: You can activate the FPS counter in-game by opening the console and typing “cl_showfps”.
What is Rosetta 2? Rosetta 2 is a translation process that enables M1 and M2 Macs to run apps built for Intel-based Macs. This is not an app you’ll have to open and or interact it. Install it once, and it’ll take care of the rest.
Other M1 games you may like:
 | Minecraft | Sandbox | Native |  |
Garry’s Mod Mac requirements
These are the game’s official Mac requirements:
| Minimum Requirements | |
| OS: | 10.6 |
| Processor: | 2 GHz Processor or better |
| Memory: | 4 GB RAM |
| Graphics: | 512 MB dedicated VRAM |
| Hard Drive: | 5 GB |
| A 64-Bit OS and processor are required | |
Is Garry’s Mod on Mac worth it?
Garry’s Mod is an odd game to “review”. That’s probably why you’ll have a hard time finding GMod reviews online. Still, with a thriving community that is always coming up with new addons and game modes, GMod is an extremely fun experience and a true achievement in giving players unprecedented control.
Bottom line:
| Steam: | 96% – Overwhelmingly Positive |
| Metacritic: | 8.9/10 |
Garry’s Mod download
You can download Garry’s Mod from Steam.
Why you should trust us
While similar sites opted for 100% community-based submissions and results, we decided to stick with a semi-open setup. Of course, your contributions are essential for us, but we still perform a significant part of the benchmarks published on our site and verify all submitted tests before including them on the site.
We spend hours per week testing games on our 2 Apple Silicon Macs, and you can rest assured that someone on the team has verified all the information you’ll read on Mac Gamer HQ. Our tests include digging into the Terminal, running benchmarks, and more.
Our Machines :
We performed our in-house tests on the following machines:
- 14-inch MacBook Pro (2021): Apple M1 Pro chip with 8-Core CPU, 14-Core GPU, 16 GB RAM
- MacBook Air (2020): Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU, 8 GB RAM
If you have more questions, or your own M1 test results to share, on this game or another, hit us up on the comments below on our private Discord server!
doesn’t run on Ventura 13.2.1 Macbook Pro M2
With selected opt-in in the beta program “Chromium + 64-bit binaries”