Are you looking for guides on how to play Overwatch on your macOS computers?
Well, you have come to the right place.
In this post, we will try to answer the question: Can you play Overwatch on Mac?
Specifically, we will talk about:
- Does Overwatch Run on Mac?
- Is it Free?
- How much RAM do you need?
- How to Play Overwatch on Mac?
- And so much more.
In a nutshell, Yes, you can play Overwatch on Mac. Using Bootcamp from Apple, you can run Windows and then install Overwatch on your macOS computers.
Overwatch is so fun, too much to be missed.
The game has combined elements from the first-person shooter and team-based hero battle game.
There are more than thirty heroes and twenty maps that will never bore you.
Each hero has its own unique ability and skill.
They also have their own interesting background story.
In this post, you will learn how to set up your mac computers so that it can run Overwatch just fine.
With this guide, we can even play Overwatch on Macbook Air (2013) just fine.
So let’s get started!
Table of Contents
Does Overwatch Run on Mac?
Unfortunately, Overwatch can’t run on a standard Mac Operating System, OS X.
However, there are still some ways to get around the Mac OS X problem.
You could install Microsoft Windows on your Mac.
The most popular way to install windows on Mac is using Bootcamp.
Besides Bootcamp, you can also use parallels 2, Wine, and NVIDIA GeForce Now to install Windows on your Mac computers.
But, we think Bootcamp is the most efficient way to run Overwatch on Mac.
Bootcamp is an official software from Apple that allows you to install Windows Operating System on your Mac.
After installing windows on MAC, now it’s viable to install Battle Net.
Battle.net is a desktop application or platform to launch and manage games from Blizzard.
You could install Battle.net on OSX, but you won’t find Overwatch there.
So you have to install Windows Operating System first.
Also read: Best Laptop for Overwatch in 2021
Can You Download Overwatch on Mac?
As discussed above, you absolutely can.
However, you have to install Windows Operating System before you can download Overwatch.
It’s quite a lengthy process, but after installation, it’s easy peasy to use.
As we know, Blizzard, the developer of Overwatch, had released other modern games that run on OSX.
You can find Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, Hots, Hearthstone, and WoW run well on OSX.
But, Why is there no overwatch for Mac?
Jeff Kaplan, Vice President of Blizzard, stated in an interview back in 2016 that they would love to make the game available on Mac OS computers.
However, Apple doesn’t give enough support for Blizzard to make it viable for Overwatch to run.
“It’s is too challenging to run Overwatch on the current technology on MAC,” as Kaplan states.
So that leaves the only way to download Overwatch on Mac is by using Apple Bootcamp software.
With Bootcamp, you can install Windows on your Mac computers and download Overwatch on your Mac.
Is Overwatch Free on Mac?
No, Overwatch is not free on Mac.
You have to buy Overwatch before you can run it.
Either on console on PC, it’s not free.
So how much is Overwatch on Mac?
You can get the Standard Edition of Overwatch for $19.99 and the Legendary Edition for $39.99
With the Legendary Edition, you can get additional perks and benefits like awesome hero skins and other in-game items.
The price, as shown above, is just the game itself.
As you might buy Windows License first, there’s also an additional price you should pay.
Legit Windows License Key is about 20$.
It’s not required to pay for Windows, and you may skip it if you want.
But there will be a watermark on the bottom right corner asking you to activate the windows.
How Much RAM Do you Need for Overwatch?
Overwatch official page states that you need at least 4 GB RAM.
But we recommend having at least 8GB of RAM to run games in 2021.
We always suggest that you double the RAM requirement from what is required of a game.
However, RAM is not the sole requirement.
You have to consider the graphics card too.
For example, let say you have a Macbook Air (2012); it’ll have 4 GB RAM, which Overwatch requires you to have.
But its Intel HD 4000 graphics will not pass the requirement.
Overwatch suggests that you have at least Intel HD 4400 Graphics on your Mac computers.
So make sure you check the graphics card that comes with your Macbook computers too.
Don’t worry; Overwatch is not a heavy game to run.
If you have Macbook computers that were released from 2013 and beyond, you will run this game just fine.
How to Play Overwatch on Mac?
First, you have to make sure that your Mac pass the requirement of Overwatch and Bootcamp.
We have shown the minimum system requirement for Overwatch above, while the requirement for Bootcamp is shown below.
You might want to buy the Windows License Key first.
So that you could enter the key right away when installing Windows on Mac.
Also, you won’t get that annoying Windows watermark.
Remember to always buy your Windows Key from a trusted retailer.
Step 1: Format your USB into MS-DOS (FAT)
- Prepare at least an 8GB flash drive that you don’t use.
- Go to Disk Utility and locate your flash drive
- Format your Flash Drive into MS-DOS (FAT).
We will use this empty flash drive as a Windows Installer later on in Step 3.
Step 2: Download the Windows ISO
- Download windows 10 ISO here.
To find the download page, you could search “Windows 10 ISO Download” and choose one from Microsoft. Alternatively, you could also download from other trustful sources.
- Select the edition
- Select the language.
- Select the 64-bit version.
- It should automatically download.
Step 3: Configure Bootcamp assistant.
- Open Bootcamp Assistant on your Mac Computer.
- Choose Windows 10 ISO file that we downloaded on Step 2.
- Make sure the destination disk that we choose is the flash drive that we prepared on Step 1.
- It will then take some time to copy all the files.
- Create a partition for your Windows installation.
Apple recommends to have at least 128 GB of space for your Windows installation but we run Windows just fine with 64 GB.
- A Dialog Box will appear to continue with the installation; enter your password.
- After the disk partitioning is completed, it should automatically reboot into the Windows installation page.
Step 4: Install Windows
- Choose the Language; Time and currency format, and Keyboard or input method to install.
- Insert Windows product key, or if you don’t have, select I don’t have Windows product key.
- Accept the license term and next.
- Choose the Bootcamp partition, next.
- It takes quite a time to load, and then it shall automatically reboot into windows.
- Answer some questions from windows.
- It will take some time to set up.
- A boot Camp Installer will appear. Next.
- Accept the license agreement.
- Let it install. After it is completed, click finish.
- A dialog box might ask you to restart.
- You might want to check whether you run the latest windows update.
Congratulation, now you have Windows OS on your Mac computer.
Step 5: Install Overwatch
- Go to Blizzard official download pages, select windows platform, and choose Overwatch.
- Run the overwatch installation program
- Choose your installation location for Battle.net, continue
- Create a Blizzard account, or log in if you already have one.
- Choose your install location for Overwatch, continue.
- Choose the language, next
- Wait for the download and install process to finish; it might take some time.
- After it is finished, you could play the game.
Voila! Now you have Overwatch on your Mac computers.
With this you can now play Overwatch on your Mac.
Final Words: Can You Play Overwatch on Mac?
So there you have it! Everything you need to know about how can you play Overwatch on mac computers.
In a nutshell, you can play Overwatch on Mac computers by installing a Windows 10 using Bootcamp Assistant.
We hope that from this ultimate guide you now can run Overwatch just fine with your mac computers or Macbook laptops.
If you get any trouble during installation, please let everyone know using the comment box below.
Enjoy Overwatch!
