- Valve has quietly rolled out the official Steam app for Apple Silicon Macs.
- The new update can be found under the Steam beta tab.
- The native Steam macOS app is much faster and has fewer bugs than the one that relied on Rosetta 2 to function.
Ask any macOS user around the block, and they won’t stop whining about the current ‘native’ Steam app. The current sluggish, clunky mess is the version relying on Rosetta 2 to work on Apple Silicon Macs. However, its problems are a clear sign of the days gone by. Well, in tandem with Apple’s announcement of Rosetta 2 slowly wishing goodbye, Valve has quietly launched a native Steam app for macOS.
Steam for Mac Goes Native
While not accompanied by an explosive announcement, the newly launched Steam Mac app has actually made its way to us through a minor beta update. And despite the fact that it’s just a beta, the now fully universal Mac Steam app has some dramatic improvements.
One of the most significant changes I noticed was that the lag has disappeared. This now means players don’t have to wait for up to a minute to simply head to the library or go to the store.
The change has been reflected across the entire app, with faster page loading, more responsive navigation, and an overall smoother experience. While it may not sound much to Windows users, any macOS Steam gamer who switches to the beta will notice the upgrade in mere seconds.
As it turns out, Valve has now switched the Chromium Embedded Framework to function from Intel-only to Apple chips. Put things simply, the new Steam Mac app functions like a native one and not like a slow port. However, that doesn’t mean any aesthetic changes have been made, as it looks about the same.
How to Enable Steam Beta for Native Mac App
Getting the new Steam Mac app is quite easy, as you only need to enable a small setting. Follow the steps below to do so:
- With Steam open on your Mac, click on Steam > Preferences from the top left.
- Head to the Interface tab and then to “Client Beta Participation.”
- Click on the dropdown menu and choose “Steam Beta Update.”
- Your Steam client will now restart and download the new 230MB update.
And you’re all done! You’re now running the new Steam Mac app. Considering Apple’s Rosetta 2 deprecation, the timing of the latest Steam app is pitch-perfect. That said, have you enabled the new app yet? Let us know in the comments below!
