Mark Gurman, arguably the most famous 'Apple Watcher' since he is backed by Bloomberg, went as far as to call the new Mac Mini M4 "Apple's Game Console," and suggests it has the guts and pricing to challenge Sony's PS5. It's an interesting idea, but I don't think it'd work for me.
I'm not saying that as someone who is against plugging into screens. I've only recently come to terms with the fact Apple has taken away the 27-inch iMac (Bye Mac), and so currently rely on a MacBook Pro, but still love to have a fixed workstation I can plug into with one of the best USB-C hubs, a keyboard and (call me strange) the Apple Magic Mouse 2 which I actually quite like!
Anyway, I love my PS5 (not that it gets a lot of use these days) – could my photo and video workflow computer replace it and save me the price of both? Certainly they seem reasonably matched when it comes to processing power, so I thought I'd have a look...
Did you know that, if you have an iPhone, you can use the Apple Store app to check out Apple products to see how they'd look in your home without the pain and expense of actually buying them? The 'View in your space' feature is right there on the first page of the Mac Mini so I decided to try it in the place my PS5 lives.
Apple is already present, with its squared-off hockey puck like Apple TV, and the Mac Mini M4 isn't that much bigger. Looking at it, it's not that I don't have space for the PS5, but the Mini M4 certainly frees up a bit of room. Or does it? Because I'd need to have more devices lying around. The PS5 needs only a game controller (I've not shelled out for PSVR 2) but to use a Mac properly I'd need a keyboard and mouse too.
Sure, Apple do lovely wireless keyboards and mice, but you're looking at an investment of (interestingly the 'view with accessories' option didn't seem to work for me either) at least another £258 – the PlayStation 5 has a controller in the box.
Let's not forget that Apple has made attempts in the Game space before and made what felt like the same mistakes. The 1990s Pippin (or "PiPP!N"), created with Bandai, admittedly pre-dated Steve Job's return, but it was a commercial disaster, priced at double the PlayStation (1) it launched after ($599 then, so about the equivalent of $1,200 today).
Even if the Pippin had no competition, it lacked game software (it looked like a console but it had more in common with a Mac) save for the lack of a floppy drive).
This time, though, it's not Apple openly shouting: "Buy this, it's a console" – it's Gurman's interpretation (though he's well placed to know what Apple might be thinking.
What I do know is that Apple has been doing its best to mention games in the last few events I've covered, and woo developers, with less than impressive results. The tech might be there – ray tracing is mentioned – but can I play Horizon: Forbidden West or even The Last of Us or Fallout on the Mac? No. Well, not easily – a YouTuber has a solution using 'Crossover'. And these are games big enough to have been adapted to major TV series. Sure, Cyberpunk 2077 is coming but Apple is way behind (and Windows PCs get most console-exclusive games after a few months of waiting).
When I'm on my Mac, I tend to play different games though – especially Civilization – which can eat hours and completely stop me doing the video edits or photo tweaking I should be doing.
Here is my theory, though. For a setup like mine, MacOS isn't 'Living Room ready' – that's what the AppleTV does (and, to be fair, there are some fun games there). Editing photos – let alone checking emails – on a big TV the other side of the room from a wireless keyboard and mouse is bonkers.
A lot of people, however, game on a desk with a dedicated monitor, and in that case a Mac Mini M4 makes a bit more sense against a PS5 Pro, but there's a lot more Apple needs to do. (In the long run, too, the fact you use Sony's game controller to play games on MacOS probably doesn't look great!)
But – creators – perhaps it is time to worry that your Mac might, one day soon, be a little more able to distract you from your work! (That works two ways too – look how much Sony has been distracted by its hugely profitable PlayStation division!)
