Valve has announced the release of a Steam Client Beta that offers native support for Macs powered by Apple Silicon. The new release ends the app’s reliance on Apple’s Rosetta 2 translation layer, which will be phased out in macOS 28 in 2027.
The update will allow the Steam client to free itself of the performance hit that Mac gamers have been forced to deal with ever since Apple transitioned its Mac lineup to its own chips. The Steam app uses a Chromium browser-based interface, which will now run natively on Apple Silicon, rather than via Intel emulation.
As reported by MacRumors, early testers report dramatically improved launch times for the app, as well as smoother navigation through the Store and Library. They report the difference in performance is quite noticeable, with actions like switching tabs being much more responsive.
Apple earlier this week during WWDC announced that Rosetta 2 will remain available through macOS 27. Starting with macOS 28, Apple said that only a limited version of Rosetta 2 will remain available for older games that rely on Intel-based frameworks. macOS 28 will be released in 2027.
Steam users that would like to give the new native Apple Silicon beta a try can download and install the beta by navigating through Steam’s menus by clicking on “Settings” in the Steam menu then clicking “Interface” in the left hand menu, select “Steam Beta Update” from the Client Beta Participation dropdown, then restarting. The download is approximately 230MB in size.
Once the update has been installed, you can verify the native version is running by checking your Mac’s Activity Monitor, where Steam should appear in the list with “Kind: Apple” rather than “Kind: Intel.”
The Steam Client Update also offers the follow changes:
General
- Fixed main client window ordering above some modal dialogs when clicked (e.g. cloud file conflict dialogs).
Steam Chat
- Fixed main client window being focused for certain kinds of links opened from chat windows.
- Fixed regression causing friends list window to close when switching from offline to online.
In-Game Overlay
- Styles and font have been updated on the in-game FPS counter when enabled.
- Fixed game notes not refreshing automatically when modified in another session.
- Fixed content in pinned game notes windows shifting when entering and exiting the overlay.
macOS
- Steam Client and Steam Helper apps now run natively on Apple Silicon.
- Fixed icons not being set automatically for non-Steam games.
- Fixed game icon file dialog not allowing correct types to be selected.
SteamOS
- For non-Steam Deck devices running SteamOS (like the Legion Go S), controller support icons are now displayed on game capsules next to SteamOS Compatibility.
Hopefully, this indicates Steam will be pushing developers to offer Apple Silicon versions of their games, but only time will tell.
