6 Ways To Play Diablo 4 On Mac

Diablo 4 will not be released for Mac but here we show you the only ways to play Diablo 4 on Mac in 2024.

Diablo IV is an action role-playing game (ARPG) developed and published by Blizzard Entertainment and is the fourth part of the Diablo series.

The game was announced in November 2019 and was finally released on June 6th 2023 although it was already available for pre-order and open beta before that.

It has become Blizzards biggest selling game of all time but unfortunately for Mac users, Diablo 4 will not be released for Mac and the possibilities of playing it on a Mac are very limited.

Even Whoopi Goldberg voiced her disappointment that Blizzard decided not to release a Mac version of Diablo 4!

What’s The Best Way To Play Diablo On a Mac?

Before you waste lots of time trying different methods to play Diablo 4 on Mac, we can tell you now that by far the best way to play Diablo 4 is to use Crossover.

Crossover allows you to play Windows only games on a Mac and crucially, Crossover 23 supports DirectX 12 which is essential to play Diablo 4.

Intel Mac users can also install Windows on a Mac with Boot Camp and play the PC version of Diablo 4 although this takes longer to setup.

Although there are many ways of running Windows on a Mac, Crossover and Boot Camp are the only methods that allow you to play Diablo 4 on macOS.

The reason for this is that Diablo 4 requires DirectX 12 which is a collection of application programming interfaces (APIs) that many games require to run.

And the only way to use DirectX 12 on a Mac is by using Crossover or Boot Camp.

Apple has also recently announced a new Game Porting Toolkit in macOS Sonoma which allows developers to test games that require DirextX 12 on a Mac although it’s not designed as a permanent solution for playing Windows only games on a Mac.

Other methods of playing Windows games on a Mac simply won’t work for Diablo 4.

Can You Play Diablo 4 on M1, M2 & M3 Macs?

Boot Camp only works on Intel Macs so you cannot play Diablo 4 on an Apple Silicon Macs with Boot Camp.

You can still run Windows on Apple Silicon Macs using other methods but none of them support DirectX 12 which is required to play Diablo 4 (although virtual environments such as Parallels do support DirectX 11).

Previous versions of Diablo such as Diablo Immortal can be played on both Intel Macs and Apple Silicon Macs with Parallels as they only require DirectX 11.

However, you can play Diablo 4 on Apple Silicon Macs using OneCast which streams Xbox games to Macs but this requires having an Xbox in which case, you might as well just play the Xbox version of Diablo.

Alternatively as we’ll also explain, you can try using Remote Desktop software to play Diablo 4 remotely or the Cloud gaming services Shadow or airGPU.

Finally, if you’re a developer and a member of the Apple Developer Program, you can also port Diablo 4 to run on a Mac using the new macOS Sonoma Game Porting Kit as we’ll explain although this is designed for testing rather than playing.

1. Play Diablo 4 Using Crossover

Crossover allows Mac users to run Windows only applications and games without installing a full version of Windows and the latest version of Crossover 23 supports DirectX 12 to play Diablo 4 on a Mac.

It was officially rolled out to all users in August 2023 and can be downloaded now from the Crossover website.

The software works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs meaning it’s by far the best and easiest way to play Diablo IV on any Mac.

You can download a free trial of Crossover but a full license starts at $74.

Crossover uses a modified version of Wine which is an open-source compatibility layer that allows programs designed for Windows to run on other operating systems.

While Wine is tricky to setup and use, Crossover wraps it up in a user-friendly interface that makes it easy for Mac users to install and use Windows programs.

One of the advantages of Crossover compared to other methods of running windows on a Mac such as virtual machines is that it doesn’t require a copy of Windows to be installed on the Mac.

This means that Crossover requires less disk space and avoids the hassle of dual-booting a Mac with two operating systems.

You can also check out our full Crossover review for more.

Pros:

• Doesn’t require installing a full version of Windows
• Easy to setup and use
• Supports DirectX 12
• Works on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs

Cons:

• Requires annual license

2. Play Diablo 4 Using Boot Camp (Intel Macs Only)

By far the best way to play Diablo 4 on a Mac is to install Windows with Boot Camp on an Intel Mac.

Boot Camp allows you to install Windows on a separate partition of your Mac hard drive so that you boot your Mac in Windows or macOS.

Most importantly for Diablo 4, Boot Camp also allows you to install DirectX 12 in Windows on a Mac which is required by Diablo 4.

As explained earlier, Boot Camp is not available for Apple Silicon Macs so this method of playing Diablo 4 on a Mac does not work on them. Here’s how to install Diablo 4 on an Intel Mac.

• First you need to install Windows on your Mac using Boot Camp. We strongly recommend installing Windows 11 instead of Windows 10 will be supported less and less going forward.
• You then need to download Battle.net in Windows on your Mac. Remember to download the Windows client not the Mac client.

You then need to purchase Diablo 4 via Battle.net. Note that at the moment, Diablo 4 only available as Open Beta from March 24th-26th 2023.

Once Diablo 4 is installed on your Mac, we recommend lowering the graphics settings to medium in to ensure that the game is playable on a Mac.

However, even by lowering the graphics settings you may still find that textures, lighting and colors glitch compared to playing it on PC and other platforms. Pros:

• Boot Camp is free to use in macOS on Intel Macs
• Easy to setup
• Dedicates all of your Mac’s hardware and resources to running Diablo 4
• Better for gaming as it leverages more power from the graphics card
• Works for games protected by anti-cheat software
• Allows you to run DirectX 12 in Windows on a Mac

Cons:

• Only allows you to boot in either macOS or Windows
• Requires dedicating some of your Mac hard drive space to running Windows
• Intel Macs only – will not work with the latest Apple Silicon Macs

3. Stream Diablo 4 Using OneCast

The other way of playing Diablo 4 is the least recommended as it requires you to have an Xbox in which case you probably don’t need to play Diablo 4 on a Mac anyway.

However, if you have bought Diablo 4 on an Xbox and want to stream the game to your Mac, you can do so using OneCast.

OneCast also works with Apple Silicon Macs so it’s also one of the few ways to play Diablo 4 on Apple Silicon Macs too.

There are various ways of playing Xbox games on a Mac but using OneCast is the only method that will work for Diablo 4.

OneCast can stream any game from an Xbox Series X/S to a Mac as long as they are connected on the same WiFi network. If you have an Xbox and have purchased Diablo 4 on it, you can play it on Mac using OneCast by following these instructions.

Pros:

• Easy to setup and use
• Streams Xbox games to your Mac on the same WiFi network
• Doesn’t require installing Windows or any emulators on Mac

Cons:

• Requires an Xbox
• May be some latency and lag when streaming games

4. Play Diablo 4 With Remote Desktop Software

If you’ve got access to a PC, you can also play Diablo 4 on a Mac by remotely connecting to one with Diablo 4 installed.

Of course, if you can already play Diablo 4 on a PC then there’s no need to do this but if you don’t have access to your PC or want to connect to a PC with Diablo 4 installed on it, then connecting your Mac to it remotely is an option.

There are various remote desktop software for Mac that you can use to connect a PC remotely for remote gaming.

The most well known is Microsoft Remote Desktop although this is mainly used for business and work rather than gaming.

Parsec is a popular option for those that want to connect their Mac remotely to a gaming PC and it works natively on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

The actual Parsec Mac desktop app is free to download and connect to any remote PC or Cloud computing service you want not just Parsec’s own hosting service (see more on Cloud computing services below).

However, Parsec also offers a virtual PC in the cloud on which you can download and install the PC version of Diablo 4 on Battle.net.

Pricing for Parsec hosting starts at $8.33 per month when paid annually up front or $9.99 paid monthly.

Alternatively, if you don’t have access to a PC with Diablo 4 installed, you could connect Parsec to a dedicated cloud gaming service such as airGPU or Shadow (see below) to install and play Diablo 4 on a Mac.

Pros:

• Doesn’t require installing Windows on any emulators on a Mac
• Lots of remote desktop apps to help you connect to a Windows machine
• Easy to use once setup
• Many remote desktop apps work with Apple Silicon Macs
• Allows you to play games like Diablo 4 that require DirectX 12

Cons:

• Can be laggy
• Remote desktop apps vary in price
• Requires access to a PC
• Definitely not suitable for gaming

5. Play Diablo 4 On airGPU

Although there are no cloud gaming platforms that currently allow you to play Diablo 4, you can use the cloud computer service to airGPU to play Diablo 4 on both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs.

The only two cloud computer services that allow you to play Diablo 4 on are Shadow and airGPU.

These are slightly different to cloud gaming platforms such as GeForce Now as they are basically Cloud PCs that you can install any Windows only application, not just games although they are frequently used for gaming.

Note that there are no actual Cloud gaming services that officially allow you to play Diablo 4 yet such as GeForce Now For Mac and Boosteroid.

Some users have been able to play Diablo 4 on Boosteroid but it is not officially licensed to run the game and it requires reinstalling the game via the “Install & Play” feature every time you play it.

This means you have to wait for Diablo 4 to do a fresh install every time you want to play it on Boosteroid.

You still need to have purchased Diablo 4 in order to play it on Boosteroid as well – it doesn’t provide the game for you in the subscription cost.

Once you’ve installed Diablo 4 on airGPU or Shadow however, you don’t have to reinstall it again like you do on Boosteroid.

Neither airGPU or Shadow actually provide the game for you either but allow you use a Cloud gaming PC on which you can install Diablo 4 and then connect your Mac to it to play.

Before you sign-up for either Shadow or airGPU to play Diablo 4, you’ll need to purchase the PC version of Diablo 4 first on Battle.net.

You can then install Diablo 4 on a virtual PC provided by Shadow or airGPU once you’ve setup a Shadow or airGPU account.

However, you’ll also need a subscription to either Shadow or airGPU to do this which isn’t cheap.

airGPU subscriptions start at $0.75 per hour for a cloud gaming PC with a Nvidia Tesla 4 graphics card which soon adds-up if you’re playing for long periods.

This doesn’t include storage space though so you’ll have to add an extra $3.50 per 50GB of SSD storage space.

Considering you’ll need at least 80GB of storage space to install Diablo 4 and at least another 50+GB to install Windows, this takes it close to $1.50 an hour to use airGPU to play Diablo 4 on a Mac.

You can read more about how to play games on airGPU here.

A Shadow subscription starts at $39.99 per month for a cloud gaming PC with an Nvidia GTX 1080s graphics card with unlimited game play time and 250GB SSD drive space which may work out cheaper than paying hourly with airGPU.

The maximum frame rate you will be able to play Diablo 4 with either service will be 60 frame per second but this is definitely playable on a Mac.

The data transfer speeds from both airGPU and Shadow are extremely fast though with speeds of up to 100GB per second possible.

Finally, assuming you own both the PC version of Diablo 4 and have a subscription to either Shadow or airGPU, you’ll also need to use a remote desktop software to connect to your Mac to the cloud gaming PC.

We recommend using Parsec for this as it’s designed specifically for the needs of gaming remotely.

You can download the Parsec Mac desktop app for free without having to subscribe to a Parsec hosting plan.

Both airGPU and Shadow provide full instructions how to connect to them with a remote desktop client once you’ve subscribed.

Note that playing Diablo 4 this way will depend on the speed of both your internet connection and the latency of the servers. If both are slow then you may find the game laggy and unplayable at times.

Pros:

• Allows you to install Diablo 4 in the Cloud
• Allows you to install mods
• Also works for games protected by anti-cheat software
• Works for games like Diablo 4 that require DirectX 12

Cons:

• Subscriptions are expensive
• You still need to buy Diablo 4 first
• Requires you to manually setup everything yourself
• Maximum frame rates of 60fps

6. Play Diablo 4 via the macOS Sonoma Game Porting Kit

While announcing the release of macOS Sonoma at the WWDC, Apple also released a new Game Porting Toolkit that allows developers to more easily bring Windows games to Mac.

The big news is that the Game Porting Kit supports DirectX 12 meaning developers can port games like Diablo 4 to work on macOS.

It’s important to be aware that this process is a bit complex and only developers that are members of the Apple Developer Program have access to the Game Porting Kit.

Some developers on reddit have outlined how they managed to get Diablo 4 working using the Game Porting Kit.

The Game Porting Kit uses the open source Wine emulator to translate DirectX 12 to work on a Mac.

This only works on Apple Silicon Macs – it does not work on Intel Macs.

If you are a member of the Apple Developer Program, you can download the Gaming Porting Kit here. You can watch how to install Diablo 4 with the Apple Game Porting Toolkit below:

You can read more about the new Apple Game Porting Toolkit here. You can also watch Diablo 4 ported to a Mac using the macOS Sonoma Game Porting Kit below.

Pros:

• Supports DirectX 12 required by Diablo 4
• Can be used by any developer signed up to the Apple Developer Program
• Free to use

Cons:

• Requires developer knowledge to use
• Designed mainly for testing games like Diablo 4
• May still result in lag and low latency

Will Diablo 4 Be Released For Mac?

Diablo 4 will not be released for Mac. It was only released for Windows, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5 on June 6 2023.

The early access beta was available from March 17th-19th 2023 and the open beta from March 24th-26th 2023.

Why Is There No Diablo 4 For Mac?

The most likely explanation for there being no release of Diablo 4 on Mac is that the developer Blizzard has decided that the cost of developing and supporting a Mac version is too much.

Blizzard is increasingly choosing not to release games on Mac as was the case with Overwatch 2 and other versions of Diablo in the Diablo series such as Diablo Immortal.

Can You Play Diablo 4 With Parallels?

Parallels is a virtual machine and we usually recommend it as the best way to run Windows on a Mac. However, Parallels can’t run DirectX 12 which is required to play Diablo 4.

Although Parallels will allow you to install the Battle.net launcher, when you try to launch Diablo 4 you’ll receive the error message: “GPU not found”.

Can You Play Diablo 4 with Xbox Cloud?

Diablo 4 will not be released on Xbox Cloud so you cannot play Diablo 4 on a Mac in Xbox Cloud.

Can You Play Diablo 4 with GeForce Now?

Diablo 4 will not be released on GeForce Now so you cannot play Diablo 4 on a Mac in GeForce Now.

Can You Play Diablo 4 with Shadow?

If you own the PC version of Diablo 4 on Battle.net and have a subscription to the Shadow Cloud gaming service, you can play Diablo 4 with Shadow although the performance will depend on your internet connection and latency from the server.

Can You Play Diablo 4 with airGPU?

If you own the PC version of Diablo 4 on Battle.net and have a subscription to the airGPU cloud gaming service, you can play Diablo 4 with airGPU although the performance will depend on your internet connection and latency from the server.