Valve Drops Mac Support for SteamVR Less Than Three Years After WWDC 2017 Announcement

Valve on Thursday announced that SteamVR no longer supports macOS so that its team "can focus on Windows and Linux."

valve steamvr mac
As noted by UploadVR, Mac users will still be able to use SteamVR by running Windows with virtualization software like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion. Valve says legacy builds of the virtual reality platform will also remain accessible on the Mac by right-clicking on SteamVR in Steam and selecting Properties > Betas.

Apple software engineering chief Craig Federighi announced that SteamVR was coming to the Mac at WWDC 2017, but a recent Valve survey indicated that more than 95 percent of Steam users are running Windows or Linux.

Multiple reports have indicated that Apple plans to release a combination AR/VR headset by 2021 or 2022, followed by sleeker AR glasses by 2023.

Tags: SteamVR, Valve

Popular Stories

iPhone SE 4 Thumb 1

iPhone SE 4 With Apple's Own 5G Modem 'Confirmed' to Launch in March

Tuesday November 19, 2024 12:12 pm PST by
Barclays analyst Tom O'Malley and his colleagues recently traveled to Asia to meet with various electronics manufacturers and suppliers. In a research note this week, outlining key takeaways from the trip, the analysts said they have "confirmed" that a fourth-generation iPhone SE with an Apple-designed 5G modem is slated to launch towards the end of the first quarter next year. In line with previo...
airtag purple

AirTag 2 Rumored to Launch Next Year With These New Features

Sunday November 17, 2024 5:18 am PST by
Apple released the AirTag in April 2021, so it is now three over and a half years old. While the AirTag has not received any hardware updates since then, a new version of the item tracking accessory is rumored to be in development. Below, we recap rumors about a second-generation AirTag. Timing Apple is aiming to release a new AirTag in mid-2025, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman....
at t turbo indicator iphone 16 pro max v0 8hrh7w5f3w1e1

AT&T Turbo Indicator Showing Up in iPhone Status Bar for Subscribers

Wednesday November 20, 2024 3:42 am PST by
AT&T has begun displaying "Turbo" in the iPhone carrier label for customers subscribed to its premium network prioritization service, according to reports on Reddit. The new indicator seems to have started appearing after users updated to iOS 18.1.1, but that could be just coincidence. Image credit: Reddit user No_Highlight7476 The Turbo feature provides enhanced network performance through ...
Generic iOS 18 Feature Real Mock

Apple Releases iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 With Security Fixes

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:10 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1, minor updates to the iOS 18 and iPadOS 18 operating systems that debuted earlier in September. iOS 18.1.1 and iPadOS 18.1.1 come three weeks after the launch of iOS 18.1. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. Apple has also released iOS 17.7.2 for...
Magic Mouse Next to Keyboard

No, Apple CEO Tim Cook Didn't Say He Prefers Logitech's MX Master 3 Over the Magic Mouse

Sunday November 17, 2024 3:03 pm PST by
While the Logitech MX Master 3 is a terrific mouse for the Mac, reports claiming that Apple CEO Tim Cook prefers that mouse over the Magic Mouse are false. The Wall Street Journal last month published an interview with Cook, in which he said he uses every Apple product every day. Soon after, The Verge's Wes Davis attempted to replicate using every Apple product in a single day. During that...
iPhone 17 Slim Feature Single Camera 1 Redux

'iPhone 17 Air' Rumored to Surpass iPhone 6 as Thinnest iPhone Ever

Monday November 18, 2024 1:07 pm PST by
In a research note with Hong Kong-based investment bank Haitong today, obtained by MacRumors, Apple analyst Jeff Pu said he agrees with a recent rumor claiming that the so-called "iPhone 17 Air" will be around 6mm thick. "We agreed with the recent chatter of an 6mm thickness ultra-slim design of the iPhone 17 Slim model," he wrote. If that measurement proves to be accurate, there would be ...
bug security vulnerability issue fix larry

Make Sure to Update: iOS 18.1.1 and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 Fix Actively Exploited Vulnerabilities

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:52 am PST by
The iOS 18.1.1, iPadOS 18.1.1, and macOS Sequoia 15.1.1 updates that Apple released today address JavaScriptCore and WebKit vulnerabilities that Apple says have been actively exploited on some devices. With the JavaScriptCore vulnerability, processing maliciously crafted web content could lead to arbitrary code execution. The WebKit vulnerability had the same issue with maliciously crafted...
apple card feature2

Apple Card 3% Daily Cash Back Now Available From Two More Apple Partners

Tuesday November 19, 2024 10:36 am PST by
Apple has partnered with select merchants to offer Apple Card users three percent Daily Cash back on their purchases, and two new companies were added to the partner list today. When purchasing goods and services from Booking.com and ChargePoint, Apple Card users will now get more cash back. Booking.com is a site for reserving flights, cars, cruises, and hotels, while ChargePoint sells...

Top Rated Comments

DJC631 Avatar
60 months ago
Not a surprise since Apple's support for Mac gaming is non-existent.
Score: 71 Votes (Like | Disagree)
zorinlynx Avatar
60 months ago
This is not surprising at all. Apple has not been friendly to developers who want to write cross-platform, enduring code, doing things like deprecating OpenGL and 32-bit support and just in general constantly making it difficult for people to keep old code working. Hell, the rumors of transitioning to ARM suggests this is going to get even worse.

Meanwhile Windows can still run binaries from 20 years ago without much issue. Windows is the gold standard for keeping code working for a long time, second only to IBM zSeries (mainframes).

As much as I love MacOS, I hate that Apple has zero respect for old software. I built a gaming machine not too long ago and no longer give a hoot about gaming on MacOS.
Score: 67 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Stella Avatar
60 months ago
Not surprised, only a tiny fraction of Mac machines have the GPU required to use VR.

Also, given the fact that Mac user base is small compared to PCs... it's not worth while for Valve.

No serious gamer really uses a Mac for games, they use Windows PCs, and Consoles.
Score: 32 Votes (Like | Disagree)
LuciusMalfoy Avatar
60 months ago

It is only a question or market share, Macs can be great for gaming. OS is super stable, Metal is pretty fast. Toxic comment like yours are another reason.
Toxic? It's not toxic when it's a valid criticism. I want gaming on Mac to thrive. Apple has done little on their end to bring this to reality. MacOS may be ready for prime time, but lets be real the hardware side is very lacking to take advantage of that.
Score: 26 Votes (Like | Disagree)
utterer Avatar
60 months ago
They should have announced they were discontinuing support at the same time they were announcing support for it. Anyone who is involved with gaming at all knew any type of realistic VR solution on Mac was a pipe dream.

Apple is stubborn in their support for the standards needed for gaming. The big game devs aren't going to rewrite their entire graphics subsystems to Metal and all of the other Apple centric API's for some piece of a 5% market share (most of that 5% of Steam Mac users are laptop users which don't have the horsepower anyway). Apple doesn't have that kind of pull in the Computer gaming ecosystem. Mobile devices sure, but Apple has no ability to get a foothold in desktop / laptop gaming.

And Steam is the computer equivalent of ADHD. They focus on something for a year or two, release a half assed version of it and if it doesn't pull Half Life, Portal, or Team Fortress numbers they kill it off. Similar to what Google does.
Score: 21 Votes (Like | Disagree)
nt5672 Avatar
60 months ago
Yep, had to update recently and see no need to spend any more money on macOS or any other Apple stuff outside of the iPhone. Apple just does not get it anymore. At least not for me. Their services are terrible and can go away in a heartbeat, just like Apple's software.
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)