If you’re a Mac user who’s spent hours scrolling Twitch watching pro LoL plays or begging your Windows friends to join your ARAM queue, you’ve probably wondered at least once: is League of Legends for Mac? I switched from a Windows gaming PC to a MacBook Pro for work three years ago, and I spent the first two months convinced I’d have to give up my ranked climb entirely. I tried half a dozen janky workarounds before I found out there’s a simple, official solution. This guide breaks down everything you need to know to play LoL on Mac, from installation steps to fixing the most annoying performance hiccups that only Apple users face.
Is League of Legends for Mac Officially Supported?
The short answer is yes, and it has been for far longer than most people realize. Riot Games has offered full native support for LoL on Mac since 2013, so you don’t have to mess with third-party emulators, Boot Camp partitions, or modified clients to get the game running. It’s not a janky, unoptimized port either — Riot pushes regular updates for the Mac client at the exact same time as Windows updates, so you’ll never be locked out of playing on patch day.
All Intel Macs released after 2016 and every Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3) device is officially supported. Even base model M1 MacBook Airs can run the game at a steady 60fps on medium settings, and higher-end M2 or M3 Pro models can hit 144fps if you connect to a high-refresh external monitor. Cross-play is fully enabled too, so you can queue with all your friends on Windows without any restrictions, and all your account progress, skins, and ranked rank carry over seamlessly if you switch from a Windows PC to Mac.
The only minor catch is that Riot’s other popular competitive title, Valorant, still doesn’t have Mac support, but that doesn’t impact LoL play at all. If LoL is your main game, you’re fully covered.
Step-by-Step Guide to Installing LoL on Your Mac
Installing LoL on Mac is almost identical to installing it on Windows, with just a couple of small Mac-specific quirks to watch out for. First, Always download the installer directly from Riot’s official site to avoid malware or modified clients that can get your account banned. Third-party download sites often bundle extra software with the installer, and modified clients can trigger Riot’s anti-cheat system and lead to a permanent account suspension.
Once you have the installer downloaded, open the .dmg file and drag the Riot Client icon to your Applications folder, just like you would with any other Mac app. Open the Riot Client from your Applications folder, log in with your existing Riot account, or make a new one if you’re a first-time player. Select League of Legends from the list of available games, click install, and wait for the files to download. The full install is around 16GB as of recent updates, so make sure you have enough free space on your hard drive before you start.
If you get a “cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified” error when you first launch the Riot Client, don’t panic. That’s just a standard MacOS security feature for apps downloaded outside the App Store. Just open System Settings > Privacy & Security, scroll down to the Security section, and click “Open Anyway” to grant permission. The client will launch normally after that, and you won’t see the error again.
How to Fix Common LoL on Mac Performance Issues
Even with native support, you might run into small performance issues, especially after big game patches or if you’re running an older Mac. Most of these issues have simple fixes you can implement in a couple of minutes, no technical expertise required. I’ve tested all of these fixes myself over the past three years, and they solve 99% of the common problems Mac LoL players face.
- Close unused background apps, especially cloud sync tools like Google Drive or Dropbox, which eat up RAM and CPU while you’re playing. Even leaving a dozen Chrome tabs open can drop your frame rate by 10-15fps during team fights.
- Turn off Full Screen Optimization in the LoL settings menu, as this feature often causes frame drops on MacOS for unknown reasons. Switching to regular full screen mode boosted my average frame rate from 45 to 72 on my M1 MacBook Air during my first ranked test session.
- Update your MacOS to the latest stable version, as outdated system software often has compatibility bugs with newer LoL patches. Riot regularly optimizes the client for the latest MacOS releases, so running an older version can cause unnecessary crashes or lag.
- Lower your shadow quality first if you need to boost frame rates: this setting has the biggest performance impact on Macs with integrated graphics, and you barely notice the visual difference during fast-paced team fights.
If you still run into constant crashes after trying these fixes, try deleting the Riot Client cache folder in your Library > Application Support folder, then re-launch the client to re-download any corrupted files. If you’re playing on a MacBook without a cooling pad, you might also experience thermal throttling during long ranked sessions, so propping it up on a stand to improve airflow can make a huge difference. Never use third-party FPS boosters or “Mac optimization” tools for LoL, as most of these are either useless or contain malware that can compromise your Riot account.
Pros and Cons of Playing League of Legends on Mac
LoL on Mac works perfectly for most players, but it’s not the right fit for everyone, depending on how you play the game. Weigh these pros and cons before you decide if you want to invest time into playing on your Mac, or if you’d be better off sticking to a Windows PC.
The biggest pros are convenience and accessibility. You don’t have to pay for extra software, set up a Boot Camp partition, or carry a second gaming laptop around if you already use your Mac for work or school. The client runs natively, so you can install it in 10 minutes and jump straight into a game. The anti-cheat system is identical to the Windows version, so you don’t have to worry about more hackers or getting wrongfully banned for using an unofficial client. For casual players or people who only play a couple of games a night after work, it’s perfect.
The main cons are limited peripheral support and slightly lower peak performance for competitive players. Some niche gaming mice or keyboards don’t have full customization software for Mac, so you might not be able to map all your extra buttons to in-game commands. High refresh rate support on external monitors is also spotty for some older Intel Mac models, so you might not get 144fps even if your monitor supports it. If you’re a competitive player aiming for Challenger rank, you might still prefer a Windows gaming PC for more consistent frame rates and wider peripheral support. I’ve climbed from Bronze to Platinum on my M2 MacBook Pro without any major issues, so it’s more than capable for 90% of players.
At the end of the day, if you were asking yourself is League of Legends for Mac, the answer is a resounding yes for almost all players. You don’t have to jump through hoops to get it running, it’s fully supported by Riot, and it performs well on almost all modern Apple devices. If you run into issues, the fixes we covered above will solve almost every common problem, so you can get back to climbing ranked or playing ARAMs with your friends in no time. Don’t let anyone tell you you need a fancy Windows PC to enjoy LoL — your Mac is more than enough for most use cases.