If you’re a Mac user who’s been scrolling through TikTok and Twitch clips of wild League of Legends team fights, you’ve probably wondered is League of Legends on Mac, and if it’s worth even trying to install on your device. A lot of Mac gamers get stuck assuming popular online games don’t support their OS, or that they’ll be stuck with unplayable lag even if they do get it running. I’ve tested LoL on three different Mac models over the past four years, from a 2019 Intel MacBook Air to a 2023 M2 Pro MacBook, so I can walk you through exactly what works, what doesn’t, and how to avoid the most frustrating mistakes most new Mac LoL players make. I’ve lost count of how many times my friends who only use Macs have texted me asking if they can join our weekly LoL customs, so I put this guide together to cover every question you might have.
Is League of Legends on Mac Supported Officially by Riot?
The short answer is yes, Riot Games has offered full native support for League of Legends on Mac for years, so you don’t have to rely on clunky third-party emulators or workarounds to play. Before 2021, the Mac version ran on a Wine wrapper that translated Windows code for Mac devices, leading to frequent crashes and low frame rates, but that’s no longer the case. The current native client is built to work with both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, and it gets the same regular updates and patches as the Windows version. You don’t need to pay for any third party tools or emulators to run the game, and all official regions support the native Mac build.
The minimum system requirements are far lower than most players expect. For Apple Silicon devices, any M1 chip or newer will run the game perfectly fine even on default high settings. For Intel Macs, you’ll need at least a 2.5GHz i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 16GB of free storage to run the game smoothly on medium settings. Older Intel Macs from before 2017 might struggle to hit consistent 60 FPS, but they can still run the game if you turn down graphics settings. The native Mac client supports every game mode, including ranked, ARAM, and Clash, so you won’t miss out on any content available to Windows players.
Step-by-Step to Install League of Legends on Your Mac
Installing LoL on Mac is far simpler than it was even a few years ago, and you don’t need any technical know-how to get it right. I’ve helped three friends install it on their MacBooks in the past six months, and none of them ran into major issues as long as they followed these steps:
- Head to the official Riot Games download page, select League of Legends, and choose the Mac download option (it will automatically detect your OS most of the time, but double-check to avoid downloading the Windows .exe file by mistake)
- Open the downloaded .dmg file, drag the Riot Client icon to your Applications folder, and launch it from there (don’t launch it from the .dmg window, that’s one of the most common mistakes new users make)
- Log in with your Riot account, select your region, and wait for the game to finish installing – this can take 30 to 90 minutes depending on your internet speed, so don’t close the client mid-download
- Run the first launch test: Play a quick ARAM game to check for frame drops, audio issues, or input lag, so you can fix any problems before jumping into ranked play
If you’ve been wondering is League of Legends on Mac worth the effort, this simple installation process should answer that question for you. The whole process takes less than two hours for most users, and you don’t have to mess with any system settings to get it running initially. Make sure you have at least 20GB of free storage before installing, because regular game updates can take up an extra 2 to 4GB every few weeks. If you have a lot of other apps running in the background during installation, you might get a corrupted file, so close out of Photoshop, streaming apps, or other large programs while you wait.
Common Performance Issues for Mac LoL Players (and How to Fix Them)
Even with native support, you might run into small issues if you’re playing on an older Mac or a device with limited RAM. I’ve dealt with almost every possible bug over the years, so these fixes work for 90% of common problems. Most of these issues are easy to fix, so you don’t have to worry that is League of Legends on Mac means you’re stuck with unplayable performance.
The most common complaint is sudden frame drops after a new patch. This happens because the client often resets to high graphics settings after updates, even on lower-end M1 models. You can fix this by turning off shadow quality, setting character quality to medium, and turning off anti-aliasing – you won’t notice much of a visual difference, but you’ll jump from 40 FPS to 80+ FPS on most M1 and M2 MacBooks. If you’re dealing with input lag, where your clicks or ability presses are registering half a second late, that’s usually because you have “reduce motion” turned on in your Mac’s accessibility settings, or you’re running the game on a second monitor with a low refresh rate. Turn off reduce motion in System Settings > Accessibility > Display, and play on your Mac’s built-in screen if you’re using an older external monitor that doesn’t support 60Hz.
If the client crashes on launch, this almost always happens if you have an outdated MacOS version, or if you have a third party antivirus app that’s blocking the Riot Client from accessing your storage. Update your MacOS to at least Ventura 13.0, and add the Riot Client to your antivirus’s allowed list to fix this. If you’re playing on a fanless MacBook Air, you might get thermal throttling after 2 to 3 hours of play, so using a cheap laptop cooling pad can keep your framerate consistent during long Clash tournaments.
Is It Better to Play LoL on Mac via Boot Camp or Native Client?
A lot of long-time Mac gamers still swear by using Boot Camp to run Windows for gaming, but for League of Legends, that’s almost never necessary anymore. Boot Camp lets you partition your hard drive to run Windows natively on Intel Macs, which used to be the only way to get decent performance for most games, but that’s no longer true for LoL.
Let’s break down the pros and cons of both options to help you decide. The native client requires no hard drive partitioning, lets you switch between LoL and other Mac apps instantly, has no extra cost for a Windows license, and takes far less storage space. The only downside is that on very old Intel Macs (pre-2018), you might get 10 to 15 FPS lower than you would on Boot Camp. Boot Camp offers slightly better performance on older Intel devices, and lets you run other Windows-only games if you want to, but it requires you to partition at least 60GB of your hard drive for Windows, forces you to restart your device to switch between operating systems, and requires a paid Windows license to access all features. It’s also not supported at all on Apple Silicon Macs, so M1 and newer users can’t use this option even if they want to.
For 95% of Mac users, the native client is the better choice, especially if you have an Apple Silicon M1 or newer device. I used to run LoL on Boot Camp on my 2019 Intel MacBook, and I switched to the native client two years ago – I barely noticed a difference in FPS, and I save so much time not having to restart my laptop every time I want to play a quick game with friends.
At the end of the day, you don’t have to switch to a Windows PC just to play your favorite MOBA, and is League of Legends on Mac is a question with a clear, positive answer for almost all modern Mac users. As long as you follow the installation steps correctly, adjust your graphics settings for your device, and fix any small performance issues as they pop up, you can have just as smooth an experience as any Windows player. Whether you’re climbing the ranked ladder for the first time or just playing ARAM with friends after work, LoL on Mac is more than playable – it’s often just as good as the Windows version. Don’t let old myths about Mac gaming stop you from jumping in.