Wizards of the Coast revealed today that Magic: the Gathering Arena will be coming to MacOS “by the end of summer.”
Update version 0.17 for Magic: The Gathering Arena dropped yesterday, Thursday, July 25 and offered a massive set of patch notes for all of the changes and additions. These changes include the usual bug fixes, the start of the Plane-cation limited time event, and the expected store changes. MTG Arena is officially coming to Mac, soon! First MTG Arena will be put on the Epic Games store, then shortly after, it will be coming to Mac. Their goal is to get Arena into everyone's hand, is.
A MacOS version of MTG Arena was first announced last year and was scheduled to come “shorty after” the game was released on the Epic Games Store in January. After few months of waiting, we now know that Wizards is “targeting delivery [on MacOS] somewhere around summer of this year,” according to Principal Game Designer Jay Parker.
Don’t miss our coverage of today’s other announcements: MTG Arena is still coming to mobile in 2020 while eight-player draft pods are coming to the game with Ikoria.
The Transition to 64-Bit
Wizards said that the delayed Mac release is due to their ongoing transition to a 64-bit game client. Apple’s latest operating system, MacOS Catalina, released last year and ended support for legacy 32-bit applications. Wizards is currently transitioning its Windows client to a 64-bit architecture and, since they want to support the newest version of MacOS (which only allows 64-bit applications), they need to complete that transition before releasing MTG Arena’s Mac version.
MTG Arena’s 64-bit client will debut with the June 2020 game update, at which point the current 32-bit client will be retired. Wizards is working with Skybox Labs, a development studio based in Vancouver, BC, to complete the 64-bit Mac client “with the plan to release a macOS client by the end of summer.”
Magic Has Never Been on MacOS
Since the release of Magic: the Gathering Online (neé Magic Online with Digital Objects) on PC in June 2002, one of the biggest community complaints about Magic’s digital form was that it was only available on PC—not on Mac. That trend continued when MTG Arena was announced in 2017 as PC-only to start.
But a few months later, in an interview with Hipsters of the Coast, Wizards CEO Chris Cocks said that they were intended to bring MTG Arena to Mac eventually. “We will support other platforms like Mac,” Cocks said. “[T]hat likely won’t be until either the later stages of the Beta or around when we declare it as a launch game, but Mac will be a platform that supported as well as all the other platforms you would expect us to do.”
It took a bit longer than expected—around a year after launch, if the current schedule holds—but Magic will be making its debut on Mac and mobile in 2020.
You sit before your old laptop and try to play some MTG Arena. After a game or two, Arena starts to lag. You close the game. You open it again. Wouldn’t it be nicer to just play for an hour or two – without restarting?
Well it might be time for a new laptop. We have picked the best Laptop for MTG Arena at a very reasonable price. Enjoy Magic the Gathering with zero lag.
MTG Arena System Requirements
Here are official MTG Arena computer requirements. If your computer doesn’t reach recommended ones, that’s the reason for your lag issues.
Minimum Requirements | Recommend Requirements | |
---|---|---|
Processor | AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5600+ or similar | Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 @ 2.50GHz or similar |
Graphics Card | GeForce GTX 8800 or similar | GeForce GTX 560 or similiar |
RAM | 2 GB | 4 GB |
Operating System | Windows 7 | Windows 10 |
Key Attributes
The two most important attributes for a laptop or PC for MTGA are:
- Performance
- Screen Size
Preformance
Although Arena doesn’t seem too complex of a game, there are plenty of complaints about memory issues. Because of that Arena doesn’t necessarily run smoothly even though your computer meets recommended requirements.
For that reason it’s probably a good idea to aim above those requirements. We took this into consideration when picking the best laptops.
Screen Size
If you played lots of MTGA you probably know that the battlefield can get pretty messy at times. Occasionally both players will have lots of creatures. It can be hard to handle combat on a small screen.
That’s why we took screen size into account – while still recommending laptops that are not big to carry around.
Best Laptop for MTG Arena
MSI GF63 Thin – Best Budget Laptop for MTG Arena
Recommend Requirements | MSI GF63 Thin Specs | |
---|---|---|
Processor | Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 @ 2.50GHz or similar | Intel Core i5-8300H 2.3 - 4.0GHz |
Graphics Card | GeForce GTX 560 or similiar | NVIDIA GeForce GTX1650 [Max-Q] 4G GDDR5 |
RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB |
Operating System | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
There were reports of lags on MTG Arena. But that’s not to worry with this bad boy. As you can see in the table, it surpasses all recommended requirements for MTG Arena. Therefore making your games run very smoothly without the need to restart the game every hour.
MSI’s GF63 is a great high preforming laptop for gaming and yet reasonably priced. Even if you enjoy more graphics-heavy games, GF63 will hold its own.
With its black housing, sharp edges, bright red highlights and keyboard its espacially great for all Rakdos players. It’s also pretty light weighting only 4.1 pounds (1.9 kg).
- great budget option
- 7+ hours battery life
- 15.6 inch screen
Lenovo Legion Y740 – Best Laptop for MTG Arena with Big Screen
If you want a laptop that will enable you to run not only MTGA, but also every other game imaginable, here’s one for you. Legion Y740 is one of the preforming laptops even for triple A-games at the highest settings.
Download Magic Arena Client
So if you want to play anything on your laptop, this one seems like a best choice. Just look at those specs.
Recommend Requirements | Lenovo Y740 Specs | |
---|---|---|
Processor | Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 @ 2.50GHz or similar | Intel Core i7-8750H |
Graphics Card | GeForce GTX 560 or similiar | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q |
RAM | 4 GB | 16 GB |
Operating System | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
Best PC for MTG Arena
If you’re looking for a PC to play MTGA on, we have a couple of great recommendations for you.
Magic Arena Mac
CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme – Best Budget PC for Arena
If you like Magic, you like value. The CyberpowerPC is packed with it! It has great parts, that would somehow cost you more if you bought them separately.
You’ll also get a mouse and a keyboard included together, so the only thing you’ll need is a monitor. It’s truly one of the best buys for under thousand dollars – you can check its price on Amazon.
Recommend Requirements | CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme Specs | |
---|---|---|
Processor | Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 @ 2.50GHz or similar | ntel Core i5-9400F 2. 9GHz 6-Core |
Graphics Card | GeForce GTX 560 or similiar | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB |
RAM | 4 GB | 8 GB |
Operating System | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
If you want to play other games with higher PC requirements, CyberpowerPC will manage it. It’s also liquid cooled, which will enable overclocking it.
Corsair One i164 – Best Gaming PC for Arena
Do you want to get a computer that will hold its own for 10 years or more? Corsair One i164 is one of the best out there. It will probably remain near the top for quite some time.
It’s not cheap. That’s for sure. But the price doesn’t lie. It will run Arena better than you current computer runs a calculator. Any other game you can possibly imagine will run incredibly smoothly on this machine. If you want the absolute best on the market, this is a right choice for you.
Recommend Requirements | Corsair One i164 Specs | |
---|---|---|
Processor | Intel Core2 Quad Q9300 @ 2.50GHz or similar | Intel Core i9-9900K |
Graphics Card | GeForce GTX 560 or similiar | Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti |
RAM | 4 GB | 32 GB |
Operating System | Windows 10 | Windows 10 |
Best Monitor for MTG Arena
As you know the battlefield can get clogged up quite quickly – especially if you’re playing a deck with lots of permanents. That’s why you should really pay attention to the size of the size monitor. Take a look at these two beauties.
ViewSonic XG2402 – Best Budget Monitor for MTG Arena
ViewSonic XG2402 has a couple of things going for it. Its 24 inch screen is big enough even for a very full battlefield and its price is a real steal. It has a resolution of 1920 x 1080 which is still passable for a 24 inch screen.
So if you want a display that’s both big enough and affordable, no need to look for anything else.
ASUS ROG PG279Q – Best Gaming Monitor for MTG Arena
Maybe even 24 inches doesn’t leave you satisfied. If that’s the case – Asus has an answer. ROG PG27DQ really excels with its 27 inches.
ASUS Eye Care Technology will provide the comfort for long nights of playing MTG Arena. It won’t protect you from seeing your worst matchups but your eyes will still be thankful.
It has a resolution of 2560 x 1440, which is great. Bigger resolution is very important on a big screen like this one.
Logging Off
When you’ll be playing Arena on your new device, don’t forget to check MTG Arena Codes for free packs and cosmetics. You can also check more gaming monitors here.
Hopefully we helped you picked a right computer for you. Happy gaming on Arena and may you only draw lands when you need ’em.