A lot of modern PC games and gaming initiatives are compatible across OSs- while Windows still has the monopoly on PC gaming, Mac and Linux have caught on as viable platforms for at least smaller game developers too. In such a scenario, and with Macs themselves being more popular now than they ever have been, you would think that creators of any new products would want to support all computers and users- not just those running Windows.
However, the upcoming Oculus Rift VR headset is a product that does not support Mac. And when he was asked about this, the founder the company and inventor of the headset, Palmer Luckey, said that the lack of Mac support comes from Apple not releasing the kinds of computers needed to run Oculus.
“That is up to Apple. If they ever release a good computer, we will do it,” Luckey told ShackNews.
That sounds very blunt, until you read his follow up quote.
“It just boils down to the fact that Apple doesn’t prioritize high-end GPUs,” he explained. “You can buy a $6,000 Mac Pro with the top-of-the-line AMD FirePro D700, and it still doesn’t match our recommended spec. So if they prioritize higher-end GPUs like they used to for a while back in the day, we’d love to support Mac. But right now, there’s just not a single machine out there that supports it.”
“Even if we can support it on the software side, there is just no audience of people that can run the vast majority of software out there.”
It’s a fair point- though of course, there is an additional factor to consider, in Apple reportedly preparing their own VR product. If they do, that will probably work with Mac computers- in which case Oculus will have no choice but to configure their product to work with Macs, or cede that entire segment of the market to a competitor.
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