Geforce NOW launches native app for Apple M1 hardware

Nvidia has added support for Apple’s M1 chipsets to game streaming service Geforce NOW. This means that the application must run more efficiently and start up faster. However, a lower latency should not be expected.

Geforce NOW already worked on Apple systems equipped with M1 chipsets, but then the x86 variant of the application was translated on-the-fly by the Rosetta 2 translation layer and then executed by the system. This costs extra computing power, which translates into lower performance compared to a native application and an increased consumption of system resources. Improvements in this area have been made thanks to the update so to be expected, but the latency depends on factors other than just the system itself, so an improvement in this area is not expected.

Geforce NOW is a game streaming service. Players use a paid or free account, link their game libraries to it and play their games on Nvidia’s servers. Their input is sent to the servers and the video and audio come back. This makes it possible to play demanding games on modest hardware. Inherent drawbacks of these types of services are latency, which is especially a factor in fast-action games, and video compression artifacts. The service competes with Google Stadia, Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PlayStation Now.

Apple introduced its M1 soc in 2020, in that year’s new MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini. The soc proved fast and economical, but software makers need time to adapt their products to the switch from x86 systems to arm systems. For this generation, Apple used Intel CPUs in its macOS hardware.