Mac gaming just leveled up – Steam finally runs natively on Apple silicon

• The latest Steam beta runs natively on Apple silicon
• Apple is retiring the Rosetta 2 compatibility layer
• Games should run more smoothly and more efficiently

Following WWDC 2025, we've had a flurry of Apple announcements this week, including the news that macOS Tahoe 26 will be the last version to support Intel Macs – and right on cue, Steam has finally delivered a version of its client that runs natively on Apple silicon.

Check in on the release notes for the latest Steam Client Beta (via PC Gamer), and you'll see the all-important news that "Steam Client and Steam Helper apps now run natively on Apple silicon" included in the update details.

Up until now, Steam for macOS has always been coded for x86 Intel chipsets, rather than the ARM chips developed by Apple itself – which has meant that on M-series Macs, the client has worked through the Rosetta ...