Apple has just made a pivotal move: John Ternus, the company’s hardware chief, has been announced as Apple’s next CEO. This is a big shakeup for a company that’s spent years pivoting toward services, but Ternus—closely associated with the era that brought the Mac’s transition to Apple silicon—could be the kind of leader who nudges Mac gaming forward. Let’s be clear: Apple isn’t about to dethrone PlayStation or Xbox. This isn’t a dramatic pivot into hardcore gaming. It isn’t going to be developing huge games, or running the latest Call of Duty at max settings. Instead, it’s about the fact that the Mac’s current foundation has been built during Ternus’ time leading hardware engineering—and that foundation could be a game-changer, even if we keep expectations firmly in check.

I’ve been using a Mac for the last couple of years—it’s become my go-to for writing, my day-to-day tasks, and all the work that demands a reliable, smooth machine. And for all that, I love it. But when it comes to gaming, it falls flat. I always end up back on my Windows machine, where compatibility is a given, performance is a known quantity, and I don’t have to second-guess every title. It’s not like I can’t game on on my Mac a little, but it kind of feels like trying to make a toaster run Doom. Doable? Sure! Kinda cool? Yes. A bit fucking stupid? Also yes.

That’s the gap Apple’s been trying—slowly, cautiously—to close. Over the last few years, we’ve seen a marked increase in big games supporting Mac. It’s not like every new major title is supporting Apple’s platform, but its trending upward.

During the period in which Ternus has led hardware engineering, that shift has started to take shape. When Apple moved the Mac to its own silicon—starting with the M1 chip—it wasn’t just a quiet efficiency bump. Apple silicon gave Macs a genuine uplift in GPU capability. Suddenly, you had systems capable of serious graphical workloads. Not gaming rigs, not in the traditional sense, but machines that at least make the conversation possible.

That doesn’t mean Ternus alone drove every part of that transition. But he’s been a key figure during the period where the Mac has become significantly more capable—and crucially, more viable as a platform that could support gaming in a meaningful way.

Apple’s recent gaming moves don’t feel random anymore. The Apple Games app is a start, even if it’s still a bit clunky. Then there’s the Game Porting Toolkit, now in its third iteration, which—while not a silver bullet—is a clear attempt to reduce the friction of bringing games to macOS. And Metal 4 continues to push Apple’s graphics API forward, slowly closing the gap between what Macs can do and what modern games expect.

Individually, none of these are game-changing. Together, they look like groundwork. A foundation. Hope.

And that’s where Ternus’ position starts to matter. He’s not coming in to “fix” gaming overnight, but he is stepping into the CEO role at a time when the Mac is more capable than it’s ever been, and when Apple is, quietly, putting the pieces in place. If Apple keeps trundling along in the direction it is already headed, Ternus’ history make him a prime candidate to nudge that direction a tiny bit more toward games, even if by accident.

I can’t stress this enough: this doesn’t guarantee a Mac gaming revolution. Apple still prioritises iPhone and iPad, and it’s not about to abandon that golden goose. Nor is it suddenly going to go head-to-head with Sony or Microsoft in the traditional gaming space.

But if the Mac does become a more credible gaming platform—maybe not a titan, but something you can actually recommend without caveats—it will be because of this steady, hardware-led evolution. And with someone like John Ternus now steering the wider company, there’s at least a reasonable argument that this direction doesn’t stall out.

Really, the hope is that we could open up Steam on a Mac and see a lot more games boasting macOS support. That’s the dream, right up there with my other dream: calorie free cakes that taste like the real thing. And let’s be honest, of those two dreams, the Mac one has the biggest chance of actually happening.

It’s not a revolution. It’s not even a guarantee. It’s just speculation and cope and a fair bit of hope.