How many FPS does Cities: Skylines get on the iMac M1? 1080p, 1440p and 4K performance
46FPS
1080p High
Estimate
29
1440p
15
4K
About 46 FPS at 1080p on High: Cities: Skylines runs through Rosetta 2 on the iMac M1 (Apple M1, 7-core GPU, 8 GB). It plays smoothly.
Data reviewed October 1, 2026 · how we calculate it
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Cities: Skylines FPS on iMac M1 by resolution and quality
Estimate| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 65FPS | 56FPS | 46FPS | 39FPS |
| 1440p | 41FPS | 35FPS | 29FPS | 24FPS |
| 4K | 21FPS | 18FPS | 15FPS | 12FPS |
Estimated average in normal gameplay with the game and macOS up to date. Green: 60+ · lime: 45+ · amber: 30+ · orange: 20+ · red: under 20.
Recommended settings
For 60 FPS
1080p · Low
≈ 65 FPS
For 30 FPS
1440p · Medium
≈ 35 FPS
Moving to 1440p High puts the iMac M1 at about 29 FPS. This game has no MetalFX, so resolution is the setting that matters most.
The MacGameFPS verdict
Calibrated on real Mac benchmarks, not spec sheets
Is the iMac M1 enough for Cities: Skylines?
Yes: 46 FPS at 1080p High is smooth. At 1440p it drops to 29 FPS.
Smooth · 1440p 29 FPS · 4K 15 FPS
iMac M1 or MacBook Neo for Cities: Skylines?
In Cities: Skylines at 1080p High, the iMac M1 gets 46 FPS and the MacBook Neo 46 FPS: 0% more.
iMac M1 specs
- Chip
- Apple M1
- GPU cores
- 7 / 8
- Unified memory
- 8 / 16 GB
- Cooling
- Fan
- Geekbench Metal
- 29,497
- Tier
- Entry level · 8/100
Other Macs with the M1 chip
The Apple M1 also powers the MacBook Air M1, the MacBook Pro M1, and the Mac mini M1. In Cities: Skylines, the Mac mini M1 gets 53 FPS at 1080p High, 15% more than the iMac M1.
How much memory do you need?
On Apple Silicon the GPU shares memory with the system, so the RAM you picked when buying the Mac is also your video memory. Cities: Skylines asks for 6 GB minimum.
| Memory | 1080p High | 1440p High |
|---|---|---|
| 8 GB | 46FPS | 29FPS |
| 16 GB | 46FPS | 29FPS |
Other Macs for Cities: Skylines
1080p · High
MacBook Pro M1
M1 · 8 GPU
52FPSView analysis
MacBook Air M1
M1 · 7/8 GPU
44FPSView analysis
Mac mini M1
M1 · 8 GPU
53FPSView analysis
MacBook Pro M1 Pro
M1 Pro · 14/16 GPU
96FPSView analysis
MacBook Air M2
M2 · 8/10 GPU
61FPSView analysisMac mini M2
M2 · 10 GPU
79FPSView analysis
Mac Studio M1 Max
M1 Max · 24/32 GPU
149FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M2
M2 · 10 GPU
78FPSView analysis
Cities: Skylines on every Mac →
Shopping for an all-round gaming Mac? Mac ranking by real FPS →
Other games on the iMac M1
- Death Stranding Director's Cut30FPS
- Hitman World of Assassination35FPS
- Lies of P45FPS
- Frostpunk 232FPS
- GRID Legends41FPS
- No Man's Sky32FPS
- Resident Evil 232FPS
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard32FPS
- Rise of the Tomb Raider38FPS
- XCOM 232FPS
Official Mac requirements
- Minimum
- OS X 10.11 · Intel Core 2 Duo 3.0 GHz · 6 GB memory · 512 MB dedicated GPU · 4 GB storage · Intel build, runs on Apple silicon through Rosetta 2
- Recommended
- OS X 10.11 · Intel Core i5-3470 · 8 GB memory · 2 GB dedicated GPU
Source: store.steampowered.com
FAQ
Can the 8 GB iMac M1 run Cities: Skylines?
Yes. With 8 GB we estimate 46 FPS at 1080p High.
Can Cities: Skylines hit 60 FPS on the iMac M1?
Yes: at 1080p Low it runs around 65 FPS.
What about 1440p and 4K?
On High, the iMac M1 gets about 29 FPS at 1440p and about 15 FPS at 4K in Cities: Skylines. These are native figures.
Do these figures include MetalFX or ray tracing?
No. The headline figure is native resolution, no MetalFX and no ray tracing. Cities: Skylines has no MetalFX on Mac. Ray tracing, where a game offers it, costs a lot of FPS on any Mac.
Is Cities: Skylines native on Apple Silicon?
Not quite: it has an official macOS version, but built for Intel. On Apple Silicon it runs through Rosetta 2, built into macOS, with nothing else to install. Our figures already include that overhead.