How many FPS does Cities: Skylines get on the MacBook Air M1? 1080p, 1440p and 4K performance
44FPS
1080p High
Estimate
27
1440p
14
4K
About 44 FPS at 1080p on High: Cities: Skylines runs through Rosetta 2 on the MacBook Air M1 (Apple M1, 7-core GPU, 8 GB). It is playable, with little headroom. For 60 FPS, use 1080p Low (about 62 FPS).
Data reviewed October 1, 2026 · how we calculate it
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Cities: Skylines FPS on MacBook Air M1 by resolution and quality
Estimate| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 62FPS | 53FPS | 44FPS | 37FPS |
| 1440p | 39FPS | 33FPS | 27FPS | 23FPS |
| 4K | 20FPS | 17FPS | 14FPS | 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
≈ 62 FPS
For 30 FPS
1440p · Medium
≈ 33 FPS
Moving to 1440p High puts the MacBook Air M1 at about 27 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 MacBook Air M1 enough for Cities: Skylines?
Just about: 44 FPS at 1080p High is playable but has no headroom. Dropping to Medium steadies it.
Playable · 1440p 27 FPS · 4K 14 FPS
MacBook Air M1 or MacBook Neo for Cities: Skylines?
In Cities: Skylines at 1080p High, the MacBook Air M1 gets 44 FPS and the MacBook Neo 46 FPS: 5% more.
MacBook Air M1 specs
- Chip
- Apple M1
- GPU cores
- 7 / 8
- Unified memory
- 8 / 16 GB
- Cooling
- Fanless
- Geekbench Metal
- 29,497
- Tier
- Entry level · 8/100
Other Macs with the M1 chip
The Apple M1 also powers the MacBook Pro M1, the Mac mini M1, and the iMac M1. In Cities: Skylines, the Mac mini M1 gets 53 FPS at 1080p High, 20% more than the MacBook Air M1, mainly because its fan keeps clocks up under load.
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 | 44FPS | 27FPS |
| 16 GB | 44FPS | 27FPS |
Other Macs for Cities: Skylines
1080p · High
MacBook Pro M1
M1 · 8 GPU
52FPSView analysis
iMac M1
M1 · 7/8 GPU
46FPSView 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 MacBook Air M1
- Hitman World of Assassination30FPS
- Lies of P38FPS
- GRID Legends37FPS
- Rise of the Tomb Raider34FPS
- Civilization VI44FPS
- Civilization VII38FPS
- Crusader Kings III44FPS
- Divinity: Original Sin 244FPS
- Final Fantasy XIV44FPS
- Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous44FPS
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 MacBook Air M1 run Cities: Skylines?
Yes. With 8 GB we estimate 44 FPS at 1080p High.
Can Cities: Skylines hit 60 FPS on the MacBook Air M1?
Yes: at 1080p Low it runs around 62 FPS.
Does the MacBook Air M1 throttle in Cities: Skylines?
The MacBook Air M1 has no fan. In long sessions it lowers clocks to manage heat, and our figures already account for that sustained loss, around 5% in a game this demanding.
What about 1440p and 4K?
On High, the MacBook Air M1 gets about 27 FPS at 1440p and about 14 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.