How many FPS does Cities: Skylines get on the MacBook Air M2? 1080p, 1440p and 4K performance
61FPS
1080p High
Estimate
38
1440p
20
4K
About 61 FPS at 1080p on High: Cities: Skylines runs through Rosetta 2 on the MacBook Air M2 (Apple M2, 8-core GPU, 8 GB). It has headroom to spare, so you can raise resolution or quality.
Data reviewed October 1, 2026 · how we calculate it
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Cities: Skylines FPS on MacBook Air M2 by resolution and quality
Estimate| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 85FPS | 73FPS | 61FPS | 50FPS |
| 1440p | 53FPS | 46FPS | 38FPS | 32FPS |
| 4K | 27FPS | 24FPS | 20FPS | 16FPS |
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 · High
≈ 61 FPS
For 30 FPS
1440p · Ultra
≈ 32 FPS
Moving to 1440p High puts the MacBook Air M2 at about 38 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 M2 enough for Cities: Skylines?
Yes, comfortably: 61 FPS at 1080p High. You can move to 1440p (38 FPS) or your display’s native resolution.
Excellent · 1440p 38 FPS · 4K 20 FPS
MacBook Air M2 or MacBook Air M3 for Cities: Skylines?
In Cities: Skylines at 1080p High, the MacBook Air M2 gets 61 FPS and the MacBook Air M3 65 FPS: 7% more.
MacBook Air M2 specs
- Chip
- Apple M2
- GPU cores
- 8 / 10
- Unified memory
- 8 / 16 / 24 GB
- Cooling
- Fanless
- Geekbench Metal
- 39,429
- Tier
- Entry level · 11/100
Other Macs with the M2 chip
The Apple M2 also powers the MacBook Pro M2 and the Mac mini M2. In Cities: Skylines, the Mac mini M2 gets 79 FPS at 1080p High, 30% more than the MacBook Air M2, 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 | 61FPS | 38FPS |
| 16 GB | 61FPS | 38FPS |
| 24 GB | 61FPS | 38FPS |
Other Macs for Cities: Skylines
1080p · High
Mac mini M2
M2 · 10 GPU
79FPSView analysis
MacBook Pro M2
M2 · 10 GPU
78FPSView analysisMac mini M2 Pro
M2 Pro · 16/19 GPU
119FPSView analysis
MacBook Pro M2 Pro
M2 Pro · 16/19 GPU
118FPSView analysisMacBook Air M3
M3 · 8/10 GPU
65FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M1
M1 · 8 GPU
52FPSView analysis
MacBook Air M1
M1 · 7/8 GPU
44FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M2 Max
M2 Max · 30/38 GPU
163FPSView analysis
Cities: Skylines on every Mac →
Shopping for an all-round gaming Mac? Mac ranking by real FPS →
Other games on the MacBook Air M2
- Death Stranding Director's Cut35FPS
- Hitman World of Assassination41FPS
- Lies of P52FPS
- Metro Exodus31FPS
- Frostpunk 240FPS
- GRID Legends51FPS
- No Man's Sky40FPS
- Resident Evil 240FPS
- Resident Evil 330FPS
- Resident Evil 7 biohazard40FPS
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 M2 run Cities: Skylines?
Yes. With 8 GB we estimate 61 FPS at 1080p High.
Can Cities: Skylines hit 60 FPS on the MacBook Air M2?
Yes: at 1080p High it runs around 61 FPS.
Does the MacBook Air M2 throttle in Cities: Skylines?
The MacBook Air M2 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 M2 gets about 38 FPS at 1440p and about 20 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.