How many FPS does Death Stranding Director's Cut get on the iMac M3? 1080p, 1440p and 4K performance
44FPS
1080p High
Estimate
28
1440p
14
4K
About 44 FPS at 1080p on High: Death Stranding Director's Cut runs natively on the iMac M3 (Apple M3, 8-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
Death Stranding Director's Cut FPS on iMac M3 by resolution and quality
Estimate| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 62FPS | 53FPS | 44FPS | 37FPS |
| 1440p | 39FPS | 33FPS | 28FPS | 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 iMac M3 at about 28 FPS. MetalFX renders at a lower resolution and upscales, so it is the cheapest way to play at the display’s native resolution.
Full guide to boost Death Stranding Director's Cut FPS on Mac →
Performance with MetalFX
MetalFX renders Death Stranding Director's Cut at a lower internal resolution and reconstructs the image: you gain FPS for a little sharpness. Figures on High with 8 GB.
| Resolution | Native | Quality | Balanced | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 44FPS | 55FPS | 66FPS | 74FPS |
| 1440p | 28FPS | 34FPS | 41FPS | 47FPS |
| 4K | 14FPS | 18FPS | 21FPS | 24FPS |
All figures are without ray tracing. The real MetalFX gain varies by game and version.
The MacGameFPS verdict
Calibrated on real Mac benchmarks, not spec sheets
Is the iMac M3 enough for Death Stranding Director's Cut?
Just about: 44 FPS at 1080p High is playable but has no headroom. Dropping to Medium or turning on MetalFX steadies it.
Playable · 1440p 28 FPS · 4K 14 FPS
iMac M3 or MacBook Air M4 for Death Stranding Director's Cut?
In Death Stranding Director's Cut at 1080p High, the iMac M3 gets 44 FPS and the MacBook Air M4 48 FPS: 9% more.
iMac M3 specs
- Chip
- Apple M3
- GPU cores
- 8 / 10
- Unified memory
- 8 / 16 / 24 GB
- Cooling
- Fan
- Geekbench Metal
- 41,753
- Tier
- Entry level · 11/100
Other Macs with the M3 chip
The Apple M3 also powers the MacBook Air M3 and the MacBook Pro M3. In Death Stranding Director's Cut, the MacBook Pro M3 gets 53 FPS at 1080p High, 20% more than the iMac M3.
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. Death Stranding Director's Cut asks for 8 GB minimum.
| Memory | 1080p High | 1440p High |
|---|---|---|
| 8 GB | 44FPS | 28FPS |
| 16 GB | 47FPS | 29FPS |
| 24 GB | 47FPS | 29FPS |
Other Macs for Death Stranding Director's Cut
1080p · High
MacBook Air M3
M3 · 8/10 GPU
38FPSView analysis
MacBook Pro M3
M3 · 10 GPU
53FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M3 Pro
M3 Pro · 14/18 GPU
74FPSView analysis
MacBook Neo
A18 Pro · 5 GPU
27FPSView analysisMacBook Air M4
M4 · 8/10 GPU
48FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M4
M4 · 10 GPU
67FPSView analysis
Mac mini M4
M4 · 10 GPU
69FPSView analysisiMac M4
M4 · 8/10 GPU
56FPSView analysis
Death Stranding Director's Cut on every Mac →
Shopping for an all-round gaming Mac? Mac ranking by real FPS →
Other games on the iMac M3
- Hitman World of Assassination51FPS
- Lies of P65FPS
- Metro Exodus39FPS
- Resident Evil 433FPS
- Resident Evil Village33FPS
- Frostpunk 247FPS
- GRID Legends60FPS
- No Man's Sky47FPS
- Resident Evil 247FPS
- Resident Evil 336FPS
Official Mac requirements
- Minimum
- Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) · macOS 13.3 or later
Source: support.505games.com
FAQ
Can the 8 GB iMac M3 run Death Stranding Director's Cut?
Yes. With 8 GB we estimate 44 FPS at 1080p High.
Can Death Stranding Director's Cut hit 60 FPS on the iMac M3?
Yes: at 1080p Low it runs around 62 FPS.
What about 1440p and 4K?
On High, the iMac M3 gets about 28 FPS at 1440p and about 14 FPS at 4K in Death Stranding Director's Cut. These are native figures: MetalFX raises both noticeably.
Do these figures include MetalFX or ray tracing?
No. The headline figure is native resolution, no MetalFX and no ray tracing. The table below shows MetalFX turned on. Ray tracing, where a game offers it, costs a lot of FPS on any Mac.
Is Death Stranding Director's Cut native on Apple Silicon?
Yes, it has a native Apple Silicon version, available on Mac App Store. No CrossOver, Parallels or Game Porting Toolkit needed.