How many FPS does Death Stranding Director's Cut get on the MacBook Air M5? 1080p, 1440p and 4K performance
65FPS
1080p High
Estimate
41
1440p
21
4K
About 65 FPS at 1080p on High: Death Stranding Director's Cut runs natively on the MacBook Air M5 (Apple M5, 8-core GPU, 16 GB). It has headroom to spare, so you can raise resolution or quality.
Data reviewed October 1, 2026 · how we calculate it
Death Stranding Director's Cut FPS on MacBook Air M5 by resolution and quality
Estimate| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 89FPS | 78FPS | 65FPS | 54FPS |
| 1440p | 57FPS | 50FPS | 41FPS | 34FPS |
| 4K | 30FPS | 26FPS | 21FPS | 18FPS |
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
≈ 65 FPS
For 30 FPS
1440p · Ultra
≈ 34 FPS
Moving to 1440p High puts the MacBook Air M5 at about 41 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 16 GB.
| Resolution | Native | Quality | Balanced | Performance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 65FPS | 80FPS | 94FPS | 104FPS |
| 1440p | 41FPS | 51FPS | 61FPS | 69FPS |
| 4K | 21FPS | 26FPS | 32FPS | 36FPS |
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 MacBook Air M5 enough for Death Stranding Director's Cut?
Yes, comfortably: 65 FPS at 1080p High. You can move to 1440p (41 FPS) or your display’s native resolution.
Excellent · 1440p 41 FPS · 4K 21 FPS
MacBook Air M5 or MacBook Pro M5 for Death Stranding Director's Cut?
In Death Stranding Director's Cut at 1080p High, the MacBook Air M5 gets 65 FPS and the MacBook Pro M5 89 FPS: 37% more.
MacBook Air M5 specs
- Chip
- Apple M5
- GPU cores
- 8 / 10
- Unified memory
- 16 / 24 / 32 GB
- Cooling
- Fanless
- Geekbench Metal
- 65,377
- Tier
- Mid range · 18/100
Other Macs with the M5 chip
The Apple M5 also powers the MacBook Pro M5. In Death Stranding Director's Cut, the MacBook Pro M5 gets 89 FPS at 1080p High, 37% more than the MacBook Air M5, 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. Death Stranding Director's Cut asks for 8 GB minimum.
| Memory | 1080p High | 1440p High |
|---|---|---|
| 16 GB | 65FPS | 41FPS |
| 24 GB | 65FPS | 41FPS |
| 32 GB | 65FPS | 41FPS |
Other Macs for Death Stranding Director's Cut
1080p · High
MacBook Pro M5
M5 · 10 GPU
89FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M5 Pro
M5 Pro · 16/20 GPU
120FPSView analysis
Mac mini M5 Pro
M5 Pro · 16/20 GPU
123FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M5 Max
M5 Max · 32/40 GPU
140FPSView analysis
Mac Studio M5 Max
M5 Max · 32/40 GPU
141FPSView analysisMac mini M6
M6 · 12 GPU
105FPSView analysis
MacBook Neo
A18 Pro · 5 GPU
27FPSView analysisMacBook Air M4
M4 · 8/10 GPU
48FPSView 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 MacBook Air M5
- Baldur's Gate 335FPS
- Control Ultimate Edition34FPS
- Hitman World of Assassination71FPS
- Lies of P93FPS
- Metro Exodus54FPS
- Resident Evil 449FPS
- Resident Evil Village49FPS
- Total War: PHARAOH31FPS
- Frostpunk 271FPS
- GRID Legends90FPS
Official Mac requirements
- Minimum
- Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or later) · macOS 13.3 or later
Source: support.505games.com
FAQ
Can the 16 GB MacBook Air M5 run Death Stranding Director's Cut?
Yes. With 16 GB we estimate 65 FPS at 1080p High.
Can Death Stranding Director's Cut hit 60 FPS on the MacBook Air M5?
Yes: at 1080p High it runs around 65 FPS.
Does the MacBook Air M5 throttle in Death Stranding Director's Cut?
The MacBook Air M5 has no fan. In long sessions it lowers clocks to manage heat, and our figures already account for that sustained loss, around 15% in a game this demanding.
What about 1440p and 4K?
On High, the MacBook Air M5 gets about 41 FPS at 1440p and about 21 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.