How many FPS does No Man's Sky get on the MacBook Air M4? 1080p, 1440p and 4K performance
52FPS
1080p High
Estimate
33
1440p
17
4K
About 52 FPS at 1080p on High: No Man's Sky runs natively on the MacBook Air M4 (Apple M4, 8-core GPU, 16 GB). It plays smoothly.
Data reviewed October 1, 2026 · how we calculate it
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No Man's Sky FPS on MacBook Air M4 by resolution and quality
Estimate| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1080p | 73FPS | 63FPS | 52FPS | 43FPS |
| 1440p | 46FPS | 40FPS | 33FPS | 27FPS |
| 4K | 24FPS | 20FPS | 17FPS | 14FPS |
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 · Medium
≈ 63 FPS
For 30 FPS
1440p · High
≈ 33 FPS
Moving to 1440p High puts the MacBook Air M4 at about 33 FPS. MetalFX renders at a lower resolution and upscales, so it is the cheapest way to play at the display’s native resolution.
Performance with MetalFX
MetalFX renders No Man's Sky 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 | 52FPS | 65FPS | 77FPS | 87FPS |
| 1440p | 33FPS | 40FPS | 49FPS | 55FPS |
| 4K | 17FPS | 21FPS | 25FPS | 29FPS |
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 M4 enough for No Man's Sky?
Yes: 52 FPS at 1080p High is smooth. At 1440p it drops to 33 FPS, where MetalFX is worth turning on.
Smooth · 1440p 33 FPS · 4K 17 FPS
MacBook Air M4 or MacBook Pro M4 for No Man's Sky?
In No Man's Sky at 1080p High, the MacBook Air M4 gets 52 FPS and the MacBook Pro M4 70 FPS: 35% more.
MacBook Air M4 specs
- Chip
- Apple M4
- GPU cores
- 8 / 10
- Unified memory
- 16 / 24 / 32 GB
- Cooling
- Fanless
- Geekbench Metal
- 49,002
- Tier
- Entry level · 13/100
Other Macs with the M4 chip
The Apple M4 also powers the MacBook Pro M4, the Mac mini M4, and the iMac M4. In No Man's Sky, the Mac mini M4 gets 72 FPS at 1080p High, 38% more than the MacBook Air M4, 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. No Man's Sky asks for 8 GB minimum.
| Memory | 1080p High | 1440p High |
|---|---|---|
| 16 GB | 52FPS | 33FPS |
| 24 GB | 52FPS | 33FPS |
| 32 GB | 52FPS | 33FPS |
Other Macs for No Man's Sky
1080p · High
MacBook Neo
A18 Pro · 5 GPU
30FPSView analysis
MacBook Pro M4
M4 · 10 GPU
70FPSView analysis
Mac mini M4
M4 · 10 GPU
72FPSView analysis
iMac M4
M4 · 8/10 GPU
58FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M4 Pro
M4 Pro · 16/20 GPU
111FPSView analysisMac mini M4 Pro
M4 Pro · 16/20 GPU
113FPSView analysisMacBook Air M5
M5 · 8/10 GPU
71FPSView analysisMacBook Pro M5
M5 · 10 GPU
95FPSView analysis
Shopping for an all-round gaming Mac? Mac ranking by real FPS →
Other games on the MacBook Air M4
- Death Stranding Director's Cut48FPS
- Hitman World of Assassination52FPS
- Lies of P70FPS
- Metro Exodus40FPS
- Resident Evil 435FPS
- Resident Evil Village36FPS
- Frostpunk 252FPS
- GRID Legends67FPS
- Resident Evil 252FPS
- Resident Evil 340FPS
Official Mac requirements
- Minimum
- Any Mac with Apple silicon, including MacBook Air · macOS Ventura or later (Metal 3)
Source: www.nomanssky.com
FAQ
Can the 16 GB MacBook Air M4 run No Man's Sky?
Yes. With 16 GB we estimate 52 FPS at 1080p High.
Can No Man's Sky hit 60 FPS on the MacBook Air M4?
Yes: at 1080p Medium it runs around 63 FPS.
Does the MacBook Air M4 throttle in No Man's Sky?
The MacBook Air M4 has no fan. In long sessions it lowers clocks to manage heat, and our figures already account for that sustained loss, around 10% in a game this demanding.
What about 1440p and 4K?
On High, the MacBook Air M4 gets about 33 FPS at 1440p and about 17 FPS at 4K in No Man's Sky. 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 No Man's Sky native on Apple Silicon?
Yes, it has a native Apple Silicon version, available on Steam. No CrossOver, Parallels or Game Porting Toolkit needed.