Minecraft Bedrock on macOS (Minecraft for iOS but on macOS)

WilliamhelleOff · May 23, 2025

Hi, I wanted to ask this to Microsoft/Xbox but it redirects me on this website instead of choosing a staff or a mail support, anyway here's the issue.

Minecraft Bedrock as long as we know is based on C or mostly, compared to Minecraft Java which is on java, the Bedrock edition run better than Java edition, it's a whole rebuild from scratch of Minecraft Java to run it smoothly on newer devices and support mobile devices and others like the Xbox, Playstation, or the Switch.

The current situation is that practically all devices can run Minecraft Bedrock, the name doesn't matter, it's the build version and way they build the app for different platforms which we care the most here.

As an example this game and many other Xbox games aren't compatible with Linux and Macs, but since Valve does a pretty good job with Proton and Wine to make theses game works better than their original version on Linux and macOS (before Apple kills OpenGL support and 32libs) it works better than the official and native release on Windows OSes, even if it's not native to Linux or macOS the game run better, smoother and faster than Windows does due to their optimization on these OS but it's not even native to those, which mean if the dev work to build a native Linux version of it, it could be great right ? The answer is Mostly Yes, and a bit of no, because as we saw on multiples platforms is the dev don't know the way to do it correctly or doesn't care about the optimization (like Fortnite as example in 2018, it was a mess for Windows XP but since they had a little bit of optimization in it, it runs well on Windows XP, lmao) so doing a native version on Linux and macOS doesn't seem as simple as some says, it's complicated to make it work if the dev don't use software like Unreal Engine or Unity, GoDot, else ...

In newer Engines they can cross platform building because the dev under those Engine worked to make the support on each device.

Anyway, the issue here is Minecraft Bedrock that isn't on macOS, nowadays it's absurd, Minecraft PE launcher (the community software used on linux and macOS to install and play the Android version of Minecraft work well, even if openGL is going out of Minecraft, it still work).
But even better, on my search for running MCPE on macOS (the Apple Silicon based one) we've got an open-source app called PlayCover which mimics the iPadOS/iOS device to run ipa files under macOS without any concern about the performance or compatibility, why ?
Because Apple worked to make iPadOS/iOS apps for the App Store (ipa files) work on macOS natively.

(Geek info, if you don't understand ask for more info, if not it's okay)
Every apps on the store are made of this : an ipa file which is the whole app for iOS/iPadOS devices, inside the ipa file we got some folders, and inside one there's and .app file.
On macOS, every apps we install are .app file which is placed under the Application folder. Inside those we can see the binary file (build in the architecture of the Mac) mostly inside a folder called MacOS, it's what linux does, running binary compiled apps, isn't it beautiful that macOS and linux fonction the same way ?

So .ipa files contain .app files that contains compiled files for their architecture, and Apple Silicon based Mac can run iOS/iPadOS App cause there on the same architecture (in this case arm64/aarch64 on macOs, iPadOS, iOS) so they share the same process to run an app, and that's why in newer Mac (not intel based) we can install directly from and outside the Apple App Store iOS/iPadOS apps. (macOS apps would technically work on iOS/iPadOS but need to be patch to match the way that iOS/iPadOS handle the app window content)

So Minecraft for iOS/iPadOS have to follow the same rules as other, and it does, but there's no way to install it from your Mac for the moment because the Devs of this app choose to not check the form for "Also Available on macOS", some users on GitHub reported that even with that, they managed to install and run the game natively using a ipa of the Minecraft for iOS app, then using PlayCover to use a Decrypted ipa file and play the game the same way as it does if it was on the official Apple App Store. No patch/fix, no hard task, just a simple open ./Minecraft.app inside a Terminal or a double clic in finder to open the app, or using Spotlight to open the app.

Xbox fix that to make the game instantly crash on startup on macOS device, it worked a bit on PlayCover but same, Xbox killed that.

Those people proved that the not only the game run natively on Apple Silicon based Mac, but also improve performance, and start faster, create and join world faster and is Fully compatible with (touchscreen, gamepad, and Keyboard and mouse using PlayCover).
The game Fully work on macOS but they decided that this game don't. Why ? Probably to force people to install Windows and play on it because it's "Simpler to build an app on Windows and debug it, it's more stable and great performing", "We're not going to make a macOS port of the game, [...] it's not profitable to make an application on a platform where there's nobody else than professionals", ... There's plenty of those, "We cannot, because ..." and they all false, they totally can allow macOS install from the Apple App Store, it's not even the fault of the Store with some kind of licences or other. They just don't want you to play the game you've played on a supported device.

In the App Store, when an app isn't validate to run on Mac, it allows you to install, run, and test it anyway, some other prefer to not doing a bit of support because they don't have keyboard support in game, but for Minecraft, the Keyboard and mouse is totally supported on iPadOS/iOS and even on macOS when the app worked natively or partially natively using PlayCover.

So please Xbox, Mojang, Microsoft, we paid your game to play and spend money on your Minecraft Store thing, it's 50/50, you enable macOS support through the Apple App Store, we play the game and you make free more money, it's not because you'll enable the way to play it on Mac device, but it's because you don't ever need to do another version of the game, you just need to enable 1 thing in the App Store, easy as hell. We play, you gain money.

:)

Janet_C

Hello!

Hope you are well. I'll be glad to assist you.

I understand your point perfectly, your suggestion is completely valid, it would be enough for the developer to check the availability option for macOS in the App Store, no need to redo the app or offer additional dedicated support. Keep in mind that this is a public forum and those who participate in it are other gamers, this kind of suggestions should be reported directly to the game developers at the following link:

https://feedback.minecraft.net/hc/en-us

Hopefully this request will be considered by the development team.

Thanks again for your input, we hope that in the future Mojang will reconsider this option.

Best regards.

ngocphi

Then run the optimized version not a emulated version

Yes proton does make some games compatible but its meant for steamdeck NOT m series cpu

The steam deck still uses x86 cpus as it's using an AMD proccessor

The m1 is only better in certain cases not all

Should.be noted that there is a bedrock on Mac os you just need the buy the MAC os version not the xbox version from.the app store

How.developers make their games is their business not yours

You can choose to buy a compatible system or not

You will.find a lot of games Wont.run on Mac os as it's a smaller market it's still.less then 21% of the overall pc market

Not exactly the good market conditions for developers to make.native games

WilliamhelleOff

Hi ngocphi, as for both os (Linux, Chrome OS, macOS) the "Linux Minecraft Launcher" is the only unofficial way to play Minecraft PE (Android) on those device.

For the linux version, someone said on reddit long time ago, that he get "Minecraft for PC Edition"/"Minecraft for Windows" working through a custom setup of WineXProton with custom fixes but wasn't able to start a game or contact Xbox Game server to play on online world, he used the UWP version of the store, decompressed it, fix some file and run it using something like 'wine ./UWP-Minecraft/bin/minecraft.exe' or something similar.

For the macOS Version, there's also no official release of the game on the Mac, the only official release was to extract from a jailbroken iPhone/iPad or unJailbroken iPhone/iPad using Apple Configurator 2 and some script from GitHub to force Copy the file to other folder while it's downloading, and yes that wasn't easy as it seams.
Then you place this ipa in the Sideloading app (from GitHub), connect to your Apple Account to partially sign the app, then it does what it does, run the game and play.
But this doesn't work now as the dev of Minecraft PE for iOS/iPadOS version is now made to quit when launching on a Mac.
Same as Linux we need to use "Linux Minecraft Launcher" it gives you a warning that openGl will be deprecated in the Launcher and in the game, but for the moment it works fine.
Surely the "Linux Minecraft Launcher" works on Intel based Mac, but it still doesn't is the official way to play Mcpe on a Mac or Linux.

I talked about Proton before, but proton is only available on Linux and old Macs (Intel Macs) because Apple decided to kill lib32 and OpenGL, so every games on Mac run with a freking old driver made in 2018 or something similar, but they work well so no need to fix them for the moment.
The MCPE for iOS/iPadOS game works on aarch64/arm64 devices on iPhone/iPad and previously on macOS when the ipa wasn't patch to force quit the app at launch on a non iPhone/iPad device.

The hardware doesn't care for Minecraft Bedrock Edition, the game itself is already build for macOS, iOS/iPadOS/macOS are now a derivative to their main OS, there all the same inside, same way to start/build/update apps, it uses mostly the same GPU/CPU/RAM/DISK call for every app, and as for the M1/2/3/4 Macbook and iPad, there on the same hardware. Also iPadOS run 100% on a Mac, the only thing that cannot be done on a Mac is fixes for the screen input which are only available using the mouse, but people that we're able to test the MCPE on Mac using the ipa, where totally able to play the game using a mouse and a keyboard, a controller is native to the macOS system as well as iPhone and iPad and work the same, what does the game on a Mac ? It does work just as the iPad, iPhone does with a gamepad, it simply work like a charm.

Anyway, according to the Documentation of "Linux Minecraft Launcher" the launcher check if it run in a Flatpak container (only on Linux as I remember), then check the system hardware, kernel, and other info like free ram and free disk space, then it launches the launcher ui "minecraft-ui-qt" and the user choose between each version to install and play, there are many of it from the play store, and that's where it choses to install a specific or latest version of the game. It mostly is x86-64 but this work on (armv7, armv8, and x86 architecture can use the launcher and version of the game) but the thing is we need to brought the game using a Google Play account (or own it):
Source : https://github.com/minecraft-linux/appimage-builder/releases | It's now an archive also

You need to own Minecraft on the google play store and login with your google account to use this launcher
Only Systems with OpenGL ES 3.0 GPU's e.g. intel integrated GPU first sold in 2012 (those from 2011 might work as well) or later can run versions after Minecraft 1.20.15
Only Systems with OpenGL ES 3.1 GPU's can continue using the GPU after March 2025

I personally use this one, but at your risk if you try so : https://github.com/minecraft-linux/mcpelauncher-manifest
Same here :
Warning

Once the new OpenGL ES 3.1 system requirement for "Vibrant Visuals" aka "Deferred Technical Preview" of 31. March 2025 no longer allow the game to start using classic "Fancy" Graphics on OpenGL ES 3.0 the macOS port Minecraft updates are going to be on hold

Here is why I'm interested if they ever allow macOS to run MCPE directly from the Apple App Store and because it's super easy for them to just allow it to run, Mac and iPhone/iPad share the same way to interact from the system, to the app, to the user. Only the way the user can access the app/folder/file are changed

Anyway, have a nice day and same as below, apologize for the first post, I was a bit angry of what I think about the whole thing and about Windows, I'll never going back to Windows, 7 to almost 8 years I past on Linux instead of Windows and it was so much better than a system that ask you if you're super duper sure to delete a file/folder.
Bye & Cia

WilliamhelleOff

Hello, thanks for your answer, I already done that but I was frustrated and angry bit angry about the whole story and else so I maybe add more in it.

I apologize for this, but this is totally possible, the game run fine using "Linux Minecraft Launcher" but run much better using the ipa on macOS.

At this time, PlayCover and the native solution of sideloading the ipa file Minecraft to the Mac doesn't work anymore, they fix it (for the bad)

The only way to install unofficially, but the most stable way to run it is through the "Linux Minecraft Launcher" this is the same for Linux on every architecture (not only aarch64 or amd64/x86-64 architecture).

I also heard about Mojang that considering to do a macOS native app but not sure they ever do it because as ngocphi said, only 21 % of a market isn't really profitable.
The thing that is profitable is that they doesn't have to do the hard work, the whole game is done, up and running, they might have to code an extras code to disable touchscreen by default and auto grab the Controller (Gamepad) or Keyboard&Mouse input for the game as it does on the "for PC Edition"/"for Windows Edition". But mostly a setting in the Apple App Store to change.

Have all a nice day

yuneisy ruiz

I want minecraft bedrock but i have a macos

Minecraft Bedrock on macOS (Minecraft for iOS but on macOS)