Valve has made two big changes to Steam, and both are worth paying attention to. First, Steam now runs natively on Apple Silicon Macs. Second, Steam has added new accessibility filters that make it easier for everyone to find games they can enjoy.
Let’s talk about both updates.
Until now, Steam ran on Apple Silicon using Rosetta. That worked fine, but there was always a bit of performance loss. With this update, Steam finally runs natively on Macs with M1, M2, and M3 chips. The client and the Steam Helper apps are now optimized for Arm, meaning faster load times and better battery life.
This comes at the right time. Apple just confirmed that it will end support for Rosetta in the next few macOS versions. That means if an app does not run natively on Apple Silicon, it might stop working in the future. Valve clearly understands this and has made the move early.
More and more games on Steam now support Apple Silicon, too. Games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Baldur’s Gate 3, Farming Simulator 25, No Man’s Sky, and Prodeus already run well on the latest Macs. Even Cyberpunk 2077 is expected to get an Apple Silicon version soon.
Also see: Can I Run It?
It is good to see game studios and platforms finally taking Mac gaming seriously.
Steam is also making it easier for gamers with disabilities to find playable titles. A new set of accessibility filters has been added to the store, and they are pretty detailed.
You can now filter games based on:
- Customizable text size
- Colorblind modes
- Descriptive audio and text-to-speech
- Whether it works with only a keyboard or only a mouse
- No timed button presses
- Stereo/surround sound options
- Adjustable difficulty
- Save-anytime features
This might not matter to everyone, but for many gamers, these filters make a huge difference. Over 5,000 games now show accessibility info right on the store page, just below the controller support section. That is a smart move, and I hope more developers start using these tags. Accessibility in games is not just about adding a feature; it is about making sure more people can enjoy gaming comfortably and equally.
It is easy to overlook things like performance optimization or accessibility features. But these are the kind of improvements that make a platform better for everyone.
Steam becoming Apple Silicon-native is not just about speed—it is about future-proofing. Accessibility filters are not just features; they are about inclusivity.
Valve still has more work to do. But this update shows they are heading in the right direction.
