I remember the thread on Macrumors arguing almost these exact same points and some members on there trying to argue against it. (I was not the progenitor of that thread, another user put it forward and in fact he an I disagreed with each other on a different topic, but I completely agreed with him on this one). EDIT: I should state that I don't think anything is foregone conclusion, we have a long way to go, but signs are finally pointing up for Mac gaming. There's certainly potential here.
Andrew Tsai makes a similar argument in his latest video.
Even though Steam technically has Intel Macs
slightly above 50%, if percentage growth holds, then Apple Silicon has surpassed Intel Mac market share right about now. This is a huge boon for developers, because all Apple Silicon Macs are capable gaming machines, no more shit Intel iGPUs, and they have a much more common hardware base to target. Metal 3 also seems to be highly regarding by those who have extensively studied it.
@Cmaier's statement above that:
Apple sees gaming as very important, and they are going to keep banging away on it from every angle, including the content side, until they gain traction.
...is also a factor in my outlook on the Mac's future potential as a gaming platform.
By all accounts, Resident Evil Village has been well-received, and has remained the number one game sold on the Mac App Store since it was released.
RE Village is targeted toward a more hardcore audience, so it's encouraging to see it coming in ahead of titles like the Sims or Civ. Mac gamers have a reputation for being a casual audience, even though I think that is an unfair comparison. Intel's integrated graphics never supported much beyond simple titles.
Also, while AMD has been getting a lot of positive tech press for the "they're listening to gamers!" presentation, I think it shows how warped perceptions have become. The 7900 XTX only looks good next to their competitor. Since when did a $1,000 graphics card become a bargain? When did 355w become an achievement? Keep in mind that the Mac Studio with an M1 Ultra
maxes out at 215w, and that's for the entire computer.
So yeah, anything could happen, but I don't see these crazy wattages as being sustainable, housed inside those gigantic anime-themed cases. Macs aren't budget computers, but a $1,000 graphics card isn't something to be applauded. It wasn't that long ago that higher end cards were around $300, now those are budget cards, and not all of this can be blamed on inflation. I'm sure Apple will increase prices, as well, but nothing as crazy as what many of the PC companies have been pushing.