The translation on ARM macs is actually strongly related to Valve because Rosetta 2 and the Game Porting Toolkit are based on the open-source Proton, which was developed by Valve. So, it’s not an Apple-exclusive technology; it’s closely tied to Valve. Valve could also collaborate with AMD or others to develop custom SoCs, similar to what Apple has done. I believe Valve has the ability and ambition to do the same thing, but even better than Apple. Because they have done it once with the Steam Deck.

That’s a backward compatibility issue, which means some games developed for x86, Windows, or DirectX just can’t be translated without glitches. This means not every game developed for x86, Windows, or DirectX can be translated well on ARM.

I said that ‘some games that are developed only for x86 or the DirectX API have performance issues’; I didn’t say ‘every game.’ I mean that games with native support or cross-platform support are certainly better than those developed only for DirectX, Windows, or x86.

For example, many games developed exclusively for Windows/DX can’t be played on SteamOS. So how can you be certain that games developed for x86, Windows, or by DirectX would be well supported on ARM?

And you mentioned Qualcomm. Fine, look at the Qualcomm X Elite SoC computers. Do they run x86, Windows, or DirectX software or games steadily, efficiently, and well? Do they have many glitches when running Windows and x86 software?

And the second example is Rosetta 2 for gaming on ARM-based Macs. You mentioned that some emulators running x86 games (on ARM) are inefficient.

That’s the point: emulation is not the same as translation.

Translation is generally more efficient than emulation and can sometimes even match or exceed the performance of native execution.

Which you said is a backward compatibility issue. Some games that are developed only for x86 or the DirectX API have performance issues, but other games that support cross-platform or cross-platform APIs like Vulkan do not have this problem.

An obvious example is the Nintendo Switch, which goes against your argument.

Because of backward compatibility, x86’s efficiency still can’t match ARM’s. That’s why I said games run on ARM would be more efficient, lighter, and smaller (when they natively support ARM).

If you have any doubts, just look at the Nintendo Switch.

Amazing! I hope I can buy a Linux on ARM Steam Deck someday. It should be more efficient and smaller.

1. I usually use my steam deck as my PC with a external monitor in desktop mode, but Cyberpunk 2077 has sound cracking issues in desktop mode.
2. When i unlock the steam deck in desktop mode, it still requires a password input, but it cant use the screen’s virtual keyboard, i have to use an external keyboard to do that.
3. The internet proxy settings in gaming mode still interrupt and conflict with the desktop settings.
4. The Steam Deck in gaming mode can’t use a system screenshot shortcut with the keyboard, so I have to switch to the Steam Deck’s joystick to take a screenshot when I’m using the keyboard.
5. The Steam Deck system update in desktop mode seems almost endless; I still get the notifications almost every time I log in.