Valve has made a new Steam Client Beta that works right on Apple Silicon chips. The firm told everyone on the Steam Community page that both the main Steam app and its extra part are now native. This should make Steam work much faster on new Macs since it doesn't need Apple's Rosetta 2 software anymore.
This step is not just for speed; it's also to get ready for the future. Apple said at WWDC 25 that Rosetta 2 will mostly go away after macOS 27. With macOS Tahoe being the last update for Macs with Intel chips, app makers need to build versions for Apple Silicon if they want their apps to run well on Macs.
Apple will keep some of Rosetta going for old games that don't get updates, but most programs made for Intel chips will stop working if they don't support Apple Silicon soon.
This new native Steam client is a good update. It should make using Steam and starting games smoother. Also, this is the only version of Steam made for Arm-based chips that everyone can get. But, it's key to know this won't make games only for Windows work on your Mac. You will still need other tools for x86 Windows games.
Even so, this change is a move to make Apple gadgets better for playing games. Apple wants to be bigger in gaming, but the small amount of games and the high cost of Macs are problems for many players, even with the strong Apple Silicon.
Losing Rosetta 2 might be hard for some, but it pushes developers to really use Apple Silicon. It's been five years since the first M1 chip came out, and using old translation layers has meant the hardware couldn't use all its power.
If you want to try it, here’s how to update:
- Open the Steam app on your Mac.
- Go to Steam in the menu bar, pick Preferences…
- In the Settings window, go to the Interface part.
- Click the menu next to Client Beta Participation and pick Steam Beta Update.
- Steam will restart and get the new version (look for version 1749753892 or newer). To see if it's running as native, open Activity Monitor; the "Kind" column for Steam should now read "Apple."
