Steam now has a native app on Apple Silicon Macs with the latest beta

Steam is finally going native on Apple Silicon Macs, at least in beta. Valve has quietly rolled out a Universal version of the client, spotted by 9to5Mac, and it’s a big deal for Mac gamers who’ve been waiting years for this moment.

Until now, Steam has only run through Rosetta 2 on Apple’s M-series chips. That meant slower performance, clunky scrolling, and a general feeling that the app wasn’t built for the hardware it ran on. But with Rosetta’s days numbered, Valve is getting ahead of the cutoff.

The latest beta transforms Steam into a proper Universal app, optimized for both Intel and Apple Silicon. The difference is immediate. Launch times are faster, UI navigation feels snappier, and pages like the Store and Community tabs are finally smooth.

That’s largely thanks to Valve updating the Chromium Embedded Framework—previously Intel-only—to run natively on Apple Silicon. That change alone clears out one of the biggest performance bottlenecks in the app.

For anyone who’s been frustrated by sluggish tab switches or the sluggish Library view, this beta is worth checking out. To try it, head to Steam > Settings > Interface and opt into the “Steam Beta Update” from the dropdown.

After a quick 230MB download and a restart, you’ll be running the Apple-native version. You can double-check via Activity Monitor—Steam should now show up as “Kind: Apple.” While it’s still in testing, this update finally makes Steam feel like it belongs on modern Macs.