Introduction

Control is an award-winning third-person action game from Remedy Entertainment, originally released in 2019 and now available on the Mac App Store. Recently, I started playing it on an M2 MacBook Air (16GB RAM / 500GB SSD), connected to a 28-inch Dell gaming monitor. My goal was to find the best balance between visuals and performance on Apple’s thin, fanless laptop.

Below are the different configurations I tried, what performance I saw in each, and the settings I ultimately settled on.

First Attempt: 1440p at Medium Settings

• Resolution: 1440p
• Render Resolution: 960p with MetalFX upscaling
• Graphics Preset: Medium
• Frame Rate Cap: 60

This setup looked promising, but performance was not playable. Even before gameplay began, frame rates dipped below 20 FPS. Clearly too demanding for the M2 Air.

Second Attempt: 1080p at Medium Settings

• Resolution: 1080p
• Render Resolution: 720p with MetalFX upscaling
• Graphics Preset: Medium
• Frame Rate Cap: 60

Lowering the resolution helped. Frame rates improved to around 45 FPS during exploration and low 40s during early combat. However, once larger fights began, performance dropped again into the 20s. Still not smooth enough for consistent play.

Final Attempt: 1080p at Low with 540p Render Resolution

• Resolution: 1080p
• Render Resolution: 540p with MetalFX upscaling
• Graphics Preset: Low
• Frame Rate Cap: 60

This configuration struck the best balance. Exploration generally held 60 FPS, while combat averaged around 40 FPS with only brief dips into the 20s. On a 28-inch monitor, the upscaled 540p looks soft, but the game remained smooth and playable. On the MacBook Air’s smaller built-in display, the image quality would likely be more than acceptable.

Conclusion

While Control is demanding, the M2 MacBook Air can handle it with the right tweaks. At 1080p, Low settings, and a 540p render resolution upscaled with MetalFX, gameplay was smooth enough to enjoy despite some visual compromises. Considering this is a fanless ultraportable, the results are impressive.

For Mac gamers curious about Control on the Air, expect to trade visual sharpness for stable performance — but it’s absolutely playable.