Guess what! They did it. This is out in 1.83. Per Zwift Insider:
If you’re a macOS user, you may notice an upgrade in your graphics experience. The higher “Ultra” graphics profile is now enabled for devices with the following chips: Apple M4 (all versions), M3 Max, M3 Pro, M2 Ultra, M2 Max, M2 Pro, M1 Ultra, M1 Max, M1 Pro. The “High” graphics profile is now enabled for devices with the following chips: Apple M3, M2, M1.
And I sure noticed. I was Zwifting through Makuri Islands yesterday after updating and literally went “wow the reflections of the lights on the wet road sure are beautiful!” Little did I know they really had gone and fixed this for us. And to be totally sure, yes, this was in my Zwift log:
Yep, happy to see macOS users with M4 and/or Pro+ processors finally get access to Ultra settings!
But important to note that all iPadOS, iOS, and Android users, including those with M4 processors, remain locked to Basic, 30fps, and reduced resolutions. Evan (Zwift) acknowledged in the update thread that these devices are not included in the update, but suggested they are being worked on.
They didn’t say they it was being worked on, they said they were looking at it……..
About 6 months ago they said the new M4 IPad was getting the ultra graphics update. They then released a graphical update that was so bad, no one even noticed it had happened. Zwift have never had any interest in updating the graphics on IPads or Apple TV. They just pretend they are going to do it so you don’t cancel your subscription.
At least for PC, the 60fps is usually the monitor limit and users limit to prevent the Gpu working something you cannot see. If your monitor is faster, by all means, run the limit.
Look in display settings. If something above 60Hz is available, try it. Or ProMotion if it’s an Apple display that supports it. Most likely you have a 60Hz display. 120Hz+ are available for not much money these days.
well, I picked up an M4 MBP for various reasons, and it runs Ultra profile really solidly, barely any variation, avg 60-70 and up to 85ish in places, not heard fans yet or felt much heat at all, old M1 MBA would get quite hot of course.
I was running Road to Sky route today on my base spec M4 pro Mac mini with Ultra settings and 4K screen resolution. I also increased the scenery density and the FPS stayed locked at 60fps no matter what.
I keep trying to figure out why M series iPads still don’t have the same graphic power of the M series computers. I previously speculated about maybe it being a dedicated power issue but I wonder if it’s an iOS thing.
I don’t buy the conspiracy theories that Zwift hates iPads and will never allow the iPad to be on high or ultra settings. That’s a stupid take. Zwift sells an app. They’re not going to deliberately make their app worse on arguably the most used device for the app because of some vendetta for the iPad.
There has to be another reason for the limitation. If hardware is basically identical, I wonder if it’s an OS thing.
