The Medium — Mac download

Two worlds, one screen. The Medium splits your view between the real and the spirit world, both rendered at the same time.

Requirements and performance on Mac

The Medium runs natively on Apple silicon Macs and needs macOS 12.0 or later. Testing on a MacBook Air (M1, 2020) with macOS Sequoia shows the dual-reality rendering is demanding. Keep other apps closed. Lower the resolution if you see frame drops during split-screen sections.

Controls and what to expect

Standard third-person controls apply. Movement and interaction map to keyboard and mouse or a connected controller. The core mechanic has you controlling Marianne in both realities simultaneously. The spirit world actions often unlock paths in the real one. The Maw, the game's central monster, reacts to both. The soundtrack, co-composed by Akira Yamaoka and Arkadiusz Reikowski, drives the tension. Interface languages include English, Polish, Japanese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Simplified Chinese and Portuguese.

GPU throttling on a fanless MacBook Air

Dual-reality rendering pushes the GPU hard. On a MacBook Air the fanless design means occasional throttling.

• Stuttering during split-screen sections. Drop the resolution to 1600×900 and set shadows to Low. The spirit world is the heavier half — lowering it first helps.
• Black screen on launch. The game sometimes defaults to a resolution your display does not support. Hold Option while launching to force a safe mode window, then adjust settings.
• Controller not detected. Disconnect and reconnect before launching. The Medium reads controllers at startup, not mid-session. DualSense and Xbox Wireless both work over Bluetooth on Apple silicon.
• Audio crackling during cutscenes. This crops up when Bluetooth headphones share bandwidth with a controller. Switch to wired audio or use the built-in speakers for long sessions.

Swiping to a notes app without minimising

The Medium works in standard fullscreen and windowed modes. Mission Control and Spaces behave as expected, so you can swipe to a notes app for puzzle clues without minimising the game.

Screen recording via QuickTime Player or OBS captures the dual-reality view as one frame, no extra setup needed. Do not expect Retina-exclusive scaling tricks — the render pipeline is built for 16:9 resolutions.

If you use a capture card with an Apple silicon Mac, the game outputs clean HDMI over USB-C. The medium for mac free download fits neatly alongside streaming tools like OBS, Discord screen share and Game Center achievements, which unlock normally as you progress through the story.

• macOS 12.0 or later
• Apple Silicon chip