Here's why Oculus Rift won't work with your Mac

Oculus Rift on the Mac? Not likely.

If you were thinking about hooking up an Oculus Rift to your Mac, you'll have to sit tight for a while - and probably replace your computer altogether.

Palmer Luckey, co-founder and mind behind the incoming virtual reality headset, had some choice words to say about porting Oculus Rift functionality to Mac computers.

During the Xbox Spring Showcase featuring Minecraft in virtual reality - where techradar was one of the first to experience its cubic glory - Luckey said in an interview with Shacknews that Oculus Rift on a Mac would be "up to Apple."

"If they ever release a good computer, we will do it," Palmer said.

Oh snaaaaaap

While it would be easy to interpret Luckey's comment as one of history's sickest burns, he went on to clarify that he was referring to the raw graphical power of Macs not being on-par with the Rift's minimum requirements, and not the overall quality of Apple computers.

"It just boils down to the fact that Apple doesn't prioritize high-end GPUs," explained Luckey. "You can buy a $6,000 Mac Pro with the top-of-the-line AMD FirePro D700, and it still doesn't match our recommended specs."

Luckey's comments aren't without merit, as any chugging or latency from underpowered hardware could kill the immersion that VR thrives on - or worse, become a one-way ticket to motion sickness.

One glance at the minimum specifications of the Oculus Rift tells a similar tale, suggesting that users have computers rigged with fairly powerful graphics cards and processors before dropping the $599 for the headset.

Considering Apple has hinted it has its eye on VR, it may just be a matter of time before its tech catches up to the Rift's demands - in which case, we hope to see Oculus tech finds its way to Apple fans shortly after.

Parker Wilhelm
Parker Wilhelm is a freelance writer for TechRadar. He likes to tinker in Photoshop and talk people's ears off about Persona 4.