We show which ones you should buy for a brilliant gaming experience.

We can happily play World of Warcraft, Rocket League, Fortnite, Subnautica, Tropico 6 and many other titles from the comfort of our Macs - find out more in our roundup of the best Mac games.

But the Mac also has a cunning trick up its precision-engineered sleeve, in the form of Boot Camp.

Installing Windows via Boot Camp on a Mac gives you the best of both worlds, playing native Mac versions whenever possible and then switching to Windows where necessary.

To ensure you have the best platform for your digital adventures youll obviously need a machine that has a fast processor (CPU), but it also helps to have a powerful graphics processor and a fast hard disk or solid-state drive too.

Obviously, you need a fast CPU to play 3D games, preferably an Intel Core i5 or Core i7 running at 2.0GHz or more.

Intels Core i5 and i7 processors include an integrated GPU, which is built on to the main CPU itself - a bit like an extension built on to the back of your house.

An integrated GPU will share your Macs main memory (RAM) with the main CPU, which is a bit of a compromise - especially if youve only got 4GB or 8GB of memory to start off with - so its not ideal for really demanding 3D games.

A discrete GPU will also have its own high-speed memory (sometimes called VRAM or Video RAM) to boost graphics performance.

This is the best option, as it frees up your Macs main CPU and RAM, and lets the GPU handle all the really intensive 3D graphics work by itself.

So, in order to try and clear up some of the confusion, heres a quick guide to which current Macs have integrated and which have discrete GPUs.

The Iris Plus has additional memory for its own use, which allows it to act semi-independently of your CPU (somewhere between discrete and integrated), and for gaming performance, this makes a significant difference from the standard Iris.

So, if youre interested in playing the latest high-end games youll want a Mac equipped with at least an Intel Iris Plus, or a discrete GPU from AMD.

Apple has used Nvidia graphics cards in the past, but currently seems to prefer AMD graphics cards.

The general rule of thumb is that if you intend to play fast 3D action games such as Fortnite or Subnautica then any Mac fitted with Intel HD Graphics, or a standard Intel Iris, will probably be a disappointment.

That reliance on integrated graphics means that there are several Mac models that gamers will probably want to avoid.

However, a Retina display needs a lot of power to drive all those pixels so, again, you need a GPU that can provide really good 3D performance.

The non-Retina 21in iMac doesnt have a discrete GPU, but the Retina model would make a decent gaming machine for most people.

Conventional hard drives can be a bit sluggish at times - just as they take time to load macOS when you turn your Mac on, they also take time to load all the complex 3D graphics data needed for games.

Theres not a lot of choice on the desktop either, as neither the Mac Mini nor the non-retina 21.5in iMac models offer a discrete GPU right now.

And the glorious iMac Pro, which is more than capable of blasting through the latest games, starts at an eye-watering 4,8994,999.

And as well as costing more than the iMac Pro, the price doesnt even include a monitor, so we think its out of reach for most everyday consumers.

If youre looking for something more portable, the cheapest capable laptop is the 16in MacBook Pro with Radeon Pro 5300M at 2,3992,399.

Its going to take a real change in attitude and GPU availability to get Apple - and developers - to take gaming more seriously on the Mac.

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