Highball
Which renderer to use
Highball can run each game through three different Direct3D translation layers. This is what the database knows for this title — empty rows are open questions, not failures.
| Renderer | Verdict | Evidence |
|---|---|---|
| DXVKDirect3D 9-11 over Vulkan | Untested | no report yet — send one |
| DXMTDirect3D 11 over Metal | Reported | community reports |
| D3DMetalApple's Game Porting Toolkit | Untested | no report yet — send one |
No dated Highball run yet. When one lands it records the renderer, the engine build and the macOS version it was seen on — which is what stops a verdict quietly rotting. Send one.
Notes
Reported perfect on DXMT twice, 8 minutes on an M5 (engine r3) and 17 minutes on an M5 Pro with macOS 27.0 (engine r7, sync off). No measurement here yet.
Provenance
Reported by 1223Joker (highball-db#88, 2026-09-16), Apple M5, macOS 27, Highball 0.9.19, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r3, DXMT, rated 5 of 5 after 8 minutes. Not verified by the maintainer. Lettly (highball-db#230, 2026-09-26): rated 5, perfect, Apple M5 Pro, macOS 27.0, engine x64-sikarugir10.0_6-r7, Highball 0.9.35, DXMT with sync off, 17 minutes played through Highball.
Before installing anything, it is worth checking whether the game already ships a native Mac build.
Common questions
Does Tell Me Why work on Mac?
Tell Me Why has no native Mac build, but it is reported to run on Apple Silicon through Highball, a free open-source compatibility layer. This comes from community reports rather than a Highball test run, so treat it as a reasonable expectation rather than a guarantee.
Which renderer should I use for Tell Me Why?
DXMT. Highball can translate Direct3D through DXVK, DXMT or Apple's D3DMetal, and the right choice varies by game. The database records DXMT for Tell Me Why. Highball uses it automatically when the game has a row; to set it by hand, open Settings, then Environments.
Contribute a result
This page is generated from an open database. If you have run Tell Me Why on Apple Silicon, working or not, a report takes a minute and fills in the empty rows above. Send a report, or read how the data is put together.