Removing macOS mouse acceleration is mandatory for me to not go crazy. I'm using this script now: https://github.com/docwhat/killmouseaccel

Downside is it's a one-shot sensitivity which can't be adjusted, owing to the hacky nature of it, which was semi-found-by-chance to boot. After lots of searching on threads, seems this is one of the only hacks that works, so doesn't seem to be much support from macOS on this stuff.

Used to have an app format of this so I didn't have to run the console command every time at login, but need to find an updated solution for Catalina.

That's disappointing - I've never used a Mac but the first thing I do on new Windows PCs is turn off "enhance pointer precision" (mouse acceleration) in control panel. It's awful for anything where you have to aim, I can't imagine gaming on a system with mouse acceleration that can't be disabled.

FPS games typically use raw input, which bypasses any acceleration settings in the OS. This works on both Windows and macOS, assuming the game is properly written. This is why I insist on keeping mouse acceleration enabled since it helps with everyday computing tasks and has no effect on at least the games I normally play.

Regarding the comment above, it is definitely possible there are subtle configuration differences that cause the described behavior (different acceleration curves, polling rate/DPI settings, display refresh rates, etc). FWIW, my “gaming” mouse works fine with my MBP, but it takes a moment to readjust to the different sensitivity and acceleration behavior.

Getting rid of Mac OS's acceleration isn't simply a matter of clicking "raw input" in a game's options.

Even if you use the command line to actually disable it for some reason the mouse still feels off.

If you google, for example "counterstrike mac os raw input" or something similar, you'll see lots of posts about people having the same issue. The raw input setting doesn't work properly. Granted the posts are from a couple years ago. The last time I tried to play a game on a Mac was probably around 2018. I tried every workaround I could find on the internet and it was still terrible.

What I described has nothing to do with a difference of sensitivity or polling rate/dpi. Although if a person is unfamiliar with those things they could have an issue with them.

I don’t think you understand what raw input means. It doesn’t mean telling the OS you don’t want it to mess with your input, it means bypassing the userland OS input framework entirely and grabbing the input at a lower level preventing the default OS stack from even processing those input events.

A well-designed game would do that, anyway. I wouldn’t be surprised if the counter strike port for macOS doesn’t qualify as such.

I understand what it means. There's an option in CS and it doesn't seem to actually do anything on Mac OS. Its one of the most popular games ever created and unlike many AAA devs Valve is still actually really good at what they do. If they can't get it right on a Mac it doesn't inspire much confidence that its an acceptable gaming platform.

Can you name an online FPS with a decent sized community with proper raw input on Mac OS? I'd be willing to give it a shot and see if its different. There are plenty of games that aren't CS that people have complained about over the years.

Also, raw input or not I was talking about multiple issues. Every mouse I have ever used on the 2 MBP's I've had felt terrible and nowhere near as smooth as the same mice on a PC even for general desktop use. Even Apple's mouse feels pretty bad.

I don't really know why, their touchpads are amazingly smooth and responsive.

GeForce NOW seemed to handle raw input correctly when I tested it on macOS. Though that's more of a game streaming thing.

Regarding Apple's mice, the Magic Mouse has a rather unusual polling rate of 90 Hz (likely to save energy), which probably explains why it feels awful to use.

Magic mice are also dicey ergonomically, imho. Best to avoid in general.

Games should use raw mouse input, but there's enough that don't support it (or that don't by default) that it's easier to just leave it turned off. I also find it annoying even on the desktop - I'd rather have mouse speed relate to hand speed linearly, but I do use higher DPI than the 800ish standard of regular mice.

Weird, I use a gaming mouse on macOS and never noticed any problem or jankiness, running at 1000 Hz polling rate. Sure, the acceleration curve is different that Windows' and I only game on Boot Camp, but it's never felt "wrong" to me for day to day usage.

What's sad is that once upon a time (back when macOS was called OS X, and when iMacs used PowerPC CPUs) the mouse acceleration was great, and the cursor buttery smooth, at least so I thought.

I really like a lot about MacOS but unfortunately I didn't get a chance to ever use it until 2014 so I wasn't able to experience that.

I'd get rid of my Windows computer in an instant if it wasn't for the poor support Mac has for gaming. Windows is fine but I enjoy the Mac workflow more.

This is definitely subjective. While you find mouse acceleration on Macs miserable, I find mouse acceleration on anything _but_ Macs miserable (looking at you especially, Linux/Mutter).

I'm mostly commenting on acceleration in gaming. The acceleration alone doesn't bother me for productivity. However, for gaming it doesn't matter what platform you are on acceleration sucks. Technically a subjective opinion but its pretty close to a consensus for anyone that plays 3d action games where you control the camera and/or your crosshairs with a mouse.