Guide
Iris Shaders on a Mac
By Ryleigh Newman · Published · Updated
Iris Shaders runs on a Mac on the game's OpenGL backend, and its own documentation attaches two sentences to that: Apple Silicon is "Not supported, drivers have known crash issues with common shaders", and Intel Macs are "Deprecated, support will be removed in future releases". Its newest build for Minecraft 26.3, released on 2026-09-15, "Fixes a bug stopping macOS from loading." Rockstar Shaders is a different kind of mod: one pack inside the jar, rendering only on the Vulkan backend, with ray tracing in the Mac's own Metal. Iris's note for Minecraft 26.2 says Vulkan is not supported, so there is no backend on which both draw, and that is the whole reason they cannot run together.
I am Ryleigh Newman and I made Rockstar Shaders. This page is what Iris and Sodium are and what they say about the Mac, from their own pages and release notes read on 2026-09-19, and where my mod is a different answer, not a better one.
Download free (1.0.0) Modrinth (pending)Minecraft 26.3, Fabric, macOS on Apple silicon. Install guide. Releases and bug reports on GitHub.
What Iris and Sodium are
Iris is "an open-source shader mod for Minecraft: Java Edition", licensed LGPL-3.0, that loads shader packs written in the OptiFine format: Complementary, BSL, Sildur's and the rest. Its site says it supports every Minecraft from 1.16.5 up, Modrinth lists it for Fabric, NeoForge and Quilt, and Modrinth counted 177 million downloads on 2026-09-19. It requires Sodium, "a high-performance rendering engine replacement for Minecraft", and the Iris installer puts both in at once. Sodium is under the Polyform Shield license and had 228 million downloads the same day. Packs go in the shaderpacks folder, are chosen under Shader Packs in Video Settings, carry their own options behind Shader Pack Settings, and K turns them off and on. The Iris FAQ is clear that "Iris is specifically a shaders mod. Other features are not planned for Iris", and points you to other mods for the rest of what OptiFine did; that list matters later on this page.
What Iris says about the Mac
Iris keeps a driver support page, and its Mac rows are short. "All drivers on Intel macs: Deprecated, support will be removed in future releases." "All drivers on ARM / M1 macs: Not supported, drivers have known crash issues with common shaders." The explanation underneath: "We're not able to do much since Apple has deprecated support for the industry-standard OpenGL API, which we depend on. M1 is particularly problematic." The page asks people on unsupported platforms not to file issues, and says support might one day return through a third-party OpenGL implementation on Metal. The FAQ's list of reasons a game with Iris crashes includes "You're using macOS, which has limited support." None of that means a pack will not load on your Mac; Iris 1.11.6+26.3 exists because the Iris team fixed a macOS loading bug on 2026-09-15. It means that when a pack does fail on a Mac, the maker has told you in advance that it is not theirs to fix. Apple's own table of supported OpenGL versions stops at 4.1, which is the ceiling every Iris pack lives under on a Mac.
Iris and the Vulkan backend
Mojang announced in February 2026 that Java Edition is moving from OpenGL to Vulkan, because OpenGL "is being deprecated on macOS, and in the future OpenGL will not run at all on macOS devices", and that once Vulkan is stable "we will remove the OpenGL implementation", with players told in advance. Minecraft 26.2 and 26.3 carry both, chosen under Graphics API in Video Settings. Sodium 0.9.0 for 26.2, released 2026-06-16, was "the first version to experimentally support Vulkan". Iris 1.11.0 for 26.2, released the same day, says "Note that Vulkan is not supported", and nothing in its 26.3 notes changes that. So on a Mac today Iris means OpenGL, the backend Apple has deprecated and Mojang plans to remove. I am not going to guess when either of those happens; Minecraft's Vulkan renderer on a Mac explains what the other backend is and why my mod needs it.
Why Iris and Rockstar Shaders cannot run together
It is not a mod conflict; it is the backend. Rockstar Shaders renders only on Vulkan: on OpenGL it logs a line beginning "RockstarShaders requires the Vulkan backend", disables itself for the session, and asks at the title screen to switch. Iris renders only on OpenGL, by its own note. Whichever backend the game is on, one of the two is not drawing. Both also bind K by default, Iris to switch shaders off and Rockstar Shaders to open its settings, which would matter if they ever shared a frame; they do not, and the Rockstar Shaders key is rebindable under Controls in any case. There is no record of Rockstar Shaders being run with Sodium in the same mods folder, so I do not say that works either. Pick the backend and you have picked the mod.
The OptiFine features Iris sends you elsewhere for
The Iris FAQ answers "Will (insert feature) part of OptiFine be added to iris?" with a list of other mods: LambdaBetterGrass for Better Grass, Bobby for chunk caching, Continuity for connected textures, LambDynamicLights for dynamic lights, Cull Leaves for smart leaves, OkZoomer or Logical Zoom for zoom, plus Fabric API, Indium and ModMenu to hold it together. Rockstar Shaders has those in the jar. The table is what each side asks you to install.
| OptiFine feature | With Iris | With Rockstar Shaders |
|---|---|---|
| Connected textures | Continuity | Built in: connected glass and sandstone, plus a pack's own OptiFine ctm.properties |
| Better Grass | LambdaBetterGrass | Built in |
| Dynamic lights | LambDynamicLights | Built in: the nearest eight emitters within 48 m, no shadows |
| Smart leaves | Cull Leaves | Built in: Smart leaf culling |
| Zoom | OkZoomer or Logical Zoom | Built in: hold C for 4x |
| Chunks you have seen kept on the horizon | Bobby | Built in: extended horizon, 64 chunks by default |
| Custom entity models, random and emissive entities | Not on the Iris list | Read from packs natively |
| Custom skies | Not on the Iris list | Read from packs natively |
| Shader packs from the shaderpacks folder | Hundreds | None: one pack, inside the jar |
Fabric Loader and Fabric API are still required for Rockstar Shaders; the claim is only that no OptiFine, Iris, Sodium, Continuity, EMF or ETF is needed for the rows above. The resource packs page lists every OptiFine format it reads.
What Rockstar Shaders does differently
Iris is a loader; Rockstar Shaders is one renderer with a settings screen. The pack runs on Vulkan through MoltenVK and does its ray tracing in a native Metal side-car inside the jar: sun shadows, sky visibility, one-bounce global illumination, water reflections and the fog's sky occlusion. MoltenVK exposes no Vulkan ray query, so the trace goes to Metal through VK_EXT_metal_objects instead, and the record shows that switching any of the three traces off costs more frame time than leaving it on. The water is its own engine, the horizon reaches 64 chunks by default, and the 82 settings are on one screen behind K, with an Advanced page of about 600 tune keys. What it gives up against Iris is everything Iris is for: no other packs, no Windows, no Linux, no Intel Mac, and one machine measured, an Apple M4 Max with 48 GB. It is 1.0, free from rockstarshaders.com (Modrinth pending), with settings that can move between builds. The help pages document every setting.
Which one to use
Use Iris if the pack matters: a particular look, a pack you already know, or a Windows or Linux machine beside the Mac. Read its driver page first, keep the game on OpenGL, and expect the Iris team not to fix what breaks on Apple Silicon. Use Rockstar Shaders if the Mac is the machine, the game is 26.3 on Vulkan, and you can live with its settings still moving. Nothing stops you keeping both jars in different Fabric profiles and switching the backend between them; nothing lets them draw at once. The comparison puts the two beside OptiFine and the packs, and how to install shaders on a Mac has the mechanics of each route.
Download free (1.0.0) Modrinth (pending)Minecraft 26.3, Fabric, macOS on Apple silicon. Install guide. Releases and bug reports on GitHub.
Related
Sources
- https://irisshaders.dev/ (read 2026-09-19)
- https://modrinth.com/mod/iris (read 2026-09-19)
- https://modrinth.com/mod/iris/version/1.11.0+26.2-fabric (read 2026-09-19)
- https://modrinth.com/mod/iris/version/1.11.6+26.3-fabric (read 2026-09-19)
- https://github.com/IrisShaders/Iris/blob/multiloader-new/docs/usage/drivers.md (read 2026-09-19)
- https://github.com/IrisShaders/Iris/blob/multiloader-new/docs/faq.md (read 2026-09-19)
- https://github.com/IrisShaders/Iris/blob/multiloader-new/docs/guide.md (read 2026-09-19)
- https://modrinth.com/mod/sodium (read 2026-09-19)
- https://modrinth.com/mod/sodium/version/mc26.2-0.9.0-fabric (read 2026-09-19)
- https://modrinth.com/mod/sodium/version/mc26.3-0.9.2-fabric (read 2026-09-19)
- https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/another-step-towards-vibrant-visuals-for-java-edition (read 2026-09-19)
- https://support.apple.com/en-us/101525 (read 2026-09-19)
Questions
Does Iris work on a Mac?
It loads and runs on the OpenGL backend, and its newest 26.3 build fixed a macOS loading bug. Its driver page lists Apple Silicon as not supported and Intel Macs as deprecated, so the Iris team does not fix Mac-only problems.
Can I use Iris and Rockstar Shaders together?
No. Iris's release note says Vulkan is not supported; Rockstar Shaders renders only on Vulkan. Whichever backend the game is on, one of them is idle.
Does Rockstar Shaders need Sodium?
No. It needs Fabric Loader 0.19.5 or newer and Fabric API. There is no record of it being run beside Sodium, so I do not claim that works.
Can Rockstar Shaders load Complementary or BSL?
No. It has one pack, inside the jar, with 82 settings of its own. Packs in the OptiFine and Iris format need Iris or OptiFine.
Does Iris support Vulkan on a Mac?
Not as of its 26.3 builds. Sodium 0.9.x has early Vulkan support; Iris's own release note says Vulkan is not supported.
Which key do they use?
K, in both, by default: Iris toggles shaders with it and Rockstar Shaders opens its settings with it. The Rockstar Shaders key is rebindable under Controls, Miscellaneous.