There have been a few more public disputes in the gaming world than that between Epic Games — the developer of Fortnite — and Apple. The dispute centered on Apple’s insistence on apps and games using its in-app purchase system to make payments and Epic’s refusal to be bound by that rule. The net result was that Epic withdrew Fortnite from all Apple platforms in 2020, and there is still no sign of it coming back to Mac. It leaves one question for those with an older version installed — how do you update Fortnite on Mac? We’ll do our best to answer it.

Why update Fortnite on Mac?

Usually, our answer to ‘why update…’ is that it allows you to access the latest features in an app, but even more importantly, it fixes bugs and patches security flaws. For Fortnite, we would add another: it allows you to actually play Fortnite on your Mac because older versions no longer work.

However, as of the time of writing, there is no Mac native version of Fortnite that can be updated. So, if you have an older version installed on an older Mac and it still works, stick with it. In the future, if Epic makes Fortnite available for Mac again, that would be the time to update it.

How to update Fortnite on Mac

The method you use to play Fortnite on your Mac will determine how you update it:

  • If you use a cloud gaming service like GeForce Now or Amazon Luna, it will automatically give you access to the most up-to-date version, and all you have to do is keep the gaming app updated on your Mac.
  • If you use a compatibility layer or virtualization software, you will need to update it yourself. Whether you use a compatibility layer or a virtualization tool, you will need to use the Windows version of Epic Games Store to play and update Fortnite.

To install Epic Games Store in CrossOver, just click install in the CrossOver main window, search for Epic Games Store, and then click Install when it appears.

To install Epic Games Store on Parallels, open a web browser in Windows, go to the Epic Games website, and download Epic Games Store.

In both CrossOver and Windows, once you have downloaded Epic Games Store, you can use that to install Fortnite. Once you’ve done that, every time you launch Epic Games Store after that, it will check for updates to your installed games and allow you to update them.

How to quickly update multiple apps on your Mac

Updating every app on your Mac can be a chore. Yet, it’s very important. If you leave apps on your Mac without updating them, they could become a security risk. Malware developers prey on old versions of apps as a means of distributing malicious software.

On the other hand, if you don’t use an app very often, it’s easy to forget to update it. Thankfully, there is a solution — the Applications feature in CleanMyMac makes it very easy to update all the apps on your Mac in one go. It scans your Mac and then checks each and every app to see if there is an update available. When it’s done, it shows you how many apps have updates available and allows you to review them or install them with a click.

Here’s how it works:

  1. Get started with a free CleanMyMac trial.
  2. Open the app and click Applications > Scan > Manage My Applications.
  3. In the Updater tab, select the app or apps you need to update and click Update. You can check release notes to see what’s new.

The Applications feature also allows you to uninstall apps you no longer need, remove files left over by apps that were not uninstalled properly, and easily remove installers you no longer need. It can also help you free up space by highlighting apps that you haven’t opened in a long time and allowing you to remove them easily.

Will there be another Mac version of Fortnite in the future?

That’s impossible to say. Lots of people hoped that when Fortnite reappeared in the iOS App Store in European Union countries in 2024, it would quickly move to other Apple platforms worldwide. That hasn’t happened. It’s still only available on iOS and only in the European Union because of an EU law that prevented Apple from insisting on Epic using in-app purchases. For now, it seems unlikely that there will be another Mac version any time soon.

Bonus tip: How to play Fortnite on Mac

So, there’s no Mac version of Fortnite. That means you can’t play it on Mac, right? Well, not exactly. You can still play Fortnite on Mac using other versions:

  • Use a Whisky compatibility layer like CrossOver.
  • Play the Windows version in virtualization software like Parallels Desktop.
  • Use a cloud gaming service like Nvidia GeForce Now or Amazon Luna.

Of these, the simplest is to use a cloud gaming service. The benefits of cloud gaming, aside from allowing you to play games that are not available on the, are that you don’t need to use precious disk space to install games and that games are updated automatically. However, you will need a reasonably fast and stable internet connection.

Using a compatibility layer like CrossOver is less expensive in the long run, although there is an upfront cost to buy CrossOver. It should also be faster than using a virtualization tool like Parallels Desktop because the game isn’t running inside a virtualized Windows environment.

So, there we have it. This was our take on how to update Fortnite on Mac. Remember that if you still have an older macOS native app working on an older Mac, stick with it. Otherwise, updating Fortnite is automatic if you use cloud gaming and can be done using the Epic Games Store app if you use a compatibility layer or virtualization tool.