What's new in Uncork
Updated 29 September 2026
Uncork is a Mac app for Apple Silicon that runs Windows games from Steam and Epic. Here is what changed in each beta build, with dates. The app checks for updates on its own.
0.16.2 — 29 September 2026
You can now play without internet for a week instead of a day. While your Mac is online, Uncork still renews the key once a day on its own — you won't notice it. The key never outlives your paid time, so the week is headroom for a flight, a weekend away or a holiday, not extra subscription days.
The "time to go online" warning now appears a day before the key runs out instead of four hours.
0.16.1 — 29 September 2026
Wheel force feedback. Logitech G923 and G29 wheels now give force feedback in games: the library the engine uses for controllers has been replaced with a newer one that supports force feedback on these wheels. Tested with a G923 in Assetto Corsa. It installs itself together with the Uncork driver the next time you open Uncork with Steam closed; start Steam again afterwards. Gamepads work as before.
The Even frames hint now says it plainly: the mode is for single-player games; in competitive shooters it is better left off, because every frame counts there.
0.16.0 — 29 September 2026
Assetto Corsa. The "Prepare Assetto Corsa" button on the game's card installs everything it needs to start: .NET 4.8, the DirectX libraries, fonts and Content Manager. After that, Play opens a race screen: the car with livery previews, time of day, weather, air and road temperature — and straight onto Shutoko Revival Project with traffic (the track is installed through Content Manager, which sits right there as a separate button). Controls are picked from what is connected: a wheel, a gamepad or the keyboard. If loading the track hangs inside Custom Shaders Patch, Uncork closes the game and starts it again by itself. The current Spotify track can show on the cars' displays. Tested on one Mac — a MacBook Pro 14″ with M3 Pro.
Friends mode: a button on the Assetto Corsa card. Guests play, but they can't wander around your Mac — keyboard shortcuts, the Dock and the menu bar are closed off, and other displays show a lock screen. Unlock with Touch ID or your Mac password. Needs the Accessibility permission.
If your Mac's clock is more than ten minutes behind — say, the date was set back — games will not start: the driver key is checked against the time. Uncork tells you so in a bar at the top of the window, with a button that opens the Date & Time settings. A clock that simply drifted is fixed the next time you are online.
On macOS 27 the system update removes Rosetta. Uncork now says so in a bar at the top of the window and does not start a game launch that would fail anyway.
New bottles are now set up completely the first time — previously some Windows services were not registered, and some installers (.NET 4.8) refused to run.
The driver updates itself the next time you open Uncork.
0.15.0 — 24 September 2026
In-game panel. The corner of the game shows frames per second, the share of even frames, time to the screen and the rate at which Uncork reads your mouse. When a drop is not the game's fault, the panel says so too: Low Power Mode is on or the Mac is too hot. Turn it on in the bottle settings.
On battery — even 60. Unplug the Mac and the game switches to an even 60 frames to last longer; plug it back in and everything is as you chose. Turn it on in the bottle settings.
Launch history shows how long each game ran and how much you played this week.
New bottles start with Compatible audio on: it removes the crackle in CS2. If a game ends up silent, turn it off in the bottle settings.
"Steam stays out of the game's way" stays off: we measured it, and in CS2 it adds no frames.
0.14.1 — 24 September 2026
The Uncork driver now updates itself. Its new version used to need a manual install in the bottle settings, so after updating from 0.13 many people still had the old “Even frames”. Uncork now installs the fresh driver on its own as soon as games and Steam are closed — it takes about a minute.
0.14.0 — 23 September 2026
Even frames
A new switch in the bottle settings. An average fps says nothing about smoothness: CS2 at 118 fps shows gaps between frames on screen that jump from 4 to 13 ms, and the picture jerks. Even frames sends frames to the screen at equal intervals, and the micro-stutter is gone.
Auto watches how frames actually reach the screen and holds them only when that makes them more even: it leaves smooth games alone and evens out ragged ones. Fixed 120, 80 and 60 are there if you want to pick yourself. CS2 at 80: 87% of frames even versus 18% without it, with no added latency to the screen. Measured on a MacBook Pro 14″ with M3 Pro.
Restart Steam after switching.
0.13.0 — 23 September 2026
Your gamepad drives the Mac
A DualSense, DualShock 4 or Xbox controller moves the pointer while no game is running: touchpad or left stick for the cursor, ✕ to click, □ to right-click, ○ for Esc, L3/R3 or a two-finger swipe on the touchpad for the next desktop. When a controller connects, a capsule with its battery pops up in the top-right corner of the window and opens the mode's settings. During a game the mode stays out of the way.
Game Mode for games from Uncork
Every game now starts from its own small app marked as a game, so macOS turns Game Mode on for it, just as it does for App Store games. Verified with CS2. Needs “Names in the Dock” turned on.
Clearer about what went wrong
Sign-in, bottle settings and first-install errors now speak the window's language and say what actually happened: instead of “invalid bottle name” you get “this environment variable cannot be set”, and no more advice to run terminal commands the app has no use for.
More dependable
Creating a bottle no longer hangs while the screen is locked; the graphics check no longer leaves processes behind; updates check the signature more strictly and keep the previous version in place if anything fails.