X-Plane 12

X-Plane 12 is the latest version in the flight simulator series for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. In this simulator, there is a whole world to discover. Thanks to its open structure, all users and enthusiasts can change every single part of it and adapt it to their preferences.

In X-Plane 12, every major aspect of how Laminar Research simulates the world and its effects on aviation has been rewritten based on first-principles physics and real-world data with tireless pursuit of realism.

Try the demo version here: https://www.x-plane.com/desktop/try-it/

WORLD

• Photometric Lighting Engine
  Light brightness, intensity, spread, and more – all computed in real time with the laws of physics.
• 3D Water
  Gorgeous global water rendering, complete with wave height controls and floatplane interaction based on feedback from expert pilots.
• Seasonal Effects
  Tree colour and leaf coverage vary to show season – snow accumulates, too!
• Tropical Water Colors
  Gorgeous, geographically-aware water colours.
• 3D Forests and Vegetation
  Large variety of 3D trees with variation of species, size, and seasonal effects. They even sway in the wind.
• Ambient Sounds
  The entire world now comes to life with FMOD sound – birds in the forest, cars in the cities and of course, ground service vehicles.

AIRPORTS
X-Plane 12 includes detailed 3-D scenery for more than 17,000 airports around the world – all with new ground textures, towers and pavement effects to enhance realism.

• Tower Kit
  Custom suite of endless control tower variation, easy to use for maximal realism.
• Animated Jetways
  Jetways move to meet your aircraft when parked at the gate.
• Localized ATC Procedures/Voices
  Air Traffic Control follow regional procedures and accents around the world.
• Pavement Effects
  Airport artists can choose from a library of pavement effects to perfectly capture the look-and-feel of airports by setting level of cracking, oil spills, pavement material, and more.

WEATHER

• Volumetric 3D Clouds
  Immersive clouds to fully capture the sensation of flight.
• Real Weather
  Proprietary algorithms to turn data from the real world into X-Plane weather.
• Wake Turbulence
  Powerful streams of upset air left in the atmosphere by other aircraft – just like real life.
• Microbursts
  Small, powerful downdrafts – perfectly modelled with pilot training in mind.
• Thermals
  Terrain-generated updrafts that allow gilders to gain altitude without a tow plane.
• Snow, Rain and Ice Accumulation
  Precipitation now accumulates on surfaces, freezing or thawing based on temperature.

INCLUDED AIRCRAFT

• Cessna Citation X
• Cirrus SR22
• Grumman F-14 Tomcat
• Lancair Evolution
• Piper PA-18 Super Cub
• Robinson R22 Beta II
• Vans Aircraft RV-10
• Airbus A330-300
• Cessna 172SP
• Aero-Works Aerolite 103
• Boeing 737-800
• Beechcraft King Air C90
• Beechcraft Baron 58
• Cirrus Vision SF50
• McDonnell Douglas MD-80
• Schleicher ASK 21
• Sikorsky S-76
• Stinson L-5 Sentinel

Minimum system requirements:

• Disk Space: 25 GB
• CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, i7, or i9 CPU with 4 or more cores | AMD Ryzen 3, 5, 7 or 9 (Those with other CPUs should try the demo before purchasing)
• Memory: 8 GB RAM
• Video Card: Vulkan 1.3-capable video card from NVIDIA or AMD with at least 2 GB VRAM
• Note: Intel GPUs are not supported by X-Plane 12

Recommended system requirements:

• CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K | Ryzen 5 3500 or better | Apple Silicon
• Memory: 16-24 GB RAM or more
• Video Card: DirectX 12-capable video card from NVIDIA or AMD with at least 4-8 GB VRAM (GeForce RTX 2070 or better, or similar from AMD)

Supported video cards:

• NVIDIA: Nvidia 900 series Desktop GPU or newer, or GeForce 965M, 970M, 980M and 980MX or newer (Second generation Maxwell or newer); driver version 510 or newer
• AMD: AMD Radeon RX 500 or newer, driver version Adrenaline 22.2.1 or newer
• Apple Silicon

Supported operating systems:

• macOS: macOS 10.15 or newer (e.g. Catalina, Big Sur, or Monterey)
• Windows: Windows 10 or 11 (64-bit)
• Linux: Varies
  • If you want to run on Linux, you will need to try X-Plane on your distribution to see if it is compatible. We have developers using Ubuntu 20.04 LTS and newer successfully, however we don’t provide support for specific distributions.
  • We require the proprietary driver from NVIDIA to run X-Plane. We require the Mesa drivers, version 22.0 or newer, for AMD to run X-Plane.

If your system is borderline, we encourage you to try the demo first. The full version of the simulator will perform exactly the same as the demo - neither better nor worse.