2016 Mac book pro «12...Next Go

juleseast3003

Hi
Asked this before but no answer I'm considering buying a mac book pro 13 " the one with the Intel iris graphics card. Will this play the sims 3 game OK have any of you got one of these machines otherwise I'll buy a windows laptop. My daughter is also considering one as well.

Thanks

BluebellFlora

Apple have yet to bring out a 2016 model 13" MacBook Pro. The current ones selling in the Apple Store are the early 2015 model.

A quick peruse of this forum will show you that Sims 3 and Intel Iris does not play well as the Iris is not supported in game:

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/735231/intel-iris-pro-graphics-cards-please-post-here-if-you-have-a-macbook-with-intel-iris-pro-card/p1

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/841989/attn-if-your-game-wont-start-read-here/p1

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/658546/mac-help-threads-guides-please-start-here-before-posting-a-problem-updated-05-06-15/p1

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/878367/will-the-sims-3-be-updated-to-support-newer-graphics#latest

http://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/870708/extremely-buggy-game-need-help#latest

And that was just a few from the first 3 pages.

You can buy the Mac and try the workaround by editing the graphics files to add your Intel Iris in, as some have done. This seems to have a 50% chance of working depending on what EPs you also decide to add in. Or you could buy a Windows machine and hope that the Intel Iris is supported in that. You'd need to ask in the technical forum to see if anyone can confirm/deny. Or, you could buy the Mac and install Windows in Boot Camp so you can run both operating systems on the same Mac

juleseast3003

Thank you for replying. Im in two minds whether to get the mac or not. I like the idea of a mac - its portability battery life etc. But I get can so much more with a windows laptop for much less. Ive seen a fabulous MSI gaming machine. i7 processor 16gb ram, Nividia GTX 970M graphics card running at 2.6ghz with a boost of 3.5ghz. I dont think I'll have a problem with this machine.

girlwhocriedtaylor

juleseast3003 wrote: »

Thank you for replying. Im in two minds whether to get the mac or not. I like the idea of a mac - its portability battery life etc. But I get can so much more with a windows laptop for much less. Ive seen a fabulous MSI gaming machine. i7 processor 16gb ram, Nividia GTX 970M graphics card running at 2.6ghz with a boost of 3.5ghz. I dont think I'll have a problem with this machine.

I don't know much about computers, but that sounds like a great computer for the game.

BluebellFlora

juleseast3003 wrote: »

Thank you for replying. Im in two minds whether to get the mac or not. I like the idea of a mac - its portability battery life etc. But I get can so much more with a windows laptop for much less. Ive seen a fabulous MSI gaming machine. i7 processor 16gb ram, Nividia GTX 970M graphics card running at 2.6ghz with a boost of 3.5ghz. I dont think I'll have a problem with this machine.

Yes you can get more for less but it's like comparing apples and oranges, completely different. Plus Macs are renowned for lasting a very long time. I'm posting this on a 9 year old iMac which can still play Sims 3 and Sims 4. The in game graphics have to be on low-medium settings but the actual machine is great. Still boots in 20 seconds or so, running the latest OS, isn't slow and can still have multiple apps running at the same time and keep going. I want to get a new one but this one still does everything I need it to!

BluebellFlora

Forgot to add, you do of course get OS X on Macs which is a really stable, secure operating system, built on Unix. Because Apple make the computer and OS to work together this helps with the stability. A PC is essentially a branded computer (Toshiba, Sony, Dell etc.) running a 3rd party operating system (Windows).

But I'm biased

juleseast3003

I've just been on the Apple website. Ive found a mac book pro 13 inch with Intel HD 4000 graphics card. I upped the basket to 1tb hard drive and the i7 processor and 8gb of ram. Does the Intel HD run the game OK without any problems.

BluebellFlora

Yes, it should do although the graphics settings may have to be set fairly low as it's an integrated card rather than dedicated. Can you provide a link so I can check the Processor? I think it's Ivybridge or Sandybridge but it would be good to check

juleseast3003

Not to sure it didn't say on the website it's a dual core Intel 2.9ghz with boost up to 3.6ghz

BluebellFlora

Hmm, the only ones I can see are the retinas with Intel Iris graphics. Is it a refurbed one? Do you have the link?

juleseast3003

It was on the UK site I don't think I can post links as I'm new on the forum

juleseast3003

It was the one that wasn't retina display

BluebellFlora

This one? http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/FD101B/A/refurbished-133-inch-macBook-pro-25ghz-dual-core-intel-i5

BluebellFlora

Oh I see, I didn't scroll down enough

This one - http://www.apple.com/uk/shop/buy-mac/macbook-pro?product=MD101B/A&step=config#

BluebellFlora

You'd be better off getting a solid state drive (SSD) but you can always upgrade that in the future. It would also be cheaper for you to upgrade the RAM yourself rather than buy it upgraded through Apple. That Mac can support 16Gb RAM

And it has the Ivy Bridge processor which is supported in the game so you should be fine. But bear in mind that you probably won't be able to play on high settings.

juleseast3003

I'm very tempted I'm now swinging towards saving for a mac now. Is it the i7 processor model that supports 16gb of ram or will the i5 support it as well - or is it that Apple doesn't recommend it. I'd probably go with the 1tb hard drive to start with as the ssd 512gb bumps it up quite a lot. It's the portability and the battery power that appeals to me with a macbook pro. Is it relatively easy to install the memory.

Many thanks
Julie

BluebellFlora

juleseast3003 wrote: »

I'm very tempted I'm now swinging towards saving for a mac now. Is it the i7 processor model that supports 16gb of ram or will the i5 support it as well - or is it that Apple doesn't recommend it. I'd probably go with the 1tb hard drive to start with as the ssd 512gb bumps it up quite a lot. It's the portability and the battery power that appeals to me with a macbook pro. Is it relatively easy to install the memory.

Many thanks
Julie

The i5 will support 16Gb RAM too. No harm in doing it and it's really easy to do. You can also upgrade the hard drive in the future to the SSD too if you like.

I have the following in my Mac which is the 2012 15" MacBook Pro model, they are also compatible in that 13":

Compatible RAM - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kingston-KCP316SD8-240-Pin-Notebook-Internal/dp/B01B5SKCQW/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1459234341&sr=8-3&keywords=1600mhz+ddr3+8Gb+macbook

Compatible SSD - http://www.amazon.co.uk/SanDisk-Extreme-Sata-Inch-Internal/dp/B00KHRYRLY/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1459234448&sr=8-10&keywords=2.5+ssd

Instructions for RAM installation - https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT201165

And for HD replacement (simplest I could find) - http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/how-to-replace-your-macbook-pros-hard-drive-with-an-ssd

juleseast3003

Thank you so much you've been super helpful. I think really deep down I wanted a mac all along. I've been looking at some game tests on you tube on various games and I'm not that bothered about seeing fish swimming in ponds. The ram I will do straight away the ssd I'll leave till a little later.

juleseast3003

Would I be ok starting off with the 500 gb basic hard drive to start off with. Im going to buy the mac book i7 but with 4gb ram as the ram is cheap to install - Im going to upgrade to 16gb ram. Later on Im going to put in a 1tb ssd but I'll save up for that. I don't want to be spending money on getting apple to put in a 1tb hard drive when all Im going to be doing is taking it out. Id rather the money go towards the ssd.

I have the base game all expansion packs, Microsoft 365 I would think id be ok

BluebellFlora

Sounds good.

There's one thing you should be aware of, that MacBook Pro was introduced nearly 4 years ago so the technology is pretty old now. The newer ones have more advanced graphics and processors. But this should be your best shot at playing TS3. I can't promise you 100% that it will work but you stand a better chance than the newer 13" with Intel Iris graphics If it doesn't work you always have a 2 week window to return the Mac to Apple.

juleseast3003

I'll have to weigh all things up and stack the pros and cons of both a windows pc to a mac but you have been very informative

juleseast3003

When I install the game the latest expansion pack is Into the future. Does that game give you the latest patch of 1.69 this is what my current game is running on on my windows pc. Also when I buy the mac book pro I'm assuming it will come with El Capitan the latest update will the game be OK. All the other stuff ref memory and hard drive I'm going to do once I've got the game installed. The only expansion pack I don't have is island paradise do I need to install them in the order they came out. Also my daughter is going to buy one as well

Sorry for all the questions

BluebellFlora

I recommend:

1. Install the base game
2. Download and install the manual patch 1.67. That is the highest patch number for the Mac game
3. Install each EP/SP in release date order, opening the Launcher after each install and clicking play until you get to the main menu screen. You can then quit and move onto the next EP/SP.
4. If you get a message during the installation of an EP/SP that the game is patched to a newer version than the EP/SP expects just click ok and carry on, it's nothing to worry about.

You should be fine with El Capitan as you are starting a clean installation. It does work happily but the upgrade from a previous version of OS X has caused some people's games to go a bit wonky, a clean uninstall and reinstall as a last resort has fixed it though.

juleseast3003

Thank you so much do you have the mac book pro and playing with the Intel HD 4000 it's that that's worrying me. I really would like to get a mac but I keep reading conflicting reports so I keep swapping my mind from a pc to a mac

BluebellFlora

juleseast3003 wrote: »

Thank you so much do you have the mac book pro and playing with the Intel HD 4000 it's that that's worrying me. I really would like to get a mac but I keep reading conflicting reports so I keep swapping my mind from a pc to a mac

I do have a MBP but I have the 2012 15" with the Intel HD 4000 and the NVIDIA GT 650M 1Gb (which the operating system switches to when I load the game).

The game will always run smoother in Windows because it is native whereas the Mac version is 'wrapped' using Cider so even though the game is running in OS X, it thinks it is running in Windows. Did you know you can install Windows on a Mac? It's so easy to do and means that you can run Windows software too. There are plenty of Mac users, myself included, who have Boot Camped their Macs to run Windows and installed TS3 in the Windows partition. The difference in gameplay is phenomenal, yet you are using the same Mac If you want to know more you can read here about Cider and here on Boot Camping your Mac.

The Intel HD 4000 is supported in the game, it is listed as a compatible graphics card in the relevant games files.

juleseast3003

Did you buy the extra graphics card and install it easy extra as I don't think you can get that in the UK