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Intel Iris Pro graphics cards - please post here if you have a Macbook with Intel Iris Pro card

Hello Mac simmers

After all the trouble with NVIDIA graphics cards before patch 1.63 thankfully fixed that issue, it would appear that some players with Macbooks may now encounter problems with Intel Iris Pro graphics cards.

A few people with Macbooks containing those cards have already found that they can only play the game with their graphics on the lowest settings, which means their game looks rubbish. (Some are also experiencing gameplay problems, but these may not necessarily be connected to the graphics cards.)

If you have a Macbook with Intel Iris Pro, please post your specs here and tell us if you are having any problems with graphics in your game.

Unfortunately the Intel Iris Pro card is not on the list of those supported by EA for The Sims 3, so help is unlikely to be forthcoming in that regard. However let's see if we can gather some information amongst ourselves.

13-inch Macbook Pro
BluebellFlora has advised that those with 13" Macbook Pro may have graphics issues if they have the Iris card. Please post here if that includes you so that we can confirm this. If you are being affected, try turning down all the graphics settings in-game to the lowest. Your game will look horrible but you should be able to play. Now you can try to edge some of the graphics settings up a bit to make it look nicer - you may need to make decisions on which things matter most to you. For example I would sacrifice mirror reflections to get the grass looking nicer, but that's just me. It would be great if you post your findings here for the benefit of other simmers trying to do the same. Share the knowledge!

15-inch Macbook Pro
If you have 15" Macbook Pro, you may not encounter this issue if you have bought the Macbook with the option of a dedicated graphics card. However it would be great if you could post too, for confirmation that this is the case and that you can use higher settings in your game.

Unfortunately, if you have the 15" entry-level Macbook, you may be in the same position as those with the 13" and may only have the option of the Iris card.


Thanks all!

Caspin
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Comments

  • itsaprilXDitsaprilXD Posts: 642 Member
    edited January 2014
    This is probably totally unrelated, but most graphics cards aren't actually supported/listed as being so. Even then, half of them only seem to be adequate for the base or maybe up to half of the expansions (if you get what I'm saying).

    This is just from my lurking sprees from when I still lurked these boards (so so creepy, I know... :p), but from what I've seen, a lot of people still play on 2010-2012 models, and most have the unsupported graphics cards.




    Like I said, totally unrelated. Just thought I'd share my thoughts on it... basically because I had no idea what an iris card is o.O
  • caspinwallcaspinwall Posts: 916 Member
    edited January 2014
    itsaprilXD wrote:
    This is probably totally unrelated, but most graphics cards aren't actually supported/listed as being so. Even then, half of them only seem to be adequate for the base or maybe up to half of the expansions (if you get what I'm saying).

    This is just from my lurking sprees from when I still lurked these boards (so so creepy, I know... :p), but from what I've seen, a lot of people still play on 2010-2012 models, and most have the unsupported graphics cards.




    Like I said, totally unrelated. Just thought I'd share my thoughts on it... basically because I had no idea what an iris card is o.O

    Yeah I hadn't heard of an Iris card either until I read about this. Also I keep mistyping it as Irish card! :?


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  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited January 2014
    Nice job Caspin :)

    If EA ever bring out a patch to fix this I feel sorry for those who use Twallan's mods............. what a choice - patch for graphics and no mods or don't patch, risk problem graphics but have working mods :(

    TS3 really is a mess.
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  • ashadsashads Posts: 316 Member
    edited January 2014
    Okay, so not a full test. I was merely checking to see if the game worked on my new MBP 13". It did set the graphics to lowest by default. I checked the game at medium graphics settings (but at 1024 x 768 ) merely because I really wasn't looking for HD graphics for my game but rather to replicated what I would play on with my late 2010 MBP.

    Game ran fine. Graphics looked fine for what they were at (not great but not an eyesore). I'll probably check keep changing around the resolution and settings tomorrow when I have more time. :)

    Don't think this is much help but it is feedback of some sort.


    Edit for smiley typo.

    Edit 2: I have the 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD model.
  • ruby_larsenruby_larsen Posts: 2
    edited January 2014
    Hi!

    I have a macbook pro 15'' (2014) with Intel Iris Pro (but not NVIDIA GeForce GT), and unfortunately Sims 3 doesn't recognize my graphic card.

    I tried following this guide http://simswiki.info/wiki.php?title=Game_Help:Getting_new_graphics_cards_recognized_by_the_game , however it doesn't work with mac, as I can't find a file called GraphicsCards.sgr .

    I can run Sims 3, but only on lowest graphics settings (it doesn't look good!), and if I try changing any settings, I get a black screen..

    If anyone knows how to get Sims to recognize a graphic card on mac, I hope you will share :-)

    Ruby
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited January 2014
    @ruby_larsen - are you sure you have the 15"? All 15" MBPs have dual cards. Go into System Preferences > Energy and change to the higher performance setting.
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  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited January 2014
    Is you model 2013 or 2012? Apple haven't brought out a 2014 model. Is it a Retina MBP or standard?
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  • ruby_larsenruby_larsen Posts: 2
    edited January 2014
    @bluebellflora

    yes, it is MBP 15'' Retina. It guess it is the 2013 model, bought 2014. You can buy either with Intel Iris Pro or Intel Iris Pro/NVIDIA
    http://store.apple.com/us/buy-mac/macbook-pro
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited January 2014
    :shock: wow, thanks for pointing that out, I had no idea they dropped the dedicated card in the entry level 15". Why on earth would they do that??? If you bought it from an Apple store you can take it back and exchange for the more powerful 15" within 2 weeks. I can't believe Apple did that on such an otherwise powerful MBP :shock:

    I guess you're stuck until EA bring out a patch which they should do given the crap issues with the Iris cards - has the 1.66 patch fixed it at all?

    You can get to the graphicscard.sgr file by opening up the game files in the Applications folder. Right click/2 finger click on the game icon and select Show Package Contents. It's in there somewhere but I can't remember the file path.
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  • caspinwallcaspinwall Posts: 916 Member
    edited January 2014
    :shock: wow, thanks for pointing that out, I had no idea they dropped the dedicated card in the entry level 15". Why on earth would they do that??? If you bought it from an Apple store you can take it back and exchange for the more powerful 15" within 2 weeks. I can't believe Apple did that on such an otherwise powerful MBP :shock:

    Let me add some more shocked eyes: :shock: :shock: :shock:

    I guess that's a bit of a pickle then for those who have chosen this Macbook and hoped to play Sims. :( At least the game seems to work but who wants to play on the lowest possible settings on a beautiful new Mac with a flipping retina screen!

    I'll update the first post (which I needed to do anyway after noticing a shocking spelling error that caused me to actually look like the shocked eyes due to my shame :shock: )
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  • xvanpxxvanpx Posts: 1
    edited February 2014
    Yeb, i got that problem,too. :(

    It's look terrible on my rMBP 15' with iris pro T-T and furthermore the graphic become worse when i try to use a higher setting for sims3


    rMBP 15' late 2013 // i7 2.0// 16GB // iris pro card
    and
    SIMS 3




  • itsaprilXDitsaprilXD Posts: 642 Member
    edited February 2014
    Just a quick question since I'm buying a 2013 iMac in a couple of months... does this actually have any impact with the imacs? The base model I was looking at has the Intel Iris Pro graphics card, whereas the next model up (only $250 difference), has the GeForce 750M...


    IN SHORT: Does the graphics card have any effect on the graphics with an imac (since the original posts are just in reference to macbooks).
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    edited February 2014
    Yep, you will encounter the same problems as it's not a MacBook issue as such, more a driver issue. Very simply, EA need to add support into a future patch for the Iris cards........ like that will ever happen :evil:
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  • itsaprilXDitsaprilXD Posts: 642 Member
    edited February 2014
    Yep, you will encounter the same problems as it's not a MacBook issue as such, more a driver issue. Very simply, EA need to add support into a future patch for the Iris cards........ like that will ever happen :evil:

    Oh no :(
    Either way, I run in bootcamp most of the time (even though it drive me insane and I absolutely hate it)...
    I'll probably end up getting the next model up at this point... hopefully with the better specs it will end up lasting longer anyway :p
  • tinypeachtinypeach Posts: 2
    edited May 2014
    I'm having this problem as well. I have the macbook pro 13" with Iris. Nearly every other game I play looks spectacular, but the one I've put the most money and time into (Sims!) looks awful. Nearly unplayable. I can't play anything above the 'low' setting... my 5-year old desktop with cheap parts ran smoother than this... it took forever to load, but it looked alright. Now it's the opposite... super fast load times but abysmal graphics. I've tried upping the performance settings as suggested here but if I nudge any setting besides 'sim detail' above low, my game gives me a mostly black screen.

    I feel like I just wasted so much money on these games now since I can barely play them... you'd think, since it's one of the more popular models of laptop/computer, there would be support for this card. I know Sims 4 is coming out soon and all but this seems like rather poor customer support on EA's end. It's a retina display, but it can't handle showing terrain paints? What's with that?

    I even tried uninstalling everything except the base game to try and free up some space... computer ran less hot, but the graphics performance was exactly the same. So sad. I loved these games but I pretty much have to say goodbye to them until I can save up for another computer, which is not likely. :(
  • itsaprilXDitsaprilXD Posts: 642 Member
    edited May 2014
    I'm not sure if this said already (... lots of words and I'm tired ;)), but the graphics file can be found in Game/Bin (somewhere inside another folder that is somewhere inside the Library... confusing, right?). I can remember the location in Windows (Program Files x86/EA/TS3/Game/Bin, just in case anyone was wondering), but I'm pretty sure it's just Library instead of Program Files for mac (it's the same place as the Graphics Rules for those that use HQ mods).
  • WinstonMeWinstonMe Posts: 22 New Member
    edited June 2014
    (Pasted my question from post - still unresolved. thought it was related)

    Hi there! I have been playing The Sims for many years, but this is my first time experiencing The Sims 3 on a Mac. Specifically a Macbook Pro. When I played for the first time, I noticed a major difference in the graphics of the game. The sims and their environment were at much lower settings than I am used to. The game however was running smoothly. I attempted to slightly raise the settings, but the screen went all wonky and everything was bright red, yellow, and white. The graphics on lower settings aren't terrible but It's kind of a bummer.

    Any suggestions on how to set up my game/computer so that it runs nicely with nicer graphics? from what I understand my computer exceeds the requirements.. But I could be wrong. I don't know very much about working this game on a Mac. I would appreciate any helpful suggestions.

    Thanks!

    Computer Info:

    Retina, 13-inch, Late 2013
    Processor: 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5
    Memory: 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
    Software: OS X 10.9.3
    Graphics: Intel Iris
  • tmetheitmethei Posts: 4 New Member
    edited November 2014
    I've wanted to put in a word here, since me and my wife have recently bought a 15" MacBook Pro Retina late 13, that's the entry-level model sporting 8Gb RAM, 2 GHz Intel Core i7, and, finally, Intel Iris Pro. Taking into account all the above said I've managed to run it on medium->high settings. If any of you are interested, I'm planning to write a step-by-step manual for those of you who own the same machine or any similar one. I guess, the same applies to a 13" MacBook Pro Retina with Iris. BTW, I run it on OS X with native support

    So, guys, if you need my help here and you own a MacBook Pro Retina with Iris, I'd be happy to help!
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    tmethei wrote: »
    I've wanted to put in a word here, since me and my wife have recently bought a 15" MacBook Pro Retina late 13, that's the entry-level model sporting 8Gb RAM, 2 GHz Intel Core i7, and, finally, Intel Iris Pro. Taking into account all the above said I've managed to run it on medium->high settings. If any of you are interested, I'm planning to write a step-by-step manual for those of you who own the same machine or any similar one. I guess, the same applies to a 13" MacBook Pro Retina with Iris. BTW, I run it on OS X with native support

    So, guys, if you need my help here and you own a MacBook Pro Retina with Iris, I'd be happy to help!

    That would be a great addition to this thread and help a lot of people. Are you running Yosemite? Have the updated graphics drivers in Yosemite maybe solved the issue? :)
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  • tmetheitmethei Posts: 4 New Member
    > That would be a great addition to this thread and help a lot of people. Are you running Yosemite? Have the updated graphics drivers in Yosemite maybe solved the issue? :)
    No, the problem hasn't been resolved due to the Yosemite update, what I've done is all about changing the game files manually. I'm glad that has raised some attention, so I'll try to find some time in the nearest day or so and will definitely post the detailed instructions of what to do to get the game running on medium->high setting. I'll head here as soon I have free time, hope that won't take me long!!
  • tmetheitmethei Posts: 4 New Member
    Well, first of all, I've managed to get the game running rather smoothly thanks to the post the link to which you can see above. Unfortunately, as it's my second comment here, I'm not allowed to post any links

    What I want to do is to give you the idea of how to do that on a retina MacBook sporting the Iris Pro graphics card and running OS X (Yosemite, in my case)

    1. Go to /Applications/The Sims 3/The Sims 3
    2. Right click on folder name and select Show Package Contents
    3. There, go to Contents/Resources/transgaming/c_drive/Program Files/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/Game/Bin
    4. Look for the following two files: GraphicsCards.sgr
    GraphicsRules.sgr
    5. Back them up in case you do smth wrong, so it's better to copy them and paste in some other directory. I just made copies if them in the same folder, renamed them as it was advised in the link above. We'll edit them later.
    6. Click the apple logo in top left corner of your status bar. Open the About this Mac dialog. Click on Graphics/Displays under Hardware. You'll find the Vendor and Device ID information clearly labelled. For me, the figures are: Vendor: Intel (0x8086); Device ID: 0x0d26
    7. Open GraphicsCards.sgr with TextEdit
    8. Search for the following lines:
    card 0x0152 "Desktop IvyBridge GT1"
    card 0x0156 "Mobile IvyBridge GT1"
    card 0x015A "Server IvyBridge GT1"
    card 0x015E "Reserved - IvyBridge GT1"
    card 0x0162 "Desktop IvyBridge GT2"
    card 0x0166 "Mobile IvyBridge GT2"
    card 0x016A "Server IvyBridge GT2"
    9. Replace them with these lines:
    card 0x0d26 "IntelIrisPro"
    card 0x0d26 "IntelIrisPro"
    card 0x0d26 "IntelIrisPro"
    card 0x0d26 "IntelIrisPro"
    card 0x0d26 "IntelIrisPro"
    card 0x0d26 "IntelIrisPro"
    card 0x0d26 "IntelIrisPro"
    10. Save the file and if prompted to overwrite, answer Yes.
    11. Open GraphicsRules.sgr with TextEdit
    12. Search for the following line:
    elseif (match("${cardName}", "*IvyBridge*"))
    13. Replace it with this line:
    elseif (match("${cardName}", "*IntelIrisPro*"))
    14. Save the file and if prompted to overwrite, answer Yes.
    15. That's almost it! Now load up the game and set the resolution to one of the native ones (the best in terms of support is 1440 by 900 px)
    16. If you can't (you may be hearing the sound but not seeing the picture, not 100% sure), go to <user name>/Documents/Electronic Arts/The Sims 3/
    16. Find Options.ini, open with TextEdit
    17. Look for the line:
    resolution = ***
    In my case, that's:
    resolution = 1440 900 0
    I recommend you to set the same resolution as mine, and you'll be able to play with the display settings later yourself. Personally, I've set everything to medium, and the Sims details and Texture details are on high, and I really like what I see: smooth, fast performance and crisp graphics.
    If you ever have the problem of hearing the sound but not seeing the picture, that must be the problem with the unsupported resolution. So, go to step 16 and follow the next few steps.

    Guys, I would like to get some feedback here, so, please, if the manual is of any help, write your impression here!
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Fabulous - thank you!

    I'll add a link to your post on the help thread we have going on the first page. Hopefully it will help a lot of people :)
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  • Rigg04PlayerRigg04Player Posts: 3 New Member
    Tmethei - Unfortunately, your steps did not work for me. In fact, I no longer can even run The Sims 3. I receive this message: "...Do you wish to debug it." I am uncertain as to why this has occurred. Hopefully you know why?
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Tmethei - Unfortunately, your steps did not work for me. In fact, I no longer can even run The Sims 3. I receive this message: "...Do you wish to debug it." I am uncertain as to why this has occurred. Hopefully you know why?

    - After you tried this and it did not work for you, did you put your original GraphicsCards.sgr and GraphicsRules.sgr files back in?

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  • Rigg04PlayerRigg04Player Posts: 3 New Member
    BluebellFlora - Yes, I put the original files back in. I completed removed the game from my computer and now when attempting to run it, I receive this message: "Unknown Error Occurred". One would thing that EA would care about its Mac users, but that is clearly not the case.

    I certainly would appreciate any help. If more details are needed, I will gladly provide them. Thank you :)
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