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Which Mac/MacBook will run the Sims 4 best, or at least meet the requirements?

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I want to run The Sims 4, but don't know which Mac/MacBook can run it. Can It run The Sims 4 fluently? Here are the specs:

REQUIRED: Internet connection required for product activation.
OS: Mac OS® X 10.7.5 (Lion)
PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Processor or better
VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 9600M, 9400M,ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or better. Video RAM of 256MB or better.
MEMORY: 4GB RAM
HARD DRIVE: 10 GB of Hard Drive space
INPUT: Keyboard and Mouse

Comments

  • Lunder89Lunder89 Posts: 155 Member
    Depends on how many graphics settings you want in the area of high. If everything has to be turned on, then the only computer that can get close to doing that, would be the 5k iMac with a Radeon HD X295M. But somewhere around medium/high with 30-40 fps, I can recommend a 15" MacBook Pro Retina with Intel Iris Pro graphics card, and around medium a 13" retina MacBook Pro.
  • PoundericPounderic Posts: 4 New Member
    So there's a number of things that need to be clarified here, and I hope this clears things up for more than just the OP and Lunder89 above.

    As far as the OP's Post:

    > @Alyvia0421 said:
    > I want to run The Sims 4, but don't know which Mac/MacBook can run it. Can It run The Sims 4 fluently? Here are the specs:
    >
    > REQUIRED: Internet connection required for product activation.
    > OS: Mac OS® X 10.7.5 (Lion)
    > PROCESSOR: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Processor or better
    > VIDEO CARD: NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 9600M, 9400M,ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or better. Video RAM of 256MB or better.
    > MEMORY: 4GB RAM
    > HARD DRIVE: 10 GB of Hard Drive space
    > INPUT: Keyboard and Mouse

    I agree with Lunder89 for the most part. Most of the recent 2013/2014/2015 macbook pro's can run Sims 4 fairly well at medium to high settings. In terms of graphical capability, it's obvious here - a discrete graphics card will work even better. This means the ones with nvidia chipsets (GT650M, GT750M, etc). Note that iMacs have this as well.

    What I want to add in addition to Lunder89's post above is this - my iMac (27-inch, Late 2013) has a 3.5GHz Core i7, 8GB DDR3 RAM (yes, I need to upgrade to 32 before prices skyrocket even more), and a GTX 780M 4GB GDDR5 for graphics. The hard drive is a standard 1TB mechanical Hard Drive.

    It runs Sims 4 with everything maxed out at 2560x1600 INSANELY well. Even with view/draw distance at high and zoomed all the way out - it only dips to 20-30 FPS. So just wanted to note how performance is. I have not upgraded to Yosemite (10.10) on this computer yet as my Lightroom performance oddly is fairly low. So i'm still on 10.9.5.

    All of this was just FYI.

    Remember on a Macbook Pro Retina - the resolutions are still very high (2880x1800)even though you're on a 13 or 15 inch screen. So keep that in mind when purchasing a macbook is that unless you want things to look a little fuzzy, you'll want to run it at native resolution. This means that you'll essentially be pushing your mobile graphics (the highest of which is a GT750M) to the same extreme as, say, my 27-inch iMac. So you might need to either 1) dumb down your graphics settings or 2) change your resolution to a lower one (1440x900, for example) if you still want to keep your graphics options on High/Very High.

    Ultimately though, my 2007 Macbook with a 128MB 8600MGT and Core 2 Duo 2.2GHz 4GB DDR2 runs the game great with everything on low at 1440x900.

    Hope this helps.
  • Alyvia0421Alyvia0421 Posts: 8 New Member
    > @Lunder89 said:
    > Depends on how many graphics settings you want in the area of high. If everything has to be turned on, then the only computer that can get close to doing that, would be the 5k iMac with a Radeon HD X295M. But somewhere around medium/high with 30-40 fps, I can recommend a 15" MacBook Pro Retina with Intel Iris Pro graphics card, and around medium a 13" retina MacBook Pro.

    > @Pounderic said:
    > So there's a number of things that need to be clarified here, and I hope this clears things up for more than just the OP and Lunder89 above.
    >
    > As far as the OP's Post:
    >
    >

    Although these have helped a lot, can I have a list on the Apple devices that will work best and at what settings?
    Example:
    •(Device)- (Graphical Settings)
    (Info)____________________
    ________________________
    ________________________
    ________________________
    _____________________ And it goes on....

    Thanks!
  • solarstormsolarstorm Posts: 350 Member
    i have a macbook air year 2013 and the sims 4, get to work play excellent on it!

  • Alyvia0421Alyvia0421 Posts: 8 New Member
    > @solarstorm said:
    > i have a macbook air year 2013 and the sims 4, get to work play excellent on it!

    Do you know what graphics you have on? And do you recommend MacBook Air more than MacBook Pro?
  • solarstormsolarstorm Posts: 350 Member
    Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB -- is what i have ... on my MBA.

    i have an iMac 27 as well. i just prefer playing the sims 4 on this MBA ... idk why. it seems smoother and faster.

    the graphics option is on high -- in gameplay! @Alyvia0421
  • Alyvia0421Alyvia0421 Posts: 8 New Member
    > @solarstorm said:
    > Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB -- is what i have ... on my MBA.
    >
    > i have an iMac 27 as well. i just prefer playing the sims 4 on this MBA ... idk why. it seems smoother and faster.
    >
    > the graphics option is on high -- in gameplay! Alyvia0421

    > @solarstorm said:
    > Intel HD Graphics 5000 1536 MB -- is what i have ... on my MBA.
    >
    > i have an iMac 27 as well. i just prefer playing the sims 4 on this MBA ... idk why. it seems smoother and faster.
    >
    > the graphics option is on high -- in gameplay! Alyvia0421

    Thanks! So MacBook Air would be better than MacBook Pro? I don't want to much money being used. :)
  • Lunder89Lunder89 Posts: 155 Member
    I don't think a MacBook Air would do you very well for very long. I have a MacBook Pro Retina 2014 at work (With the Intel Iris Graphics), and i testet it out real quick, mostly on high, I got an average of 30 FPS, if you turn it to medium then you should get an acceptable framerate in the 40's.

    And with a 15" MacBook Pro, you also get a serious performer for pretty much everything else. Video conversions, multitasking, it won't tire out, trust me. The only thing it has a difficulty with, is games, but that has always been the biggest problem with Mac's
  • Alyvia0421Alyvia0421 Posts: 8 New Member
    > @Lunder89 said:
    > I don't think a MacBook Air would do you very well for very long. I have a MacBook Pro Retina 2014 at work (With the Intel Iris Graphics), and i testet it out real quick, mostly on high, I got an average of 30 FPS, if you turn it to medium then you should get an acceptable framerate in the 40's.
    >
    > And with a 15" MacBook Pro, you also get a serious performer for pretty much everything else. Video conversions, multitasking, it won't tire out, trust me. The only thing it has a difficulty with, is games, but that has always been the biggest problem with Mac's

    So the best one would be MacBook Pro Retina? Is there a difference to the sizes of the the MacBooks beside price?
  • Alyvia0421Alyvia0421 Posts: 8 New Member
    edited April 2015
    By the way, I want a portable MacBook. It's just better for me, since I'm used to them. Macs, they're the last option since they're pricey, big, and not portable. Unrelated question: can the Sims 4 play without wifi? And which MacBook will run best on Medium-Ultra settings? Sorry for all the questions!
  • solarstormsolarstorm Posts: 350 Member
    Alyvia0421 wrote: »
    By the way, I want a portable MacBook. It's just better for me, since I'm used to them. Macs, they're the last option since they're pricey, big, and not portable. Unrelated question: can the Sims 4 play without wifi? And which MacBook will run best on Medium-Ultra settings? Sorry for all the questions!

    to be honest, if you want more in life ... go macbook pro. I've had a MBP and its super nice. the MBA is just more compact but i abuse it with my ts4 and have nothing else installed other than photoshop :) thats it. but if you want MORE than that .. go mbp honestly.

    apple products will always be pricey :/
  • Lunder89Lunder89 Posts: 155 Member
    Alyvia0421 wrote: »
    So the best one would be MacBook Pro Retina? Is there a difference to the sizes of the the MacBooks beside price?

    The MacBook Air comes with the Intel HD Graphics card, the MacBook Pro Retina 13" features an Intel Iris, the 15" in can be bought with both an Intel Iris Pro and a nVidia GeForce GT 750M.

    Here the computeres are mentioned in the the order of their strength (from weakest to fastest)

    If we didn't like questions, we are on the wrong website ;)
  • RudeBoyRudeBoy Posts: 67 Member
    if you have a imac 27 inch your game should run great,i have a 2013 version and it's very smooth tho my 2013 is maxed out with ssd etc not the 4k version tho.everything loads up 6-12 seconds no lag etc
  • Alyvia0421Alyvia0421 Posts: 8 New Member
    I got the game and am in the middle of downloading it on a MacBook Pro, what graphic settings will make the game run best?
  • Lunder89Lunder89 Posts: 155 Member
    Depends on graphics card.

    To find out wich graphics card is in the computer:
    1. Click the Apple Menu and select "About this Mac"
    2. Click System Repport
    3. Locate and click "Graphics/Display" in the list on the left

    Here you can see wich graphics card is in the Mac.
  • Levi0034Levi0034 Posts: 1 New Member
    Could I run sims 4 on my 13" MacBook Air safely?
  • Simfreak982Simfreak982 Posts: 121 Member
    I'm running TS4 and a bunch of other games and programs on a 2013 MBP w/ retina. 2.4 GHz intel core i7, 8GB of RAM and an Intel HD Graphics 1024MB.

    I'm planning on upgrading to an Nvidia graphics card for an even better experience but it really isn't necessary. The game runs smoothly, I can multitask and my comp doesn't overheat because I keep it elevated.
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    I'm planning on upgrading to an Nvidia graphics card for an even better experience but it really isn't necessary. The game runs smoothly, I can multitask and my comp doesn't overheat because I keep it elevated.

    Not sure a 15" MBP logic board fits into a 13" MBP casing...

    apple-signature.png
  • Simfan923Simfan923 Posts: 5,551 Member
    I thought you couldn't upgrade graphics on a MBP?
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  • Eppo20Eppo20 Posts: 2 New Member
    I am thinking about getting the MacBook Air 2015 has 4 GB 125 flash storage
    I'm horrible with computers, I mostly use them just to play the sims and write essays..
    All I'm trying to figure out is, can I play TS4 on the MBA while also having the expansion packs, mods, and CC with it running smoothly?
  • BluebellFloraBluebellFlora Posts: 7,110 Member
    Eppo20 wrote: »
    I am thinking about getting the MacBook Air 2015 has 4 GB 125 flash storage
    I'm horrible with computers, I mostly use them just to play the sims and write essays..
    All I'm trying to figure out is, can I play TS4 on the MBA while also having the expansion packs, mods, and CC with it running smoothly?

    With graphics settings on low, maybe. The more you add to the game, the more your Mac will struggle to run it as MacBook Airs have low end integrated graphics, lower end processors and are not built for gaming.

    apple-signature.png
  • Eppo20Eppo20 Posts: 2 New Member
    What laptop do you recommend for TS4? What about the MacBook Pro with 8gb and 256 flash storage?
  • Anita281Anita281 Posts: 14 New Member
    hi all! would this 2016 macbook pro 13" (with retina display) run sims 4? here are its specs:
    2.9GHz dual-core Intel Core i5, Turbo Boost up to 3.3GHz, with 4MB shared L3 cache
    8GB of 2133MHz LPDDR3 onboard memory
    256GB PCIe-based onboard SSD
    Intel Iris Graphics 550
  • mypalsim1mypalsim1 Posts: 4,282 Member
    edited August 2017
    I have the MBP early 2015
    2.7 GHz Intel Core i5
    Memory 8 GB 1867 MHz DDR3
    Intel Iris Graphics 6100 1536 MB

    Runs fine. I have the graphics turned up to the max, but it gets HOT. I typically do not play for very long stretches of time, just to get the bits I need for my story (which is why it's turned up--good pics is my priority). I also typically have Safari running in the background. I have played all day before quite a number of times, too, and it did fine. I kept it elevated, and I have a great case that ventilates.

    If anyone has any advice as to how I could cool down my computer (sometimes I do turn off Safari) and yet keep the graphics the same, that'd be great. I'm going to play with the resolution settings to see just how "bad" it can get because I always have that thing my step-father(IBM genius) says in the back of my head, "the hotter they are, the quicker they die." Just like I said, I want good pics.
  • FeisbukaiteFeisbukaite Posts: 703 Member
    Eppo20 wrote: »
    I am thinking about getting the MacBook Air 2015 has 4 GB 125 flash storage
    I'm horrible with computers, I mostly use them just to play the sims and write essays..
    All I'm trying to figure out is, can I play TS4 on the MBA while also having the expansion packs, mods, and CC with it running smoothly?

    My kids play sims 4 on MB air. Quality of the game is bad, I would not recommend it. They don't have all available game stuff and it's bad already.
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