Forum Discussion

Re: [FIX] - "Can't run The Sims 4 with the video card in this system" in macOS

@EA_Leeuw wrote:
@leighbeta, as per [ANNOUNCEMENT] The EA app for Mac has arrived!, "*Origin for Mac is still available to download for Macs running macOS Mojave or older."
Hope this helps.

Unfortunately, this still seems to leave a gap that I’m trying to troubleshoot for my kid. They have a MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015) running macOS Monterrey 12.7.5. They've been playing Sims 4 for years via Origin, but were forced to upgrade to the EA app today and now they can no longer run Sims 4.

When we try to open Sims 4, we get the following error:

"Can't run The Sims 4 with the video card in this system. Please check that the video card meets the minimum specifications and that the latest video drivers are installed.

0e6d1221:1df4e8dc:8001000a:a7097531"

This is what I mean by a gap. It appears that the EA app version of Sims 4 is requiring newer hardware than the Origin app version did. But because the Origin app is limited to Mojave and older, it means we can no longer access Origin and thus no longer can run the app.

As the original poster stated, changing the minimum software and hardware requirements after someone has purchased software is pretty poor practice. Please either provide a workaround for this situation or modify the requirements for Origin so we can go back to running the software that worked.

4 Replies

EA_Leeuw
Community Manager
1 year ago
@grigs200, that error doesn't seem to be related to the EA app, to be fair, but to the game itself. There's a post from @Bluebellflora here “Unrecognized Video Card” error on Mac that might help you.
jennifermstone
1 year ago
I am experiencing the same problem. I am on a 2021 MacBook Air which is fully up to date with the last OS (Sonoma). I have always played sims on a Mac since day one. I last played Sim 4 two weeks ago on Origin without any issues. Went to play today and it said I was required I move to the EA app to play the Sims, downloaded the app without issue, went to launch the game....the same game that ran 2 weeks ago without issue.. and was told I don't have the required graphics card. I'm not buying new computer parts for this, as much as I historically loved Sims 1 through 3 the current game isn't worth me buying a new machine. If it's not fixed this is the end of my time with the sims which is a shame because I've loved this game since the original.
Bluebellflora
Hero+
1 year ago
@jennifermstone

You can’t buy new computer parts for your MacBook Air even if you wanted to.

Is there an option to close the window?

What happens if you trash the ConfigOverride folder in the Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 folder?
grigs200
1 year ago
Quick follow up on the older MacBook Pro I was troubleshooting for my kid. Thanks to @Bluebellflora, I was able to get Sim 4 working again. The solution was repairing Sims 4 in the EA app.
One thing @Bluebellflora pointed out was that the error message we were receiving was an OS level error versus the in-app error described, and screenshotted, here:
https://bluebellflora.com/2024/03/11/unrecognized-video-card-error-on-mac/

While the two have similar sounding error messages, they are different and require different troubleshooting solutions.
I cannot thank @Bluebellflora enough. EA should really compensate them for all of the great volunteer work they do supporting Mac users.