"Unknown Error" on Mac

Absolutely agree with @puzzlezaddict and @igazor. The new MacBooks are very underpowered and don't have a fan to cool them down so severely throttle any app that is demanding graphics and processing power, which the Sims 3 does in spades. You will drastically shorten the life of your MacBook if you play TS3 on it.

"Dianesims;c-16542026" wrote:
That's a thing that bothers me with Apple right now, the computers are less powerful than they used to be but the prices are insanely high.
I have a 2015 Macbook pro, and my brother has the old thicker one, that, for a lesser price, had more memory for example (mine has 250go, his has 500go).

No, you are I'm afraid confusing hard drive size with memory and possibly computing potential. My current MacBook Pro also has a much smaller drive than its predecessors, but it's a Solid State Drive (SSD) and I willingly paid a premium price for that benefit (and I don't play sims games on it). SSDs are and always have been more expensive than traditional Hard Disk Drives (HDD) on both PCs and Macs. Hard drive size has nothing to do with how powerful a computer is, but whether it is meant to store and run files locally or operate more from files stored on externals or in the cloud. These lighterweight devices that cannot possibly run TS3 properly are built more for cloud usage and cost more precisely because they weigh less and are more easily portable.

Memory is RAM, what a computer actually uses to run the operating system and programs, and the default configs have always increased the stock RAM over the years. Never decreased. You can't even buy a new Mac with less than 8 GB anymore except for the one lowest-end model of the much cheaper Mac Minis. In years past, the stock RAM was always 4 GB and then 2 GB before that on most models and so on backwards through time. The stock processors (CPUs) have also steadily increased in power across the board with each new lineup.

We cannot compare specialty use devices like the newer line of MacBooks, or MacBook Airs even, with fully equipped computers like MacBook Pros and iMacs.

"Dianesims;c-16542026" wrote:

"BluebellFlora;c-16535772" wrote:
Absolutely agree with @puzzlezaddict and @igazor. The new MacBooks are very underpowered and don't have a fan to cool them down so severely throttle any app that is demanding graphics and processing power, which the Sims 3 does in spades. You will drastically shorten the life of your MacBook if you play TS3 on it.

That's a thing that bothers me with Apple right now, the computers are less powerful than they used to be but the prices are insanely high.
I have a 2015 Macbook pro, and my brother has the old thicker one, that, for a lesser price, had more memory for example (mine has 250go, his has 500go).

Actually they're getting more powerful with really good GPUs in the 15" and high end iMacs, plenty of RAM, and nice stable storage. The MacBooks are pretty and serve their purpose well - to be ultra portable and lightweight. That's what the user is paying for, the technology crammed onto the smallest possible logic board.

Your brother's Mac may have more internal storage but your CPU and GPU will be more powerful, and your RAM will be faster :)

@ZaraAdn

It absolutely isn't necessary to factory reset your Mac to get rid of all the Sims 3 files. That's extreme and not helpful to people who are not comfortable wiping their Macs. Simply manually uninstalling is enough. Factory resetting a Mac should only be done when there are evident problems of corrupted or missing files, permissions etc in the OS. And ONLY when the user is fully confident of what they are doing.

The problem is with Late Night, Ambitions, Fast Lane and Outdoor Living, macOS El Capitan and later versions of macOS. This is all very well documented here, at AHQ, on my site, and countless other sites, forums and social media channels. The video you refer to isn't mine, full credit for that goes to corey_0414.

There are several causes for the unknown error message, depending on your computer's specs and what you've installed in the way of packs. So if you could post those details, it would be easier to tell you how to proceed.

"puzzlezaddict;c-16532004" wrote:
There are several causes for the unknown error message, depending on your computer's specs and what you've installed in the way of packs. So if you could post those details, it would be easier to tell you how to proceed.

I have all the packs installed. It's a 2017 MacBook. 1.1 GHz Intel Core m3. 8GB Memory. Intel HD Graphics 515 1536 MB graphics card.

Your computer is way under the minimum specs to run TS3. Both the processor and the graphics card don't come close to requirements. Whether this mac could handle the base game on the lowest graphics settings, I don't know, but even if it could, the stress of the game might take years of the life of your laptop.

As far as the unknown error itself, it could be due to having certain packs installed, to the game not detecting your graphics card, or just due to your macbook being underpowered. If you really want to try to play TS3 on this computer, the first two problems can be addressed, but the third might still be an insurmountable barrier. I'm sorry I don't have better news.

Hey there, @becks1112 - I know you have been away from us for a while. One thing that has happened, besides TS3 for Mac becoming more of a mess to get installed and running than it ever was, is that Apple released a new product line of what they call MacBooks (not MacBook Pros) that are nothing like the regular MacBooks of prior years. These devices cannot run TS3 and if you force even the base game on them, they will likely overheat on you -- they have no real cooling system besides being too weak on the other specs.

Basically I'm agreeing with @puzzlezaddict - you can't really sim or play any graphics intensive games on those devices. They are more powerful than tablets but not built to withstand too much more stress than say an iPad can. Their strengths are super lightweight portability and performing very light office and web/cloud based tasks more so than running games and other intensive programs.

And there are issues with the graphics cards which are no longer supported since they are newer than when the last patch for TS3 Mac came out which was several years ago.

"BluebellFlora;c-16535772" wrote:
Absolutely agree with @puzzlezaddict and @igazor. The new MacBooks are very underpowered and don't have a fan to cool them down so severely throttle any app that is demanding graphics and processing power, which the Sims 3 does in spades. You will drastically shorten the life of your MacBook if you play TS3 on it.

That's a thing that bothers me with Apple right now, the computers are less powerful than they used to be but the prices are insanely high.
I have a 2015 Macbook pro, and my brother has the old thicker one, that, for a lesser price, had more memory for example (mine has 250go, his has 500go).