how to download sims 3 starter pack onto macbook air with no disc drive
i have purchased the sims 3 starter pack with disc.. but want to download it to my macbook air which has no disc drive..
Forum Discussion
Hey! I have a MacBook Air and I recently bought the sims 3. I purchased online and got a code to put in to Origin. I did this and entered that code and the download was fine, but every single time I try to install the game onto Origin I get a error message. I do not have any virus scanner downloaded and I have restarted and rebooted my game multiple times. It would be appreciated if you could get back soon, thanks.
@2lilybean Does your Mac run Catalina? If so, there's no way to install Sims 3: the game is a 32-bit app, and Catalina is 64-bit only. There's no way around this. However, EA has announced a 64-bit-compatible version of Sims 3 for macOS, to be released (hopefully) some time this year.
In the interim, your only options are to play in a different computer, to install Windows on your Mac (via Bootcamp or Parallels), or to install an earlier version of macOS on an external drive and boot into that when you want to play. If you'd like more information on the last two options, let me know.
If you bought Sims 3 in the last 14 days and don't want to wait for the new version, you can request a refund instead:
https://help.ea.com/en-us/help/account/returns-and-cancellations/
@puzzlezaddict Yeah, I do have Catalina. What would installing windows do? and how would that work?
@2lilybean If you have enough free storage, which is a big "if" on a MacBook Air, you could partition your hard drive and install Windows on one side. This is known as Bootcamping, and macOS has a built-in feature, Bootcamp Assistant, to help. You'd probably want at least 100 GB for the Windows partition, and then only if you were willing to be careful about free space, cleaning up old saves and extra screenshots and the like. There's also a way to install Windows on an external drive through Bootcamp Assistant, although it's more complicated.
When you wanted to play, you'd restart your computer and hold down the option key, which would give you a list of all hard drive partitions available to boot into, and then you'd pick the Windows one. From then on, it would be like using a typical Windows PC. To get back into macOS, you'd restart again.
