Looking for laptop suggestions for Sims 4?

@Teenysox  Hi there.  I like computer hardware: talking about it, answering questions, reading about new components, all of it.  Or maybe only most of it, but anyway, it's fun to try to help people find the best laptop for their budgets.

In your case and given what's available in Australia, the Legion line may be the best overall option, but not necessarily at ~$300 more than a comparable Acer.  The Nitro models have gotten a lot better in the past couple of years: they can still feel a little cheap, but they don't break in 18 months anymore.  The Asus laptops with Intel CPUs tend to run too hot for my personal taste, but the temperatures aren't technically dangerous, and the models with AMD CPUs are a bit cooler as well, if you can find one.  So it's really more of a subjective call: how much are the features of a better-built Legion worth to you?

For the more objective questions:

1)  A 1650 ti can run all of Sims 4 on ultra graphics settings right now, and it's right on the border of what we think ultra settings might require by the time the game is out of development.  Anything above that, including not only the 3060 but the slower 3050 and the 1660 ti and 2060 in between, is overkill.  But that's not necessarily a bad thing: maybe you like high poly custom content, maybe you want to play other games, maybe one of those games is Sims 5....  Personally, I'd prefer something faster than a 1650 ti if I had the budget for it, but I wouldn't pay more than about $300 U.S. extra for a faster card unless I wanted to play more demanding games.

2)  The refresh rate matters to some people but not to others; more important is the type of screen, e.g. IPS or VA.  Your Mac has a 60 Hz screen, and since Sims 4 isn't competitive, you don't technically need the higher refresh rate.  It can be nice to have, but if you're looking at a 1650 ti, your framerates may be closer to 60 than 120 in Sims 4: while initial fps might be higher, the game does tend to have fps drops, even more so in longer-running saves.  So unless you're getting a faster card, which will probably come with a 120 or 144 Hz screen anyway, the refresh rate itself is not really worth taking into account.

The highest quality screen panel type is IPS, and VA is good too but not as bright.  But this is the kind of situation where you really need to look at a few screens and decide for yourself.  Some of them may have good technical specs but just not look right to you, for entirely subjective reasons that you'd never be able to pick up from a spec sheet.  You don't need to see the exact models you're considering, just one laptop per overall model with the same panel type, screen size, and refresh rate.  For example, all Legions in a given generation will have one of two or three screens, distinguishable by their basic specs.

3)  Any CPU paired with one of the graphcis cards you're considering will be more than fine for Sims games.  Ryzen CPUs use less power than the equivalent Intel models and therefore generate less heat, but it's not like an Intel laptop is going to break more quickly, provided you let it cool itself properly (i.e. don't wrap it in blankets when you play).  If you're considering playing CPU-heavy games like Cities Skylines or Planet Zoo, the processor will matter somewhat, depending on the graphics card it's paired with, but Sims 4 is not particularly CPU-heavy by current standards.

So the short answer is, look at some laptop screens and make a list of what you would and wouldn't want, then go back to the list knowing how much a graphics card upgrade is worth to you.  I personally don't think the almost $2000 Lenovo is worth it, but it's not my money or my game that will run it.  And consider too that if you save some money now, you might not mind if the laptop doesn't last quite as long: you can put the extra budget towards upgrading sooner to a laptop that's more powerful than anything on the market today.  But again, that's subjective.

All the laptops you've linked are good or very good in their own right; I don't see any red flags at first glance.  I'm happy to look more closely at any or all of them if you're otherwise happy with their specs and screens.

For what it's worth, my last Mac before this one lasted seven years, and for 6.5 of those, it ran Sims 3 very well considering its hardware.  I was quite happy with it and didn't want anything new until the end.  But I also didn't want to play other games at the time, and if I had, I'd likely have been frustrated with its performance.  The point is, how long a laptop lasts is as much a question of what you expect out of it as anything else: it could still be in good shape but simply not capable of meeting the demands you'd like to place on it.  Hardware improves so quickly, you really can't count on anything you buy today being good enough for the games you don't know you'll want to play four years from now.  You can only consider what you know you want to play now.

@puzzlezaddict Thank you for such a quick and detailed reply you've answered all of my long list of questions! Your advice about spending less now so I can potentially upgrade sooner is practical and what I needed to hear.

Your advice about going and seeing the screens is great. Melbourne gets out of lockdown this week so going browsing might be my post-lockdown treat on the weekend. Really I need to know if the nitro screen is fine for me because if it is it opens a lot more options at cheaper price points - or if there's another model within my budget that I like the look of. I'll let you know how it goes. Thank you so much for your help I really appreciate it!