Forum Discussion

Bluebellflora's avatar
Bluebellflora
Hero+
6 years ago
Solved

[FIXED] Problems playing Sims 4 on the 16" MacBook Pro

The 2019 16" MacBook Pros are currently having a few issues playing The Sims 4. Typical problems reported by players are: Screen tearing  Game crashing, especially when trying to load a househ...
mac
ldthomson's avatar
ldthomson
5 years ago

HI everyone,

I have a new 16" MacBook Pro which I play TS4 on. I've had major issues with it and the game since it arrived (only had it since last week) but I have isolated the problem to the use of Laptop Mode. The game crashes and I get weird graphics glitches on the display, like disappearing flooring or screen tearing.

The spec of the machine is=: 

  • 6 core i7 
  • 16GB RAM 
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500 4GB 

I've noticed that when the game is running, the machine is really laggy if I briefly switch to another app like the web browser. 

I'm concerned because I bought the machine to do streaming etc and I need it to be capable of running the game at a high enough setting to make it look good while running screen recording for YouTube videos etc. 

The graphics settings were on Ultra but I have reduced them to High. When I look in Activity Monitor, the machine doesn't appear to be particularly taxed by the game - around 80% of the CPU is usually idle - I can only assume the graphics card is bearing most of the load. 

The quality of the graphics in the game (and the gameplay itself) is stellar - I really can't fault it and I'm pleased with the way the machine performs. Am I going to run into problems with frame rates etc when I attempt to record my screen? Is this a performance issue brought about by the latest patch which may not have been noticed by anyone else yet? Do I need to wait for EA to repair the problem with laptop mode on these machines to facilliate or should I just drop the graphics settings? 

Thanks! 

Bluebellflora's avatar
Bluebellflora
Hero+
5 years ago
@ldthomson

I've merged your post into this thread as it's the best place to keep the 16" MBP discussions all together. It's an active thread and discussion on this topic is informative.

Can you clarify, are you saying that having laptop mode enabled is causing the issues? There's no way you should have it enabled with your GPU and CPU. Did the game enable it as default? Could you add a screenshot of your in-game graphics options when you have a stable game (making sure to scroll down a little so the laptop option is visible).

As for the lag with other apps, we've narrowed this down to mainly when the game is minimised in the Dock https://answers.ea.com/t5/Technical-Issues-Mac/Sims-4-causes-severe-system-lag-not-in-game-lag/m-p/8689242 Don't even try and have Discord open at the same time, it's unbearable!
  • ldthomson's avatar
    ldthomson
    5 years ago
    @Bluebellflora I enabled it yesterday thinking it may improve performance and that was when the game started to crash again. That was also when I noticed the return of disappearing flooring on my lots, too.

    A little worrying that nothing else can run at the same time, that rules out my being able to do livestreams or anything with the machine with the way that the game is at the moment! I thought it may have been throttling itself to stop it overheating or something, I didn't think there was going to be a genuine issue...
    • Bluebellflora's avatar
      Bluebellflora
      Hero+
      5 years ago
      @ldthomson

      I’ll add that to the OP - thanks! No doubt your Mac will be throttling so it doesn’t overheat, downside of the lovely slim design. You could test it by placing your Mac on a couple of freezer blocks wrapped in a tea towel. I did that a few years ago and the difference was really noticeable because it stayed cool for so long!

      I normally play on a 2017 15” with a quad core i7 and 4GB AMD GPU and it plays really well. I have it on a USB fan cooling thing or iLap which helps with the heat. I also have a 2019 27” iMac with 8-core i9 and 8GB AMD 580X. I have everything on the highest settings and a really high screen res. The game plays beautifully but the fans are really running high to keep it cool.
      • Bluebellflora's avatar
        Bluebellflora
        Hero+
        5 years ago
        Oh, and I always play in windowed mode 🙂

Featured Places

Recent Discussions