Hi, thanks for your reply! I understand your point. Just to clarify my case:
I have an iMac 2014 which I’ve been running with OpenCore Legacy Patcher to keep it updated. Everything worked fine up to macOS Sonoma, no issues at all with The Sims 4 or other apps.
This year I upgraded to macOS Sequoia around June, and the game was still running well. The problems only started after the July–August Sequoia update: now the game launches, but when I try to start or load a save, the screen turns black and it crashes.
For everything else, the system runs great (except for iPhone mirroring, which I know is hardware-limited). That’s why I thought it might be something specific with how TS4 interacts with the GPU after the latest Sequoia update.
I also followed the steps in the link you shared about adding my GPU to the GraphicsCards.sgr file, and it’s detected correctly. So the issue isn’t that the GPU isn’t listed — it looks more like a compatibility problem introduced with the latest Sequoia update.
So yes, I’m aware my GPU (AMD Radeon R9 290) is listed and supported, but something changed recently that broke compatibility only for this game. I’ll probably have to wait for an EA fix for Mac or revert back to Sonoma, where everything worked perfectly.
Ah, one year out!
I’ll probably have to wait for an EA fix for Mac or revert back to Sonoma, where everything worked perfectly.
What should EA be fixing? The game works fine on Sequoia on compatible Macs but you're using a hacked non-Sequoia compatible Mac. I remember players rendering their games unplayable on hacked Macs when TS3 64-bit was released. They had Catalina installed on non-Metal Macs. They couldn't run the original 32-bit version of TS3 because Catalina no longer supported 32-bit and they couldn't run the 64-bit Metal version because their Mac wasn't Metal compatible.
I have TS4 installed on 3 different model Macs running Sequoia, M1, M4 and Intel iMac (with Radeon Pro 580X GPU). I think your compatibility question should be directed to OpenCore. Maybe it's an issue they would be interested in and isn't just affecting TS4 but other apps too?
I know that running a “hacked” macOS isn’t ideal and can cause issues — I’ve always been aware of that. That said, I’ve been using OpenCore on this iMac for years and The Sims 4 has always run perfectly fine (even with lots of mods), never slow or unstable, until this recent issue.
I also spoke with EA support live and they told me there isn’t an immediate fix, but they did create a bug report and passed it along to the dev team, so at least it’s on their radar. You’re probably right that it could also be related to OpenCore, but I’m not sure how to pass this information directly to the OpenCore developers or whether they’re already aware.
This is actually the first time I’ve ever had such a problem after a macOS update. If no fix comes, I’ll probably have to roll back to Sonoma (which is a lot of work to “rehack” the system, lol).
Thanks for the suggestion though
