Lagging and stuttering game performance when using screens in-game

ea pls fix this!!!

Hi,

I just wanted to report that I’m experiencing the same issue. Whenever my Sims use the TV or the computer, my game starts to lag really badly and becomes almost unplayable.

I’m playing on a Mac M4, and after reading other posts, I realized that several Mac players seem to have the exact same problem. Everything runs fine otherwise, but as soon as the TV or computer is in use, the performance drops significantly.

So you’re definitely not alone — I’m having the same issue here as well.

Hello,

Besides people in The Sims 4 discord complaining (found via searching in the discord Mac + lag, Mac tv lag etc.) about it, I've found

This reddit post with commenters describing the exact same issue, and a video with a sim using a laptop which causes this issue as well is included. 

https://www.reddit.com/r/macgaming/comments/1jiy8x1/for_a_native_mac_port_the_sims_4_performs_pretty/ 

See commenter "adamlbiscuit" who described: Sims 4 on my M4 Mac mini runs well most of the time but it does have lag spikes in Live Mode. I’ve noticed that the FPS drops quite dramatically whenever a Sim is interacting with a screen such as watching TV or playing on the computer (something which they always do autonomously). It’s frustrating and I haven’t found a fix… (No mods)

From user thesimaa - "I have the same issue with MacBook Air M4. Nothing helps, even the lower resolution, and disabled edge smoothening :("

If I find more I'll continue updating.

Such a frustrating issue that hasn't been fixed for months. It wasn't happening until an update in 2025, I just don't know which one as I stopped playing the game for a while until July.

Hoping EA will answer our prayers at some point.

heygwenpool​ 

Thanks for the thread! Interesting and shows how different everyone's setups are. The OP in that Reddit thread is using a 3rd party app to control their fan speeds, never a good idea unless it's just for monitoring purposes. With only 256GB storage in the iMac I wonder whether they are having memory issues, 512GB also fills up pretty quickly nowadays. They have a lot of Apps open too, you can see in the Dock and Activity Monitor. The OS should happily be able to deal with switching power and memory but TS4 is greedy. They have a game controller icon in the menu bar, is this the old icon for Game Mode before the rocket was introduced in Tahoe? I think so but I can't remember.

I don't think this is an issue with screens in the game but more an issue with the machine struggling when screens are being used because of the increase in processing needed to render in-game.  You're right it appeared in a patch from last year, I think it was the graphics and performance overhaul patch in January 2025? Maybe they tweaked something that requires more system resources and the Mac can't provide the resources because a) it's running out of memory b) running out of disk space so no VRAM is available c) too many Apps/processes running.

I can't remember if we tried this it's been so long but did you set up a new clean user account, no iCloud setup, no antivirus setup in that account if possible (if used), nothing running at all or launching at login. Just launch EA App and the game. None of your TS4 user data copied from your usual Mac user account Docs folder so no existing saves etc. See if it happens in a new save - one sim, one room, just a TV/computer.

We did try running the game with a new clean user account and the issue kept happening unfortunately. I do not run the game with anything in the background because it drains my battery way too fast. I don't know if every other commenter runs their game with multiple apps open. I also don't use anything extra when playing this game, like something to control fan speeds or an fps unlocker. Happens on a completely new EA account with only the base game too. 

The issue will happen even if I put a sim in a tiny willow creek base game house with 1 tv. I've started deleting the TVs when I play the game, but this glitch makes it impossible to go to a cafe when sims are constantly pulling out laptops and tablets (which I have discovered also contribute to this) every 5 seconds. Even if I reset them, I'm assuming the game directs the npcs to run the action to make the cafe look more lively. 

Honestly I've given up. I love this game to death but it's not running well on Mac anymore. Seems like it's an issue with base models / airs. A bit frustrating considering it was fine before. I'm just going to look into getting a better gaming computer at this point. If it's an issue with the performance overhaul patch, there's not much I can do I'm assuming. I'm still hoping that there will be a fix in the future.

Thank you for your help though. 

Also seems to happen in cafes when sims use those gigantic tablets. I don't play the game much anymore because of this but I do hope there's a fix, but I don't know to be honest.

Playing on a MacBook Air M4. My game is buttery smooth most of the time in high settings. However, the game experiences significant FPS drops whenever a sim interacts with the computer. The FPS drop usually starts after the screen opens and ends immediately once the screen turns off. Obviously, this causes libraries to be really laggy (low fps and stuttering) due to the amount of sims regularly using the computer. Need a fix ASAP as I make my sims use the computer a lot.