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Marquesa8's avatar
Marquesa8
7 months ago
Solved

MacOS System Requirements with ALL Expansion Packs Included

Hi Players!

I need to know the recommended specs for running The Sims 4 with all expansion packs smoothly on a MacBook. I want to avoid also overheating issues.

Like, is this ok?

  • Apple M2 Chip: 8-core CPU with 4 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores

  • 8GB unified memory
  • 256GB SSD

I hope you could answer me, as it's very difficult to ask someone from EA directly.

Marquesa

mac
  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    7 months ago
    @Marquesa8

    Is that a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro? The difference being that the MacBook Air doesn't have a fan so overheating may become an issue. Having said that, I have the first gen. M1 MacBook Air (same specs as yours above only an older chip) and have played for hours on it with all Packs, all graphics settings at the highest, sometimes a ton of CC of which some is high-poly (alpha), and it has never overheated. I'm careful though, it is always plugged into power and fully charged before launching the game and always sitting on a hard surface so heat dissipates from the bottom casing. It's never got really hot, not like my Intel machines, although the fps is lower.

    I also have a current gen. 16" M3 Max MacBook Pro and it is amazing. I get on average 90fps with all packs and CC, playing for hours.

    The Apple silicon/ARM M series Macs are insane but if you can up the specs a bit you will get a better gaming experience and future-proof yourself. I would definitely go with more storage. 256GB is going to fill up quickly and is a problem for me on the M1. I now have the game installed on an external drive when I play on that machine and created a symlink so the Sims 4 folder is also stored externally. A lot of Mac users now do this because Apple aren't exactly generous with internal storage and the game has problems with iCloud storage.

    If you give me your budget and I can help you build a machine on Apple's website 🙂

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  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    Hero+
    7 months ago
    @Marquesa8

    Is that a MacBook Air or a MacBook Pro? The difference being that the MacBook Air doesn't have a fan so overheating may become an issue. Having said that, I have the first gen. M1 MacBook Air (same specs as yours above only an older chip) and have played for hours on it with all Packs, all graphics settings at the highest, sometimes a ton of CC of which some is high-poly (alpha), and it has never overheated. I'm careful though, it is always plugged into power and fully charged before launching the game and always sitting on a hard surface so heat dissipates from the bottom casing. It's never got really hot, not like my Intel machines, although the fps is lower.

    I also have a current gen. 16" M3 Max MacBook Pro and it is amazing. I get on average 90fps with all packs and CC, playing for hours.

    The Apple silicon/ARM M series Macs are insane but if you can up the specs a bit you will get a better gaming experience and future-proof yourself. I would definitely go with more storage. 256GB is going to fill up quickly and is a problem for me on the M1. I now have the game installed on an external drive when I play on that machine and created a symlink so the Sims 4 folder is also stored externally. A lot of Mac users now do this because Apple aren't exactly generous with internal storage and the game has problems with iCloud storage.

    If you give me your budget and I can help you build a machine on Apple's website 🙂
  • Marquesa8's avatar
    Marquesa8
    7 months ago

    Hello @Bluebellflora, Thank you for the detailed response! 🫶🏻

    I’m interested in understanding a bit more about how the Apple M2 chip specifically handles The Sims 4 with all expansion packs. Can you provide any insights into the performance expectations for this setup?

    How about the 8GB memory’s impact on the gaming experience? Is 8GB sufficient for running the game smoothly with all the expansions, or would more memory be recommended like 16GB?

    Also, why the 256GB of storage might be insufficient for The Sims 4 with all its expansion packs? I’d like to know more about how quickly storage can fill up and any best practices for managing game files on an external drive.

    Thanks again for your help! 🙂

  • Bluebellflora's avatar
    Bluebellflora
    Hero+
    7 months ago
    @Marquesa8

    I explained how my M1 performs, it is the same specs as the M2 but the M2 is an improved chip. Did you understand about the fan/fanless impact?

    256GB isn't all the space you have for TS4, it's all the space you have period. The base game and all packs will take up around 65GB currently. macOS will take up around 21GB with further space needed for updates. How much space will all your other Applications take up? How much user data do you have? How much of that can you shift to iCloud if needed? You cannot store the game installation or TS4 user data folder in iCloud, that MUST be local on the machine. If you need further understanding read the stickied thread on saves not loading in this Mac forum.

    Only you will know how quickly you're going to fill up the internal drive based on how you use your computer and what for (I don't need to know this info). Let's worry about best practice with external data as and when you need to use it 🙂
  • H1987's avatar
    H1987
    6 months ago

    Hey! @Bluebellflora  I saw this thread and I could really use this help too. I have a $3000 budget, what should I be looking to buy for sims  and multiple expansions packs, CC and still use it for all my personal stuff too. I REALLY appreciate the help 🙂

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