I am wondering, are there any Sims 3 players on Mac on here? I am currently switching to Mac - I have both a Windows and a Mac computer, however my Windows one is very old and once it stops working, I plan to continue with just my Macbook Pro. I am now thinking about installing one of the Sims games on my Mac and am looking for some opinions.

Obviously, Sims 4 is out of question since it hasn't been released for Mac (yet) and I haven't really enjoyed it when I played it for a little while on a PC. So now I am choosing between Sims 3 and Sims 2. I currently play Sims 2 on my PC as Sims 3 didn't work well on it and it didn't really make it worthwhile, though I do own a (physical) copy. However, I don't think Sims 3 is too bad if played on a good computer, and obviously with some mods and stuff. I think my Macbook Pro should be able to handle it.

As I said, I enjoy Sims 2 the most but thinking I'd probably have to buy it again, I'd rather spend the money on a newer game, considering I have a computer that's capable of it However, I have heard mixed reviews about Sims 3 for Mac, with some people saying it doesn't work well, though most of the information I found is rather old and maybe later patches have fixed some of this, or perhaps people have found some workarounds?

Another thing is, I own a PC version of the game (a physical copy). My CD key is tied to my old Origin account, and I can't remember the username and password for my life I am wondering if that means I have to buy the game again? Even if I was able to gain access to my account again (by contacting EA or something), would I be able to get a Mac version with my old CD key? Or, to save myself the trouble, would it be legal to download the Mac version of the game from, err, unofficial websites, considering I do actually own a copy?

Thank you everyone for your help

Have you considered having both windows and OSX installed on the mac? I've not played TS3 on a mac, only TS2 and the very sad fact about it is that the whole game was never ported for macs. So if you had the whole set for TS2 in windows, it might be a bit bare if you end up loosing the last two EP's.

I was just about to say without windows installed you can't use the tools for TS3 but then I googled .

Well, Windows for Mac is very expensive and because games, specifically Sims would be the only reason I'd need it, I don't want to spend so much money on it. I don't really mind if I can't use the tools as I have never actually used these tools when I used to play TS3 on my PC so I wouldn't miss them on a Mac. However, I'm more worried about the game being glitchy on a Mac, which is what I've read in some old posts, but not sure if it's still true. Especially if I can't use my old CD key and have to buy the game again, I definitely want a game that works well.

I tried playing TS3 on a Mac and it drove me nuts. I went out and bought a copy of Windoze so I could use Bootcamp and it still drove me nuts. I've since come to the conclusion that I'm not a Mac person in general. I still own one, but it's a overpriced thing to play movies on as that's about all I use it for.

As for the game being buggy, it's going to be buggy regardless of which operating system you use. It's coded that way and the only way to deal with it is to use mods. Obviously it doesn't fix everything, nor is it 100%, but it does make the game tolerable and gives the player the ability to customize their game to suit their needs.

Hello! I have an early 2011 17-inch MacBook Pro that came with 8GB of Memory, an AMD Radeon HD 6750M graphics card, and a 2.2 GHz processor. I am currently running OSx 10.9

I have all the Sims 3 expansion packs, a ton of mods, CC, and all of the store content and I can play the Sims 3 on full graphics without much trouble. I can play it even better than my sister who plays the game on her windows computer. I definitely recommend buying it!

Also in the Mac App Store they have The Sims 2 Super Collection for $29 which is a phenomenal port of the game for Mac. It contains almost all of the expansion packs (minus the last two) and a few of the stuff packs. This runs flawlessly fast on my computer, the fan doesn't even boot up nor does my laptop get hot (and I have like 5GB of custom content loaded in there).

Both games work great on Mac, in my opinion!

I played Sims 3 on a macbook pro and would have told you it played just fine, but I ended up destroying graphics card. Because the graphics card is integrated into the logic board, I need to replace the whole thing (haven't done that yet). For now, I have a refurbished Windows desktop with a much better graphics card that I bought for less than it would cost to replace the logic board. I can play sims on here now, and it runs SO much better than it ever did on the mac.

I did have numerous expansion pacs and mods going, but after my experience I will keep my simming to Windows machines. I adored my mac though, and once I get it up and running again I definitely prefer it to my desktop.

I played Sims 3 on a 2008 Macbook Pro with 10.5.8 until Generations with no real problems, sometimes 12 hours per session. I am writing this post on this very Macbook, so no permanent damage done . After Generations I switched to Windows Vista under Bootcamp on that laptop because it began to lag and games in Bridgeport never lasted longer than 10 weeks until that town became unplayable. I continued with Vista and Bootcamp up until Showtime (sans Pets) and figured that Seasons would be too much and finally made the jump to desktop PC.
The performance gain between MacOs and Windows was more than just noticeable - it was massive. The Mac port is shit and as far as I know transgaming, the software company that developed Cider, the porting software, is all but bankrupt or at least development on Cider has ceased. I think that the majority of developers have abandoned Cider for good. Playing Sims under MacOS means that you will play in a fully unsupported environment.

Windows for Macs isn't more expensive it's just that you would have to pay full price while most PCs come bundled with Windows or have Windows pre-installed. In fact, there is no "Windows for Mac", it is simply the regular Windows. But I'd say if one can afford a Mac in the first place the price for Windows shouldn't really matter. You'd definitely do yourself and your Mac a favour by not playing the Sims on MacOS, you're wasting too many resources and have an increased risk of damaging your hardware because of that. And having a Mac repaired is definitely more expensive.

And as regards Origin. Unless your TS3 disk is newer than from autumn 2012 you should be able to install it with no problems and no Origin. The Mac version is already on the disk. Digital versions, on the other hand, were in the past handled by transgaming, not EA and you had to buy this separately, but I guess now that Origin is available cross-platform EA should be able to provide you with the digital Mac version, too, at no additional costs - if you find your account details, of course.

I played TS3 up to about Generations on my 2009 MacBook Pro and it did play fairly well, but the lag started to get annoying. There is also the irritating issue with CC hair - sometimes it doesn't show up. I don't know why, and I never discovered a consistent strategy to get it to work. I haven't tried with Windows installed on the MacBook (I bought a desktop PC) but the MacBook plays TS3 worse than it's RAM/ processer suggest it should.

Thank you for your opinions. Wow, I didn't even realize the game could damage the computer so much - this gives me another reason to reconsider. Damage aside, unless the port is really that bad, I think the game should probably run better than on my old PC anyways as my PC is about 5 or so years old and hasn't been a high end computer even then, whereas my Macbook Pro is new (6 month-ish) and one of the high end ones even in the Macbook Range. I got it as a gift from my parents, as I am studying graphic design and so I needed a powerful computer that could handle all my Adobe software - and that, it certainly does, I never knew a laptop can be so fast even with several programs like Adobe Photoshop, Indesign, Illustrator, etc. opened all at once However, being a broke student, the cost of buying Windows is a little too high for me right now, so that's out of question right now. My Macbook doesn't have a DVD drive, so a disk is not an option, and even then I have an early version of the game, from 2009 or 2010 max.

I guess now I'll consider if it's even worth the risk to ruin my graphic card... Then see if I can even get a Mac version without buying a new one, as it costs 40€ I think and that's not a small amount for a 2009 game! And that's without the EPs! Otherwise, I'll just get Sims 2, I play them on my PC too so I won't have the feeling of downgrading Plus the entire collection (sans last 2 EPs) costs about a half of what Sims 3 base game costs, so that's good too

I have no idea where this always comes from. With some very sophisticated malware and low-level access it may be possible to purposefully damage hardware. It's been told that SecuRom actually damaged optical drives since it does run low-level access, but even that has never been proven. What these stories about TS3 or other games damaging hardware are about is probably thermal load. Every computer has to be designed to withstand full load without taking damage, though. If it doesn't, it's broken by design and not the software's fault. And every OEM computer does withstand full load. If people build their own computers from parts or switch out parts, it becomes their responsibility.

Bottom line: TS3 does not damage computers. No game does.

Just my two cents: I play sims 3 with all expansions + mods and cc on a 2011 13 in macbook pro. Whether or not that's actually advisable, I can play the game reasonably well. There's no debilitating lag and I can usually play for several hours before the game gives up on me, gives an error message, and crashes to desktop. My mac used to overheat a lot when I played, but ever since I think it was the second to last patch it's been pretty tame. The only hardware problems I've experience are crappy hard drive cables, a bad trackpad, and an unreliable SuperDrive, but those are separate issues.

I'd also track down your origin info and see if you can get digital copies. I got my base game in 2011. It and all my expansions are physical copies, but registering the games with origin gave me free digital copies, which is nice because my SuperDrive spits out like half the EP's so I need the digital copy to install them. I did start encountering authentication errors at some point, but Twallan's no cd mod fixed that.

Honestly, it feels like random chance more than anything else that determines whether Sims 3 will work on any given computer, mac or pc.

Hi, I don't think you will have more problem playing TS3 on your mac then you would on a PC. However, there is always a possibility you will.... there are as many experiences with playing TS3 on a mac as there are players.....

Bluebellflora on the official forum is awesome when it comes to TS3 and mac's check out her blogg, it has all you need to know http://bluebellflora.com

While what you've said is true for the most part, there are a LOT of OEM computers and electronics that are broken by design (remember the Xbox 360 RRoD problem?). OEMs don't stress-test their machines for the same duration as people own them, nor under exactly the same conditions usage patterns as they can't predict how everyone is going to use it. The switch to RoHS compliant lead-free solder also dealt a huge blow to electronics' long term reliability. Sustained thermal load itself actually isn't the problem at all. The root cause of GPU failure in laptops (and early Xbox 360) is solder balls cracking. There are little balls of solder connecting the GPU chip to the motherboard. GPUs tend to run quite hot in laptops because they have tiny coolers and tiny fans. Lead-free solder tends to be brittle so as it heats up, it expands, as it cools down, it contracts, and eventually cracks. While cooler and more efficient GPU chips has reduced the risk of GPU failure, it's still a very real concern and is still happening in OEM designs frequently enough that there's a pretty good side industry repairing them. Just Google "laptop gpu reballing" or "laptop gpu reflow" and there are thousands of hits.

I played SIms 3 on Mac....it is awfully slow. not recommended.

I played Sims 3 on an iMac until I got my own computer. It worked okay. I had some CC dramas and the pets looked bad, but it ran decently from what I can remember.

Keeping vsync on will prevent the runaway ridiculously high framerates TS3 can generate with a good video card, however, the vsync option built into the Sims 3 on the video Options menu doesn't work. You must enable vsync either in your graphics driver (IMO, the easiest solution), or use a frame rate limiter utility to launch TS3 with. Otherwise, those crazy high framerates will decrease the longevity of your video card as a result of overheating. So using vsync is a really good suggestion. Just don't rely on the broken option in TS3 for something so important.

I ran the game on a macbook pro for years without significant issues. As always, if gaming is a priority, you're going to get the best performance for your money out of a PC, but it's not like you can't run The Sims 3 on a decent mac.
I will say, though, that Mac users get a lot less support than their PC counterparts, both from EA and from modders. The patches were more buggy overall, and sometimes EA would take months to address even gamebreaking glitches, so you had to actually check out the patch before you went ahead and downloaded. You also had to be a bit more careful with cc. But again. As long as your macbook pro is in decent shape, it should run the game well enough.

Wait, what? How's it expensive? Macs these days use the same Intel-based hardware that Windoze PCs do. Far as I know, it therefore doesn't cost you anything at all to simply install it as a dual-boot.

To the best of my knowledge, there isn't a way to create a partition without a copy of Windows. I'm not saying that it couldn't be done, I just don't know what it is.

When I did it, I bought a copy of XP home edition and it cost me $80.00.