I have scanned this forum and haven't found reference to Mac users so I thought I'd start a thread for discussion.

Apparently the release of Sims 3 on the Mac will be simultaneous with the PC release. I have yet to scrounge up the requirements for the Mac. Has anyone read anything?

I also am not up on the current specs for Mac products, so perhaps someone who is better in the know could take a look at the PC requirements and take a wild guess?

Sorry HP if this is in the wrong place. I'm rusty...

I haven't seen Mac requirements listed on any of the major game sites, so you're not missing them. I'm not a Mac guy so I can't convert the pc requiremenst to Mac, I'm sure someone here can though. You might want to run that question by Callistra

I'm pretty sure the Mac version comes with the PC version in the same box like with Spore. The Mac requirements were actually announced a few days ago, here they are:

MAC OS: Mac OS X 10.5.7 Leopard or Higher
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB
Hard drive: 6.1 GB of hard disk space, with at least 1 GB additional space for saved games and custom content.
Vídeo: ATI X1600 or Nvidia 7300 GT with 128 MB of RAM or Intel Integrated GMA X3100
Supported Video Cards:

ATI Radeon ™ X1600, X1900, 2400, 2600, 3870, 4850, 4870, NVIDIA GeForce 7300, 7600, 8600, 8800, 9400M, 9600M GT, GT 120, GT 130, Intel ® Graphics Media Accelerator (GMA) GMA 3-Series . This game will not run on Mac systems with processor PowerPC (G3/G4/G5) or video cards with integrated GMA 950 series.

Looks like I can play The Sims 3 on both my PC and MacBook, win/win for me! :D

Thank you, Captain THPS4.

Looks like I'll have to get a new PC. A new mac would be out of reach.

Wow, this excites me haha. I was worried because my pc is, well, crap so I thought I might not be able to get it..but if the mac version release is simultaneous than I can get that and use it on my wonderful macbook!

Well one good thing the new macs that meet those requirements are only 999, and had free shipping. if you are a student you can get an additional discount, which i guess could be use towards a warranty. It should run it a lot better/ faster than windows.

I am excited about this, I no longer have to boot windows on my mac to play the game. NOW that is exciting!

Well, I just checked the Apple website and found that the basic mini meets the requirements provided that I upgrade the memory. The cost would be about $650 plus whatever the sales tax winds up to be...

It would be worth putting aside for, so long as apple doesn't "break" the game again like they did for sims 2.

Apple "broke" The Sims 2? How? Now I'm confused.

oh no! my mac mini is a 10.4.11, and there's no way i can scrape together enough money even if i sold my mini to get a 10.5! looks like, as usual, i will have to wait until a year and a half (or longer) after the game comes out to get it for meself. no, really. i didn't get sims 2 until last year, and even as i speak i only have one expansion pack (nightlife)

I'm thanking God I don't have a Mac gene lol

I wanna get the newly upgraded mac, but I'll have to wait now!!

There was a security and quicktime update that caused many/most of us to lose the ability to play sims 2 on our macs. Aspyr produced a fix but for me it didn't work...

So I am playing the game on my older Dell. It plays alright, but the graphics are not as good as on my G4 mini...

I always want to have a mac. But mac is very very expensive, I also do not buy branded PC like Dell or HP, I rather buy the parts and assembly it by myself.

I hope Microsoft commercial about mac price, will make Apple to drop their price in near future.

How it feel playing games in mac? Faster and lighter then WinXP?

The new macs are around $999 with free shipping. Hardly expensive anymore.

What specs? I bet vs a PC it has lesser specs.

But that doesn't really matter with Macs, due to OS X ONLY being on Macs and not being able to be installed on everything, Macs use the hardware they come with better than Windows does. (so, a 2Ghz Core 2 Duo is faster on a Mac than Windows)

Everything is the same except for the memory, graphics card, and I think that's it.

2.0GHz

* Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB DDR2 Memory
* 120GB hard drive1
* NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
* Standard keyboard
* White polycarbonate shell
(I can max it out to 4gb for $30..so I might do that, except I would not get the memory from apple.)

I am thinking about just saving up for the other mac..

2.4GHz

* Intel Core 2 Duo
* 2GB DDR3 Memory
* 250GB hard drive1
* NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics
* Illuminated keyboard
* Aluminum unibody
$1200+

Who knows it should play on both of them especially the second one pretty well.

Youch!!!! I'm really glad I don't have a mac gene lol

For USD$999, you can get a Dell XPS M1730 Laptop with NVIDIA® GeForce® 8700 GT Cards in SLI, 2Gb RAM, 2.1Ghz Core 2 Duo, 160Gb Hard Drive.

(That would cost a fortune in Australia, where I live...)

But as I said, Macs are more optimized software wise, you'd only notice a difference in gaming and if you use the extra Hard Drive space.

Heck, with the right kind of software, you could install OS X on that Dell and get a faster experience than the mac.

But, it's understandable that people like Macs, Sims 3 would run on that Mac perfectly fine, as you said.

True, just not a huge fan of dells. I can always get the mac, and get a desktop in the future..we have one that is not working, so might as well fix that up.

Ah, now you have me thinking about a dell desktop later as well..and my boyfriend could install OS X on it..hm..

It's cheaper to buy your own parts and get it made, especially since you can buy the parts you want, etc.

(To get OS X on a PC.. It's not easy and when you do get it, it may have trouble with updates.)

^ Yes, true. My boyfriend did hack his little acer and put osx on there. It is pretty difficult.

Heh, Another reason I hate Dell... That laptop I said about? Well, it costs US$999, on the Aussie site? AU$3300.

Sure, we have to have it shipped here and all that, but AU$2,700 just to ship a laptop? Bit expensive...

Oh well, this is why I custom build Desktops, Haha.