The time has come for me to stop trying to help Mac users attempting to play Sims 3. The game came out in June 2009 and hasn’t been updated at all since January 2014. That means that no version of macOS since OS X 10.9 Mavericks, probably 10.8 Mountain Lion would be more accurate, is supported so there is no guarantee it will work. This is also true for all Macs released since 2013 as the hardware will not be supported.
There are fixes you can try and if anything miraculous comes to light then I will update my pages. These workarounds still work for some:
- Bypassing the Launcher
- Expansion and Stuff Packs not showing as installed
- Adding your graphics card/chip to the game files
- Unknown Error fix related to Late Night/Ambitions/Fast Lane/Outdoor Living
- Game will not load using the physical disc
- Expansion and Stuff Packs not installing through Origin
To be honest, I’m growing weary of users posting the same issues over and over again and expecting a magic fix when there simply isn’t one. EA have been silent over the Sims 3 for years now, they’ve moved on. It’s disappointing that the game had such a short shelf life for us Mac users but it never worked well right from the beginning due to EA’s decision to use Cider.
If Sims 3 works for you great, count yourself lucky. If Sims 3 doesn’t work then maybe it’s time to move on and accept that you will not be able to play.
Bluebellflora 
Well, I’ve benefitted greatly from your advice and workarounds for Mac in the past, so I’m truly grateful. Heathen that I am, I still love creating characters and settings in TS3. All the main characters in my WIP are created in TS3 – ‘cos I find TS4 characters too Disney-esque and ‘samey’ 🙂 I’m probably one of the very few people on the planet still playing TS3! You’re an artist/architect/landscaper when it comes to creating beautiful houses, gardens, decor items. I’m guessing that TS4 is right up your alley – the images you’ve posted are stunning. Happy New Year to you and yours Bluebell!
LikeLike
Thank you, and to you! There really is nothing more to post about TS3 anymore as all issues are well documented. I found myself getting fed up with people not bothering to read and expecting to be spoon fed a fix that may or may not work.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I still play only Sims 3 and it’s Nov 2019. Love creating with various themes and unusual custom worlds ex Medieval, Castaway, retro, Victorian, dessert, apocalyptic Etc I have tons of mods and custom content. As long as it is loaded correctly and NRAAS mods are the right version, I’m good to go. I don’t use Origin. Open Worlds is what holds my interest. Hoping if there is a Sims 5 that it will be an open world. Sim on, folks!!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes!
LikeLike
Hi – I’ve found your guides to be incredibly useful, and am sad to see you leave this role, but it’s great that you’re moving forward. Good luck with TS4 🙂
With you dropping support, I would like to ask: I’m a volunteer editor at wikiHow, which is a website where anyone can freely create and edit articles on how to do anything. Since Sims 3 is just so buggy on Macs and I had to jump through a few hoops to find the fixes, I’m wondering if it could be beneficial to share your content on wikiHow, where the guides could be updated by other Mac players as time goes on (even you could edit the pages if you wanted to). The content would be rewritten to avoid plagiarism, and anyone who had contributed to finding the fix (including you) would be credited.
Could I obtain your permission to share your guides on wikiHow? If you have any questions about this, just let me know!
LikeLike
I’ve been supporting TS4 since it came out so it’s nothing new 🙂 Thanks for asking about Wiki though. I’d rather you credited and linked back to here, that’s what other sites do and I do myself on forums. EA have done exactly what you have requested on their help pages, re-writing and not crediting the original source – here. And whilst I can’t obviously do anything about it, it grates that all my time and hard work is just lifted and plonked on another site without any credit or links. When I’ve posted a solution found by another user I’ve always asked permission and credited them heavily. I believe it’s the least that I can do when they’ve taken the time to write up a workaround.
LikeLiked by 1 person
No problem – I completely understand you not wanting the content crossposted, so thank you for letting me know (and honestly, I’m rather appalled to hear that EA did that without credit, though not surprised). I and many other Sims 3 players would have been left flailing rather helplessly without your guides, so thank you for the time you spent helping us out!
LikeLike
Thanks 🙂 If anything major happens I’ll post but after 4 years of no updates and incompatible Macs (which is what users really need to get their heads around) there is nothing more to add. I loved Sims 3, such a shame that EA really screwed it up with Cider.
LikeLike
thats too bad 😦 i know EA really is messed up on alot of things including sims 4, its like a downgrade of sims 3, so many flaws.
LikeLiked by 1 person