Tips for playing The Sims 4 on a Mac

This list isn’t exhaustive and if you have any tips I have left out , please feel free to leave a comment and I will add them, giving you credit of course 🙂

  1. Ideally playing on a Mac with dedicated graphics will ensure the best possible gameplay experience. The current Macs with dedicated GPUs are the high spec. 21″ iMac, the 27″ iMac, the 5k iMac and the high spec. 15″ MacBook Pro. If the Mac you’re looking at only has Intel graphics then it doesn’t have a dedicated GPU.
  2. Play around with the graphics options in game to find the best configuration for your Mac. You may need to enable laptop mode for smooth gameplay.  There is a graphics thread on the official forum detailing other Mac users experiences, it’s worth checking to see what settings they have their games on and how it is playing. If your game won’t load properly after playing around with the graphics settings simply go into Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4 and drag the Options.ini file to the trash. Empty the trash and restart your game. The graphics settings will have been restored to the default settings.
  3. For instructions on how to install The Sims 4 on a Mac go here. For uninstalling go here.
  4. Close all other applications running on your Mac, including apps such as Time Machine, Spotify and Dropbox.
  5. Turn off automatic updates for both Origin and The Sims 4. Instructions on how to do this can be found here.
  6. Play offline.
  7. Disable Origin in Game: Open Origin, click on Origin in the menu bar then Preferences. Click on the Origin In Game tab then uncheck the box next to Enable Origin In Game.
  8. For help on installing Mods on a Mac read ItsaprilXD’s excellent step by step guide.
  9. ALWAYS move your Mods out before applying an update/patch. Verify with the Mod creator that they are compatible with the latest update then you can put them back in.
  10. If your game isn’t performing properly try repairing it in Origin by right clicking on the game in My Games and selecting Repair Game. You can also try moving out your Sims 4 folder onto your desktop and letting the game regenerate a new one (Documents > Electronic Arts > The Sims 4). If your game now works the problem is in your user data somewhere, most likely you have a corrupted save or your CC/Mods are causing issues. For help dealing with Saves read Crinrict’s excellent post here.
  11. My help, bug and troubleshooting thread over on the official forum is updated regularly with known issues, possible bugs and what to do if your game is experiencing problems. Lots of Mac Simmers also contribute to it. Similarly Simsocity’s tips thread is definitely worth a look at.

52 thoughts on “Tips for playing The Sims 4 on a Mac”

      1. Hello!! I am so thankful for this website. There aren’t a lot of sims MacBook users. This is very helpful. I have a huge question. My sims are getting married and I saw this beautiful wedding venue on tsr. I don’t know how to get it to show up on the game. When I looked at videos for windows computers, they said to put the files in tray and blah blah blah. I did everything they asked but with no luck. Please HELP! I want this wedding to happen soooo badly.

        Like

        Reply

        2. Don’t know if it’s too late but venues and lots should always be placed in the tray folder. Do not create a sub folder for venues in your tray folder or they won’t show up. When placing in your game go to the gallery and ‘’My library” make sure you have include custom content checked off.

          Like

          Reply

  2. So, with intel graphics I can’t take decent pictures? Do you know of the game settings my computer will be able to handle so that I can still get good quality pictures? A lot of cc I have looks terrrible in-game but perfect in CAS and I don’t understand. Thanks, ❤

    Like

    Reply

  3. Dear BluebellFlora,

    at first I really want to thank you for all the hard work you’re doing, you’re really helping us out a lot!
    I have Macbook Pro Mid 2014 13″ Retina and Sims 4 is running very well. I only have the base game though and I would love to install the expansion packs. I am just very afraid because Sims 3 was running well, too, until installing my first expansion pack. After that nothing seemed to work anymore and I really tried a lot. Not even the base game ran without crashing when creating a Sim, so i just gave up and bought Sims 4.

    Do you think it’s safe to install an expansion? Or what do I have to consider? Does the chronological order play a role?
    Maybe you can help or give me a short advice?

    Thank you 🙂

    Like

    Reply

    1. Aww, you’re welcome, thank you 🙂 Sims 4 runs like a dream compared to Sims 3 because it is natively written for macOS whereas Sims 3 was the Windows version in a wrapper called Cider. This caused all the problems which EA have just swept under the carpet 😦 You should be fine but if not then I think EA offer refunds within 24 hours.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  5. My Mac (with Retina) also gets really hot when playing the Sims 4, unfortunately so does the power pack. Has anyone ever heard of a pack blowing while playing the Sims 4 (I am onto my third – thank goodness for Apple Care)?

    Like

    Reply

    1. If you are running any kind of software that requires a lot of processor and graphics power, like a game, then your Mac will be consuming a lot of power too. However, your machine will only draw the maximum needed from the charger so it shouldn’t burn out. For example, the old non-retina 13″ MacBook Pro required a 60w charger, the 15″ an 85w and the MacBook Air 45w. You could use the 85w and 60w charger for the MacBook Air as it would only draw a maximum of 45w but you shouldn’t use a 45w or 60w for the 15″ MacBook Pro as it will not be providing enough power and could damage the battery.

      I’ve had one burnt out charger but three? Wow, that’s excessive! The white block should never be covered as it does get hot so be careful you don’t have a cushion/duvet covering it. Are your electrics ok? A power surge could quite easily cause this issue. And yes, Applecare is always a definite yes when buying a new Mac 🙂

      Like

      Reply

  6. I have a MacBook Air, and I really want to get the sims 4 with the cats and dog. will it work? Because some websites said that it won’t and some said that it will.

    Like

    Reply

  7. Hello,
    Thank you for all the information you provided. Im having a issue and hope you can help. Im sorry if the answer is here, I have been trying to fix my game since cats and dogs. I do have CC which is a nightmare to go through trying to find the bad ones. So, I took the mods folder out the game and started a new game with a sim and a medium sized dog to start. Things seemed better but not as good as it was before cats and dogs. Well, I thought it was better until I started seeing glitches like…. I saw the dogs body stretch out, the sim just didn’t seem to respond to what I was having it do, well not that it didn’t respond at all but he would just be standing there for a while before he started doing what he was supposed to.
    Then, after I played a little while and decided to see what happens when I age the dog up to a adult, the game froze on me after a short time of playing with him as a adult, I believe I was taking a picture of him when it froze and I had to shut down my computer.
    The same thing was happening when I had CC.s in the mod folder. I know I definitely need to clean my cc’s but even starting a new game with no mods or cc’s is still having problems. I haven’t been able to enjoy my game since the dogs and cats came out, all I have been doing is trying to fix it 😩
    Im using the newest MacBook Pro 13″, could this be the problem?
    All my game settings are on medium, if I switch them to low would that help?
    I definitely not a computer savvy person so I hope I explained everything correctly.

    Like

    Reply

    1. Hey 🙂 Go into the Sims 4 folder and trash the Options.ini file. This resets all your graphics settings to the default ones. If it’s still horrible lower everything and see if that helps. Your Mac has integrated Intel graphics which aren’t optimal for gaming. C&D does seem to be putting more pressure on lower spec’d machines 😦 Repair the game too after moving out your CC.

      Like

      Reply

  8. I’ve been playing The Sims 4 on the same computer for a few months and it ran on high settings with a lot of cc and all expansions pack, add-ons,… Now it just takes forever to load a brand new Sims 4 folder with no cc and only base game installed, plus medium settings on windowed mode. It came out of nowhere, I played, closed the game and went back to it a few hours later and it lagged like crazy. I didn’t download any cc in the mean time and even though I had I started a brand new game and reinstalled The Sims 4 completely. The game takes up to 15 minutes just to launch (it goes unresponsive for 15 minutes before actually launching) and then I have to wait for about 10 minutes for it to get to the Play Button. The camera takes a few seconds to turn around, I get the freaking Mac wheel of death when I am in Buy/Build mode. I am confused as I didn’t do anything to my computer or to the game in between the moment it worked fine and the moment it started lagging, I wasn’t even using the computer!

    Like

    Reply

      1. I tried what you suggested but no improvement… I saw something on another forum that says that the AMD Radeon R9 M380 is not supported by the game, I don’t know if that could be the problem but since I could play before I doubt it is?

        Like

        Reply

        1. So, I timed the launch: It goes unresponsive for 6min before, black screen for 4min, The Sims 4 logo for 13min, plumbob for 3min and then it just takes a few seconds to go from the play button to the world. It takes a total of 26min to load a vanilla game…

          Like

          Reply

          1. That’s ridiculous. Set up a new user account on your Mac and play in that account to see it if helps. Your AMD GPU is supported in the game, it is listed in the GraphicsCards.sgr file so whoever posted that is talking rubbish!

            Like

  9. Tried and nope, nothing changed… Could it be a lot or a sims that I saved / shared in my gallery and came from a broken save or something? I tried looking up how to deleted the Sims 4 gallery on the internet but came empty handed… I did delete my tray file already! I’m kinda loosing hope, thank you so much for tying to help me!

    Like

    Reply

    1. It could yes but as you’ve tried a different user account then your saves etc. wouldn’t be loading – unless you copied over the Sims 4 folder and tried playing the same game? You need to try a completely new, clean game with no saves/CC/mods/etc.

      Like

      Reply

      1. I did create a new Sims 4 folder, with no saves, cc, etc… but in my gallery the lots I shared and my “friends” are still there. The only thing that is gone is the lots and sims I downloaded

        Like

        Reply

          1. I disabled Origin in game in The Sims 4 properties on Origin and launched the game while I was offline on Origin. Is there anything else I should disable?

            Like

  10. Still the same… I think I’m just gonna reinstall the whole computer. I did open the monitor activity while playing and The Sims 4 only takes up to 54% of the processor and 2Gb of the memory which sounds like nothing to me ?

    Like

    Reply

    1. Sounds ok, depending on your playing style, Mac, and what you have installed. You don’t need to wipe your Mac, just reinstall the OS as it will replace any missing or corrupted files – great idea!

      Like

      Reply

      1. I uninstalled Google Chrome because I decided to just stick with Safari, and it fixed my game! It still takes up to 5-10 minutes to load but I do have 7Gb of CC installed right now (and it’s unmerged). I’m also able to play on full screen, high settings and with Origin enabled on now. My Google Chrome was up to date and only had AdBlock as an extension which also was up to date. I’m on a iMac 27″ late 2015 running on High Sierra, in case this happens to someone else it might be a possible fix even though I can’t find a link between Chrome and The Sims 4… Thank you so much for you time anyway, it’s really nice of you to take time to try and help me!

        Like

        Reply

        1. Wow! I don’t see how Chrome could affect it but that’s really helpful to know, thanks so much for reporting back. It’s always so helpful when people report what works for them, that’s how we can all help each other 🙂

          Like

          Reply

  11. Hi, i don’t know if this is still active but I just got a MacBook Air, and I’m 90% sure that it’s the new one. I previously he sims 4 on a windows computer with most expansion packs and a couple stuff packs. I wanted to know if I would be able to even play them on my mac without it crashing it.

    Like

    Reply

  13. Hi I recently upgrade my memory since I thought that would fix my issue, but Sims 4 is still running really slow on low graphics. I have a MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012), Processor: 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, Memory: 12 GB 1600 MHz DDR3, Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536 MB. I do not know what to do at this point to make it run faster.

    Like

    Reply

  14. Hi there! 🙂

    I have a MacBook Air and nearly all TS4 packs. I’ve bought a 2.5″ SATA SSD hard-drive to account for the space issue that comes with these tiny computers. Please see my specs below:

    MacBook Air (13-inch, Early 2015)
    1,6 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5
    8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3
    Intel HD Graphics 6000 1536 MB

    The game is slightly laggy, but nothing obscene. I just want to be able to play seamlessly and not have to exit to if I notice that the actions my sims perform do not always register in the game. For example, sometimes neighbours welcome me to the neighbourhood and don’t leave. They end up dying on my lot unless I exit to the main menu and log back in. I also would like to live in larger lots without performance being impeded.

    I am toying with the idea of purchasing a new computer and customising it to be more supportive of this game. Are you able to tell me which part of specs would be causing this lagging issue? Would it be a graphics issue? A memory problem? I’m just not certain.

    Any help would be very much appreciated!

    Kind regards

    R

    Like

    Reply

  15. Hi Bluebelle Flora would playing Sims 4 on MacBook Pro (2019) 13 inch with Touch Bar, 1.4GHz Quad-core 8th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 Processor, 8Gb RAM, 256Gb SSD be sufficient? Also would I have enough space for expansion packs? I am thinking of purchasing this new macbook!

    Like

    Reply

  19. Hi!
    I don’t know if I’m too late but I will give it a shot. I play on an HP Windows 10 I believe 15″ and 500 GB. My game always ran smoothly until I got CC, I have at least 50 GB of CC. After my first couple tries of CC it ran really smoothly, until I got the rest. Origin now has the play button for the sims 4 faded out. I tried to repair the game and it’s still faded. I removed some CC and it’s still not working, I have never had ang problem with packs. In game, the game is always freezing up, the time doesn’t work. My sims shoes won’t show either. Is there anything I can do? I plan on getting the Macbook Pro 13″ next month. I was wonderi g if I can download CC on that computer, Thanks so much!
    -C

    Like

    Reply

    1. Also, for at least 5-10 minutes, it stays on “The Sims 4” Loading screen. Could it be a big from some of the CC?

      Like

      Reply
  20. Pingback: Can You Play Sims 4 On A Macbook – howtoitech.com

Leave a reply to BluebellFlora Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.