If you just want to run a Windows desktop application alongside your Mac applications, a virtual machine will probably be ideal. On the other hand, if you want to play the latest Windows games on your Mac, Boot Camp will be ideal. As with virtual machines, you’ll need a Windows license to install Windows on your Mac. Jul 05, 2017 There are other ways to play PC games on a Mac, but they have their own problems: Virtual Machines: Virtual machines are often the ideal way to run Windows desktop applications on your Mac, as you can run them on your Mac desktop. If you have Windows programs you need to use — perhaps a program you need for work —. 91 rows  Feb 01, 2020  Most of the best games are available on Mac. Indeed, Mac gaming has come. Aug 24, 2015  Like I said, it has an actually really powerful graphics card, so it can run GTA V fine. Now you can use your Boot Camp partition within OSX with Parallels to download games/software and continue working. Then when it’s finished, reboot to Windows and play your PC games. It took me awhile to get back into playing games when I did all of. Jun 23, 2013  Clicking that will bring up ALL of the Mac compatible games. Many of the games are also compatible with Windows as well, and a few with LINUX. But anything that runs on OSX, will be listed here. If you are asking in terms of supported hardware and performance, that will depend on what Mac system you are running and how demanding the games are.

World of Warcraft shouldn’t need an introduction. Mostly known as WoW by fans, World of Warcraft isn’t only the most famous MMORPG ever created, it’s one of the most popular games in history.

WoW may have lost subscribers over the years, heck, some even claim its glory days are behind us, but make no mistake, WoW is still one of the best MMORPG Mac games available today.

In this review:

First released in 2004, WoW has been around forever. But the steady stream of immense patches and ambitious Expansions have kept it young and at the forefront of the MMO genre.

But how good is WoW on Mac? Like every other game from its developer, Blizzard, WoW has a terrific Mac version. So much so, it even runs great on older Macs. Read on for all the details.

What’s new with World of Warcraft on Mac?

Blizzard finally revealed Shadowlands, World of Warcraft’s next Expansion. Shadowland will introduce several new features that should significantly change the game. Hopefully, it should improve upon WoW’s current expansion, Battle for Azeroth.

You can read more about it below.

MetascoreThere's a reason no MMO has managed to take its crown. 10 years later, World of Warcraft remains the best MMO on the market.

First things first, is the game any good?

World of Warcraft tells the story of the conflict between the Alliance and the Horde. Orcs vs. humans, undead vs. night elves and so on. As a new player, you’ll get to chose a side (Alliance for life!), select a race and begin your journey from level 1 to 120.

That journey will be full of quests, battlegrounds, dungeons, and raids. And it all takes place in a huge world that still looks great, a feat for a game that runs on an engine created more than a decade ago. That said, if you’re looking for the best looking MMO, The Elder Scrolls Online may be a better choice.

Competition has never been as fierce as today, SW: TOR and Final Fantasy 14 for Mac come to mind, but World of Warcraft remains the most solid and high-quality MMO in the market, with responsive gameplay, addicting leveling, and challenging Raids and PvP.

In spite of being an excellent MMO overall, Battle for Azeroth, the game’s current Expansion, was heavily criticized at launch:

To be fair, Blizzard has been working tirelessly to solve all of the issues gamers have complained about, with several patches and updates released so far.

As IGN puts it:

Battle for Azeroth isn’t the most ambitious expansion ever, but many of its memorable quests take place in beautiful new zones, and the Azerite armor and amulet hold a lot of promise.

Plus, all of the excellent systems introduced by Legion and every expansion before it are still there, keeping WoW fun and engaging.

What’s new with World of Warcraft on Mac?

Last summer, Blizzard introduced the biggest change WoW’s pricing-model has ever seen. Instead of having to buy a “battle chest” including the original World of Warcraft and its previous expansions, monthly subscribers now have access to all of that content for free.

The only Expansion you will need to buy is the current expansion. This is a welcome change that newcomers will appreciate. Plus, paying $14.99 a month should be enough to have access to most of the game.

World of Warcraft Shadowlands, the next Expansion

Expected sometime in 2020, Shadowlands aims to change World of Warcraft in meaningful ways and get back to the basics.

For example, instead of increasing the level cap once more, they’re reducing it to 60. Blizzard claims each level will provide more meaningful increases in progress and power and streamline the entire experience.

They will also add much needed character customization options, brand-new areas to explore, new dungeons and raids, and more:

World of Warcraft Classic, anyone?

World of Warcraft Classic, the faithful recreation of the original WoW, is currently getting all of the attention. WoW Classic seemed so simple at first: recreate the game as it was before the release The Burning Crusade. But for some reason, WoW Classic is a huge success, at least at launch. So much so that players are forced to wait in line to complete quests!

World of Warcraft Mac requirements

These are the official World of Warcraft Mac system requirements (updated with the release of Battle for Azeroth):

  • OS: OS X 10.12
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-760
  • Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce GT 750M, ATI Radeon R9 M290 or Intel HD 530 or better
  • A Metal capable GPU
  • Memory: 4 GB RAM
  • Hard drive space: 70 GB

Notice the requirements are higher than the previous vanilla World of Warcraft. If your Mac already struggled with WoW, you may want to upgrade to a new machine before jumping into Battle for Azeroth…

That said, the game does support older integrated graphics cards such as the Intel HD 530 which means Macs from 2013 onward should be able to handle it.

World of Warcraft Classic Mac requirements

If you’re interested in World of Warcraft Classic for Mac, these are the official system requirements:

  • OS: OS X 10.12
  • Processor: 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5
  • Graphics card: Metal capable GPU with 1 GB VRAM
  • Memory: 2 GB RAM
  • Hard drive space: 5 GB

Clearly, if your Mac struggled with World of Warcraft, WoW Classic may be what you’re looking for.

Into MMOs? These are our favorites:

Game★ Best OverallBest for MacBookBest Value
GenreSubscription-basedPay onceFree-to-play
Release date200420142012
Metascore
Our rating★★★★★
Full Review
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Full Review
★★★★★
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Medium

Medium

Low

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The Test: Can you play World of Warcraft on Mac?

World of Warcraft may be over 10 years old but the game has seen its fair share of graphical upgrades over the years. Plus, MMOs have always been surprisingly demanding, not because of the levels of detail required but because of the sheer size of their worlds.

To evaluate how demanding WoW on Mac really is, we tested it on the following machines:

  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
  • iMac (5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2013): 2.4 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)

Using our in-house FPS counter, we tested all machines using the following settings:

  • 1280×800 or equivalent resolution
  • Graphics Quality: Level 5
  • V-Sync: Disabled

All benchmarks consisted of 5 minutes of real-time gameplay in an open area, running around and killing everything in sight. We prefer to test games outdoors because they tend to be more demanding and taxing than indoors.

For the record, Medium settings and 1280×800 resolution may seem low but it’s the best compromise when testing both high-end and low-end models. box.

PS: These are our favorite accessories for playing/testing games on Mac!

Game★ Best MouseBest ControllerBest eGPU
Why we love it?The G502 is Logitech's most accurate gaming mouse yet. Plus, it has a plethora of buttons and a killer design.The official PS4 controller just works on Mac. It's wireless, it's precise, it has an excellent grip and it's durable.The Razer Core X turns your MacBook or Mac Mini into a killer gaming machine by adding external graphics support.
Mac compatible?
User Reviews★★★★☆

326 Amazon reviews

★★★★☆

9,678 Amazon reviews

★★★★☆

74 Amazon reviews

PriceFrom $56From $39.99From $299.99
Buy from

The Results: WoW can run on (almost) anything!

This graph shows you how our Macs performed:

As you can see, the game runs great on all three Macs, including our 2013 13-inch MacBook Pro.

PS: 35.5 FPS on a 6-year old machine with integrated graphics is respectable, especially for an MMO.

As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:

  • Below 20 FPS: Unplayable: Laggy gameplay, full of stutters and slowdowns.
  • 20-30 FPS: Borderline: Can be OK in slow-paced games. Still, not optimal.
  • 30-45 FPS: Playable: Acceptable for most (most gaming consoles do this).
  • 45-60 FPS: Smooth: Fluid gameplay, with no perceivable stutters.
  • 60+ FPS: Very Smooth: For hardcore and professional players, a luxury for most.

We usually aim for 30 FPS, because 30 FPS is enough to guarantee a smooth and fluid experience for most.

An improved Mac experience thanks to Metal

World of Warcraft has always offered good performance on Mac but the team over at Blizzard made a significant improvement when they moved the Mac version of the game to Metal with the release of the Legion expansion in 2016.

At the time, we compared both World of Warcraft running with OpenGL and World of Warcraft running with Metal:

World of Warcraft was the first game ever to support Apple’s then-new Metal graphics API and the results were incredible. The Metal version of the game was 61% faster than the older OpenGL version!

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Can my Mac run World of Warcraft?

World of Warcraft is a forgiving game that should run on most modern Macs. If you have a high-end Mac, be it a 15-inch MacBook Pro, an iMac or any machine with dedicated graphics, you should be able to run the game on high settings and at least 1080p resolution.

Our iMac runs the game at an impressive 156.9 FPS (frames per second), leaving a lot of room to significantly increase the game’s settings while maintaining 60+ FPS.

Can you play World of Warcraft on a MacBook Pro?

If you happen to have a more “average” MacBook, say a 13-inch MacBook Pro with integrated graphics, you should still be able to easily run this game.

Our 2016 13-inch MBP can run the game at a comfortable 78.4 FPS. As long as your MBP is from 2015 or newer, rest assured it will run World of Warcraft without breaking a sweat.

But what if you have an older MacBook?

This section is usually where it gets tricky as older Macs offer a very limited gaming performance. In this case, however, even our older 2013 13-inch MBP runs World of Warcraft just fine at 35.5 FPS.

If you’re worried your Mac is too old to play this game, don’t worry. World of Warcraft on Mac is a well-optimized game that makes great use of MacOS’ latest technologies (Metal 2.0) and should run on virtually any Mac from 2012 onward.

Download World of Warcraft for Mac

World of Warcraft has always been one of the most expensive MMOs in the market. Yet that’s never been a problem, as WoW has always delivered a premium experience well-worth the $15 a month.

What was annoying was the need to also purchase the base game plus each Expansion as they came out. Luckily, that changed when World of Warcraft (and all previous Expansions) became free to all subscribers.

That said, you still have a couple of options when it comes to purchasing the game. You can either purchase the Battle for Azeroth Expansion including the base game plus all previous expansions or the Complete Collection, include everything Battle for Azeroth does, plus a Level 110 Character boost.

MetascoreThere's a reason no MMO has managed to take its crown. 10 years later, World of Warcraft remains the best MMO on the market.
$14.99/month

Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission (this is how we pay the bills). This commission comes at no additional cost to you.

While not everyone’s cup of tea, it is undeniable how popular The Sims franchise is. Hell, I’ll go ahead and admit there was a brief period in my life when all I played was The Sims. Create a Sim, build a house, get a job, make friends, find love, all in the comfort of your computer.

But a lot has changed since the heady days of the 2000s and after 3 main entries and countless expansions, developer Maxis has now delivered The Sims 4, one of the most addictive simulation games for Mac.

The Sims 4 is currently $4.99 on Amazon. This is the lowest it has ever been, don’t miss it!

In this review:

The premise is the same, yet the Sims 4 creates more depth and introduces new mechanics, features, and vastly improved graphics. Speaking of graphics, this is a game that looks surprisingly good on a high-end Mac at the highest settings. But what if you have an older Mac or an entry-level model?

I’m here to help you answer those questions. And as we always do, we will be testing the game on 4 different Macs, ranging from the new and powerful to the older and more basic models.

It may not have as many things to do as The Sims 3, still, this is the most sophisticated, better looking and fun Sims ever made.

Our score: ★★★★☆


First things first, is the game any good?

With the enormous success of every Sims game ever released, The Sims 4 should have been flooded with pre-orders. But with the catastrophic launch of SimCity, fans were cautious.

So did The Sims 4 delivered? Is it as good as its predecessors? Reviewers can’t seem to agree. The game has a 70/100 Metascore, which is good but not great:

But taking a closer look at some of the reviews, a trend begins to emerge. Gamespot gave it a 6/10 score, concluding that:

The Sims 4’s biggest problem is that The Sims 3 exists. […] This is a lovely and lively game that elicits constant smirks, but The Sims 4’s moments never feel like part of a bigger picture.

But here’s where it gets tricky. Everyone agrees The Sims 3 had more to do, yet The Sims 4 has more depth:

Yet The Sims 4 does succeed in being a deep and complex game when it comes to Sim interactions, with lots of entertaining emotional potential. The emotions system and its contextual actions are really strong.

Plus, excellent building tools make architecture more fun than ever.

When looking at the user reviews (on Metacritic, as the game is not available on Steam), it doesn’t look good for The Sims 4. The game has a 4/10 average score of over 2100 users. Again, for the same reasons: the world is too small and there aren’t enough things to do…

My take? If you haven’t played The Sims 3, that could be a better place to start. It will be cheaper, will have more Expansions (and things to do) and will be even less demanding on your Mac.

If you have, The Sims 4 should have enough depth and new features to be worth a shot, especially now that enough Expansions have been released that add more stuff to do.

The Sims 4 Mac requirements

These are The Sims 4 Mac system requirements:

  • OS: 10.7.5
  • Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4Ghz Processor
  • Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 9600M, 9400M, ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or better. Video RAM of 256MB or better.
  • Memory: 4GB RAM
  • Hard Drive: 10 GB of Hard Drive space

Warning: You’ll be forced to use EA’s Origins client (which I deeply dislike)

Into Simulation games? These are our favorites:

Game★ Best OverallBest for MacBookBest Value
GenreCity-builderLife simulationRPG simulation
Release date201520142016
Metascore
Our rating★★★★★
Full Review
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★★★★★
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Requirements

High

Low

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The Test: Can you play The Sims 4 on Mac?

To evaluate how well The Sims 4 runs, we’ll test it on these models:

  • MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2016): 2.0 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris Graphics 540 (1.5GB)
  • iMac (5K, 27-inch, Late 2014): 3.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, AMD Radeon R9 M290X (2GB)
  • Mac Mini (Late 2014): 2.5 GHz Intel Core i5, 8 GB RAM, Intel Iris 5100 (1.5GB)
  • MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2012): 2.6 GHz Intel Core i7, 8 GB RAM, GeForce GT 650M (1GB)

Can This Game Run On My Mac Free

Be aware that the system requirements are not perfectly clear regarding integrated graphics. Are the 2012 MacBook Pro and 2014 Mac Mini supported? More on that below.

Why these machines? Our purpose is to help you understand how well this game runs on different setups. And hopefully, one of these setups will be similar enough to yours to give you a very clear idea of what to expect. These are the setups we will be covering:

  • Recent high-end Macs (the 2014 iMac).
  • Recent entry-level Macs (the 2016 MacBook Pro).
  • Older Macs (the 2012 MacBook Pro and the 2014 Mac Mini).

These are the settings we used to test The Sims 4 using our in-house FPS counter Count It for a fixed duration of 5 minutes:

  • 1280×800 resolution
  • Graphics Quality: Medium
  • Vertical Sync: Off
  • Retina display: Off

Why these settings? Remember, we are testing vastly different machines. Some high-end, some not. 1280×800 and Medium settings won’t impress anyone, but they are acceptable and should meet the requirements of the average gamer.

The Results: A surprisingly easy game to run!

There were reports of poor Mac performance that had me worried, but it seems the reports were a little overboard (or perhaps Maxis has improved the macOS version over the years):

The target? This chart includes the average frames per second (FPS) recorded on each machine. We usually aim for 30 FPS, because 30 FPS is enough to guarantee a smooth and fluid experience.

Some readers argue that 30 FPS is not high enough, but it’s still what current-gen consoles aim for, and considering most Macs were not built for gaming, 30 FPS is a good target.

As a reminder, this is how we describe the different levels of performance:

  • Below 20 FPS: Unplayable: Laggy gameplay, full of stutters and slowdowns.
  • 20-30 FPS: Borderline: Can be OK in slow-paced games. Still, not optimal.
  • 30-45 FPS: Playable: Acceptable for most (most gaming consoles do this).
  • 45-60 FPS: Smooth: Fluid gameplay, with no perceivable stutters.
  • 60+ FPS: Very Smooth: For hardcore and professional players, a luxury for most.

We usually aim for 30 FPS, because 30 FPS is enough to guarantee a smooth and fluid experience.

You’ll notice all Macs did better than 30 FPS, which is a good thing, but let’s dive deeper into the results and see how far The Sims 4 can be pushed.

Can my Mac run The Sims 4?

The real question is not whether a high-end Mac can play this game. We know it will.

Game

Haters may claim Macs can’t run games, but if you have a recent high-end Mac with a dedicated graphics card with 2GB of Video RAM (or more), you can safely play ANY game that exists on macOS.

The real question is: How high can you increase the graphics settings while still experiencing a smooth experience?

Case in point, my 2014 iMac’s results. While nowhere near as fast as the latest iMacs, it still ran the game at 60 FPS using the Medium settings defined for these tests. And it only did 60 FPS because the game locked frame rates at 60 FPS maximum.

But what happens when we bump the graphics to make The Sims 4 shine? When increasing the settings to Ultra and raising the resolution to 2560×1440, the iMac still ran the game at 56.2 FPS.

Take away: If you have a high-end Mac, you can expect to smoothly play this game at the highest settings.

Can you play The Sims 4 on a MacBook Pro?

This is when things get complicated. Many of us own $1500+ MacBook Pros we believe to be high end (otherwise, how can you justify that price?). Unfortunately, they are not, at least when it comes to graphics performance.

Can This Game Run On My Mac Pc

I’m not here to criticize Apple’s choices. They decided that mobility and battery life come first, which is great for most users, but bad for gamers.

Anyway, having an entry-level Mac means you have integrated graphics. And that means gaming performance will be limited. But how limited? It depends on the game.

In this case, The Sims 4 did great on my 13-inch MacBook Pro. The game ran at 54.9 FPS, which is almost double our 30 FPS target.

These results mean you could slightly increase the graphics settings and still get a smooth experience out of The Sims 4. I did two more tests on high and ultra settings, and as expected, there was still some room (although ultra is a little too much):

  • 1280×800 and high settings: 44.5 FPS
  • 1280×800 and ultra settings: 24.1 FPS

Take away: The Sims 4 is properly optimized for macOS and not particularly demanding. Any recent Mac should be able to handle it, even those with integrated graphics.

But what if you have an older Mac?

According to our results, there is hope for you. Our test 2014 Mac Mini ran the game at 45.40 FPS, which is way above our target. If your Mac is even older than that, it will depend on your machine’s graphics. If you have dedicated graphics, like our 2012 15-inch MacBook Pro, you should be fine.

And if you don’t and worry yours won’t be able to take it, you can always try Stardew Valley, an excellent, albeit different, simulation game that supports macOS.

Take away: If your Mac has integrated graphics, anything older than the Intel Iris 5100 from our Mac Mini will be risky. If your Mac has dedicated graphics, any model from 2012 onwards should be fine.

Game

Bottom line: Turns out, The Sims 4 is a forgiving game that should run just fine on most Macs out there (unless you have a pre-2012 Mac with integrated graphics)…

Maxis did a good job optimizing the game, but this is an inherently simple game (graphics-wise) that is not meant to push your machine to the max. After all, there are plenty of other games out there for that!

PS: These are our favorite accessories for playing/testing games on Mac!

Game★ Best MouseBest ControllerBest eGPU
Why we love it?The G502 is Logitech's most accurate gaming mouse yet. Plus, it has a plethora of buttons and a killer design.The official PS4 controller just works on Mac. It's wireless, it's precise, it has an excellent grip and it's durable.The Razer Core X turns your MacBook or Mac Mini into a killer gaming machine by adding external graphics support.
Mac compatible?
User Reviews★★★★☆

326 Amazon reviews

★★★★☆

9,678 Amazon reviews

★★★★☆

74 Amazon reviews

PriceFrom $56From $39.99From $299.99
Buy from

Download The Sims 4 for Mac

The Sims 4 is available for download from several digital stores including Origin and MMOGA:

It may not have as many things to do as The Sims 3, still, this is the most sophisticated, better looking and fun Sims ever made.

Our score: ★★★★☆


Disclaimer: Some of the links above are affiliate links, which means that if you choose to make a purchase, I will earn a commission (this is how we pay the bills). This commission comes at no additional cost to you.