Does Wow Run On Mac

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Below are the minimum and recommended system specifications for World of Warcraft® and the Shadowlands® expansion on Windows® and Mac®. Due to potential programming changes, the minimum system requirements for World of Warcraft may change over time. Note: For a list of compatible video hardware, see our Supported Video Cards list. Yes, but the average WoW player isn't going to be technical enough to get it like this. And even then, an SSD is still A LOT faster than even the most optimized parts of a HDD. If you're strapped enough for. How well can you run World of Warcraft @ 720p, 1080p or 1440p on low, medium, high or max settings? This data is noisy because framerates depend on several factors but the averages can be used as a reasonable guide. Average Fps: 71.4 17,930 samples.

(Credit: Blizzard)

Open the Battle.net desktop app and select World of Warcraft from the side menu. Under the Version menu, select World of Warcraft Classic. If you have more than one World of Warcraft account, you'll. Update for macOS Mojave and macOS High Sierra, yes you can run Warcraft 3 on macOS Mojave and yes you can run Frozen Throne on MacOS Mojave but there's an important step you must take. If your mouse is not working in Warcraft 3 or Frozen Throne for Mac OS Mohave this is the fix for you.

Wow On A Mac

World of Warcraft may be the first macOS-compatible game that can run natively on Apple's new M1-powered Mac computers.

Blizzard Entertainment made the announcement as the new Macs began arriving to customers who pre-ordered them. 'With this week's patch 9.0.2, we're adding native Apple Silicon support to World of Warcraft. This means that the WoW 9.0.2 client will run natively on ARM64 architecture, rather than under emulation via Rosetta,' the company wrote in a forum post. 'We're pleased to have native day one support for Apple Silicon.'

The native support promises to make the game run faster on the new Macs. According to users who've tried the update, the hardware is able to run World of Warcraft between a respectable 40 to 50 frames per second for some relatively smooth gameplay.

We'll have to wait and see if other game developers decide to build support for Apple's M1 chip. In the meantime, the new hardware can also run existing macOS-compatible games built for Intel's silicon. However, the computers will do so through Rosetta 2, which can translate the computer code to run on the ARM-powered M1 chip.

The main drawback is how the translation can cause apps to launch or run more slowly than normal. Some users also say certain games, such as Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, will not run on the new Macs.

In our review of the M1 MacBook Air, PCMag tried Rise of the Tomb Raider and Total War II: Warhammer, and found the Rosetta emulation does work for some light gaming. However, you'll need to set the graphics settings at the medium or lower presets to get 40 to 50fps.

A downside with the new Macs is how they don't support external graphics cards, according to AppleInsider. So the hardware is confined to the M1 chip for gaming processing power. On the plus side, the new Macs can run iPhone and iPads apps natively, giving you a way to enjoy thousands of various iOS games over the hardware.

For more, check out PCMag's reviews of the M1 MacBook Pro and Mac mini.

Intel Mac mini Q&A - Revised November 4, 2009

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Is World of Warcraft (WoW) playable on the Intel Mac mini?

Please note that this Q&A was written to refer to Mac mini systems that are powered by Intel GMA 950 graphics (those released prior to the 'Early 2009' model on March 3, 2009). The 'Early 2009' and 'Late 2009' Mac mini models are powered by NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics and exceed the minimum requirements for World of Warcraft.

No doubt 'playable' would be defined differently by different people. As mentioned elsewhere in the Mac mini 'Core' Q&A, the Intel-based system is not really intended to be a 'hardcore' gaming system.

A MacWorldeditorial, referring to Apple's marketing of the Intel Mac mini systems as supporting 'the latest 3D games', bluntly opines that:

Frankly, that's an assertion I dispute. . . We can play semantic arguments until we're blue in the face about what 'latest 3D games' means. But it seems like a lot of our readers, judging from the forum posts made this week, have higher expectations than what our initial tests are showing as possible for this machine.
I'll be the first to tell people that if they want a gaming Mac, they're much better off looking at an Intel iMac.
Does Wow Run On Mac

The author of a BareFeatsreview, who also places a great deal of emphasis on gaming, says that:

Games are not just something people do for fun. We like them because they rigorously test the advanced graphics features like shading, reflectivity, dynamic shadowing, transparency, [and] distortion.
In my humble opinion, the [Intel] Mac mini is a poor investment unless you have a display, keyboard, and mouse you can't part with. You may pay more for the iMac 'Core Duo' 1.83 [17'], but you get a lot more -- an LCD screen, a faster CPU, a much faster and more capable GPU, a faster/bigger hard drive, easy to install memory, and an iSight camera.

Regardless, the World of Warcraft Community Website lists the minimum system requirements for the Mac version of WoW as:

  • 933 MHz or higher G4, G5, or Intel processor
  • 512 Megabytes RAM or higher
  • ATI or NVIDIA video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more
  • 6 Gigabytes or more of available hard drive space
  • 4X CD-ROM drive
  • MacOS X 10.3.9

The recommended configuration boosts the RAM to 1.0 GB or higher and the VRAM to 64 MB or higher.

Mac Support Update -- November 16 - General Discussion ..

The stock configuration of Intel-based Mac mini models -- prior to the 'Early 2009' models -- have 512 MB or 1 GB of RAM, and can be upgraded to as much as 2 GB or 3 GB. The only minimum for systems prior to the 'Early 2009' models that isn't met is the 'ATI or NVIDIA video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more' requirement, as pre-Early 2009 Mac mini systems all have an 'Intel GMA950 graphics processor with 64 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory'.

Macs

The author of a BareFeatsreview, who also places a great deal of emphasis on gaming, says that:

Games are not just something people do for fun. We like them because they rigorously test the advanced graphics features like shading, reflectivity, dynamic shadowing, transparency, [and] distortion.
In my humble opinion, the [Intel] Mac mini is a poor investment unless you have a display, keyboard, and mouse you can't part with. You may pay more for the iMac 'Core Duo' 1.83 [17'], but you get a lot more -- an LCD screen, a faster CPU, a much faster and more capable GPU, a faster/bigger hard drive, easy to install memory, and an iSight camera.

Regardless, the World of Warcraft Community Website lists the minimum system requirements for the Mac version of WoW as:

  • 933 MHz or higher G4, G5, or Intel processor
  • 512 Megabytes RAM or higher
  • ATI or NVIDIA video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more
  • 6 Gigabytes or more of available hard drive space
  • 4X CD-ROM drive
  • MacOS X 10.3.9

The recommended configuration boosts the RAM to 1.0 GB or higher and the VRAM to 64 MB or higher.

Mac Support Update -- November 16 - General Discussion ..

The stock configuration of Intel-based Mac mini models -- prior to the 'Early 2009' models -- have 512 MB or 1 GB of RAM, and can be upgraded to as much as 2 GB or 3 GB. The only minimum for systems prior to the 'Early 2009' models that isn't met is the 'ATI or NVIDIA video hardware with 32 MB VRAM or more' requirement, as pre-Early 2009 Mac mini systems all have an 'Intel GMA950 graphics processor with 64 MB of DDR2 SDRAM shared with main memory'.

Mac equivalent to access. However, the World of Warcraft website also lists the Intel GMA900 as supported video hardware, and Intel shows that the GMA950 is at least modestly faster than the GMA900.

You may wish to review the in-depth information available on the Intel website, but to summarize, the GMA900 and GMA950, respectively, are marketed as [emphasis added]:

With a powerful 333 MHz core and new DirectX 9 hardware acceleration, Intel GMA900 graphics can provide performance on par with graphics card solutions that cost significantly more.
With a powerful 400 MHz core and DirectX 9 3D hardware acceleration, Intel GMA950 graphics provides performance on par with mainstream graphics card solutions that would typically cost significantly more.

Although both statements are similar, it is worth noting that Intel uses the more conservative 'can provide' for the GMA900 and the more definite 'provides' for the GMA950. Many likely would debate the claims made when referring to either graphics processor, but it is safe to assume that if the GMA900 meets the minimum requirements, the GMA950 does as well. However, one should keep in mind that even the GMA950 lacks support for 'vertex shaders' and 'transform and lighting effects'.

When it comes to gaming, perhaps the most valuable bit of information is from those who have tried the game on their system and can provide first-hand comments. A thread on the World of Warcraft Forums discusses using the Intel Mac mini, and one person mentions that they have a long ago discontinued Mac mini 'Core Solo' 1.5 and find the performance to be acceptable:

I've mucked about with the settings a bit, and got a decent result. Typical framerates for the [Mac mini] Core Solo with just about everything turned down, with trilinear and vertex checked, are around 10-15 FPS and can go above 20 here and there. Still playing in windowed mode.
I know that I'll get better results with more RAM, and will definitely be upgrading to 2 GB as soon as I can.

Another website to visit for 'real-world' performance information about WoW on the Mac is the always excellent XLR8YourMac.

Whether or not to purchase an Intel-based Mac mini is entirely your decision. If you have budgetary constraints and reasonable expectations, you likely would be content with a Mac mini model for playing WoW. Alternately you could instead save up for an Intel-based iMac.

Also see: Will games that say an ATI Radeon or NVIDIA GeForce graphics card is required run on the Intel Mac mini systems? Chrome download for mac 10 6.


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