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About game performance on MacBook

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Raven Lee
Deep Core Mining Inc.
Caldari State
#1 - 2015-09-03 11:07:28 UTC
I'm planning to buy 13inch MacBook Pro Retina (2015), and is this laptop is good enough to run EVE smoothly while every options set to "high"?

"Be you, Live your life"
Tippia
Sunshine and Lollipops
#2 - 2015-09-03 11:20:23 UTC  |  Edited by: Tippia
Depends on the situation, as always.

It seems smooth enough on my '13 Air on Medium, so a new Pro should handle it well enough. At most, the retina resolution might be a bit OTT but you can just dial that down.

e: Oh, right. The 13" doesn't have a discrete gpu. That will probably limit how hard you can push some of the settings — especially the post-processing ones.
CCP Darwin
C C P
C C P Alliance
#3 - 2015-09-03 11:22:23 UTC  |  Edited by: CCP Darwin
Raven Lee wrote:
I'm planning to buy 13inch MacBook Pro Retina (2015), and is this laptop is good enough to run EVE smoothly while every options set to "high"?

That laptop is definitely supported in any configuration you buy. Looking over the performance specs for the integrated GPU, it's hard to guess how it'll perform graphically. I'd say you'll probably get decent performance under conditions where you're just flying around, but it'll definitely not be a top performer in fleet fights and you may have to turn graphics settings down a bunch to make that case work well. You may also find things feel laggy when lots of particle clouds are on the screen.

Another detail to consider is that laptops with very compact form factors can have difficulty dissipating heat, and often throttle the processor for high-performance applications to ensure that the CPU and GPU don't suffer heat damage. Recent Apple laptops have been pretty good with this, but you may find that it affects EVE performance if you use the laptop in circumstances where vents are partially blocked or cooling isn't as efficient as it could be.

Hopefully someone with that exact model can chime in about specifics.

Edit: I've played EVE on much slower Mac laptops over the last few years, and it's definitely been playable. I very much doubt that I had everything set to "high," however.

CCP Darwin  •  Senior Software Engineer, Art & Graphics, EVE Online  •  @mark_wilkins
rofflesausage
State War Academy
Caldari State
#4 - 2015-09-03 12:06:09 UTC  |  Edited by: rofflesausage
Raven Lee wrote:
I'm planning to buy 13inch MacBook Pro Retina (2015), and is this laptop is good enough to run EVE smoothly while every options set to "high"?


I have one. The answer is no.

It is an Intel GPU which can't push that much out. The screen is 2,560x1,600. There is simply no way I can play the game on high, it lags too much.

I either need to run the settings on low, or medium if no fleet fights / Jita.

You can also lower the game resolution to help, but it doesn't look great at a non-native resolution.

There are a lot of positive things about a MacBook, but gaming isn't one of them.

You can see benchmarks here: http://www.notebookcheck.net/Intel-Iris-Graphics-6100.125591.0.html

Almost every modern game is red across the board. Eve isn't tested, but take my word for it - don't buy this machine if you want to play Eve properly on it.
Bumblefck
Kerensky Initiatives
#5 - 2015-09-03 12:24:19 UTC
CCP Darwin wrote:

Another detail to consider is that laptops with very compact form factors can have difficulty dissipating heat, and often throttle the processor for high-performance applications to ensure that the CPU and GPU don't suffer heat damage.




My Razer Blade would like a word with you Lol



fake edit: I know it's comparing apples and oranges, but still Big smile

Perfection is a dish best served like wasabi .

Bumble's Space Log
Lan Wang
Princess Aiko Hold My Hand
Safety. Net
#6 - 2015-09-03 15:10:55 UTC
Bumblefck wrote:
My Razer Blade would like a word with you Lol


you really do know how to make a girl go moist huh.

my dell xps keeps my cup of tea hot for hours :)

Domination Nephilim - Angel Cartel

Calm down miner. As you pointed out, people think they can get away with stuff they would not in rl... Like for example illegal mining... - Ima Wreckyou*
afiz
Hogyoku
Goonswarm Federation
#7 - 2015-09-03 15:30:32 UTC
MBA Retina = Dont get it. You will not enjoy playing eve online, by lowering the resolution the game will not be optimally displayed.

I returned by MBA Retina and took over a MBA Regular just to play eve online

You could get the MB Pro with Retina it has a dedicated GPU which will make you enjoy retina + graphics.

/a
Ultim8Evil
Exit-Strategy
Minmatar Fleet Alliance
#8 - 2015-09-03 20:46:27 UTC
£1000+ for a 13" laptop with a low-end CPU, slightly above bare minimum RAM, limited storage, and an integrated GPU.

I suppose you'll look cool sat in Starbucks with a skinny latte typing your memoirs though.

Apple really does see you people coming.

#PCMasterRace

Follow me on Twitter for literally no good reason @TheUltim8Evil
45thtiger 0109
Pan-Intergalatic Business Community
#9 - 2015-09-03 23:27:00 UTC
Just buy a PC not a mac. PC are designed for Gaming.

Macs are designed more for Video editing lol

**You Have to take the good with the bad and the bad with the good.

Welcome to EvE OnLiNe**
Ultim8Evil
Exit-Strategy
Minmatar Fleet Alliance
#10 - 2015-09-03 23:51:33 UTC
45thtiger 0109 wrote:
Macs are designed more for Video editing lol


With a poverty spec CPU, only 8 GB of RAM, a 13" screen, and Intel onboard graphics, it won't be doing much of that either.

Follow me on Twitter for literally no good reason @TheUltim8Evil
Neuntausend
Republic Military School
Minmatar Republic
#11 - 2015-09-04 00:04:19 UTC  |  Edited by: Neuntausend
45thtiger 0109 wrote:
Macs are designed more for Video editing lol


Only in the sense that they look good if you edit them into a video.

Apple has their Mac Pro workstation line for this, with Xeon CPUs and multiple workstation GPUs. They are ~slightly~ more expensive than a measly MBA though. They also look like designer-trashbins these days. Not commenting on that.
Rowells
Blackwater USA Inc.
Pandemic Horde
#12 - 2015-09-04 00:27:14 UTC
Raven Lee wrote:
I'm planning to buy 13inch MacBook Pro Retina (2015), and is this laptop is good enough to run EVE smoothly while every options set to "high"?

Mid 2012 MacBook Pro 13" here.

High settings are indeed possible. However, the performance is suboptimal. 20-30 fps just orbiting a station. You can tweak certain settings lower than max and bump it up a bit without too much visual loss (shaders are very heavy) but for the most part, I run at lowest available settings.

Also, I've seen a regular dip in performance of other things on the Mac client as well throughout the last few patches. Certain weird quirks that actually make me decide how to time opening the contracts or market window.

Not sure how much the performance has improved in the last few years, but I don't feel it's getting significantly better.
Zeus Cronus
Brutor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#13 - 2015-09-04 00:32:59 UTC
2015 MBP Retina with 16 gb ram runs high settings just fine, but I was hauling at the time, so no idea how well it would work in other settings.
who1 eva
KEQ Industrial Complex
#14 - 2015-09-04 00:51:12 UTC
I have a 2015 MBP Retina and was having all sorts of serious overheating-related freezes that only went away once I installed fan control software and set it to maximum and reduced all of the graphics settings in Eve to the minimum. For trading it's a setup that works fine...

(I am pretty sure it was overheating because the CPU temperature was gradually rising until it hit 82-83C and then EVE would freeze hard. Now that I have chosen minimum settings, it never goes above 77-78C and everything is ok).
CCP Darwin
C C P
C C P Alliance
#15 - 2015-09-04 02:23:06 UTC  |  Edited by: CCP Darwin
Please, keep any discussion about the relative merits of Mac vs. Windows configurations limited to concrete facts. The Internet has been full of the subjective end of that argument for its entire existence and doesn't need more.

In regard to EVE's performance on the Mac, we're currently working on a number of bug fixes and improvements that should make the Mac a more appealing platform for the game. I can't, however, offer you a date for this.

CCP Darwin  •  Senior Software Engineer, Art & Graphics, EVE Online  •  @mark_wilkins
Ultim8Evil
Exit-Strategy
Minmatar Fleet Alliance
#16 - 2015-09-04 02:38:19 UTC
CCP Darwin wrote:
...we're currently working on a number of bug fixes and improvements that should make the Mac a more appealing platform for the game. I can't, however, offer you a date for this.


Well Apple haven't managed it yet, so good luck Blink

The "concrete facts" are that the OP wants to spend £1000+ on a laptop that will run Eve about as well as a 6-7 year old Windows laptop of a similar price.

For example, my spare laptop, a Core2 Duo T9300 Acer Aspire 6920G from 2008 is a fossil, but I can still run two clients on a mixture of low to medium settings @ 1920x1080.

Apple should probably be raising the bar a bit higher than that in 2015.

Follow me on Twitter for literally no good reason @TheUltim8Evil
CCP Darwin
C C P
C C P Alliance
#17 - 2015-09-04 03:12:17 UTC
Ultim8Evil wrote:
Well Apple haven't managed it yet, so good luck

Most of the issues surrounding Mac game performance have little to do with platform capability and more to do with how games are ported, which is in third-party developers' hands. We're acutely aware that the Mac EVE experience could be better and we're working to make it better. I wish I could offer specifics at this time, but we're not ready to do that.

CCP Darwin  •  Senior Software Engineer, Art & Graphics, EVE Online  •  @mark_wilkins
Mina Sebiestar
Minmatar Inner Space Conglomerate
#18 - 2015-09-04 04:57:58 UTC
what a garbage specs for 1200$ price tag....its good to be apple.

anywho want to play games buy game grade stuff simple.

You choke behind a smile a fake behind the fear

Because >>I is too hard
Die Unknown
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#19 - 2015-09-04 04:59:00 UTC
CCP Darwin wrote:
Ultim8Evil wrote:
Well Apple haven't managed it yet, so good luck

Most of the issues surrounding Mac game performance have little to do with platform capability and more to do with how games are ported, which is in third-party developers' hands. We're acutely aware that the Mac EVE experience could be better and we're working to make it better. I wish I could offer specifics at this time, but we're not ready to do that.


Are there plans to make a decent Linux port?

I got myself a MacBook primarily because I need a unix environment. EVE is the only thing I need windows on my desktop for. I would love to go full unix.
Die Unknown
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#20 - 2015-09-04 05:02:10 UTC
Mina Sebiestar wrote:
what a garbage specs for 1200$ price tag....its good to be apple.

anywho want to play games buy game grade stuff simple.


It's worth it just for the trackpad tbh. I've yet to find a laptop to can match it.
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