[b]Guide/FAQ to World of Warcraft on an Apple Mac
Contents:
1. Introduction
- What is this guide about?
Why did I bother making it?
How can I contribute to this guide?
2. Software
- What software do I need to play WoW on a Mac?
Is there a 64-bit WoW client?
3. Hardware
- What hardware is available to play WoW on a Mac?
4. Peripherals
- What options do I have for keyboard and mice?
What options do I have for microphones/headsets?
5. Gameplay
- What kind of gameplay can I expect?
What settings can I play at?
Do you have any screenshots of example gameplay?
What about addons?
I heard I can’t use addons with a Mac
What is so special about the Mac client?
6. Extras
- What about Voice communication? e.g. Ventrilo?
I heard you can’t use Vent on a Mac
I like to watch WoW videos on my computer, but Quicktime is crap! Can you help?
I read somewhere I can control iTunes from within WoW?
I like to make Machinima (WoW videos). Is this possible on a Mac?
Is my Mac immune to viruses and am I immune to being hacked?
Can I run Windows on my Mac?
7. Credits
- Credits for information used in this guide
1.Introduction
What is this guide about?
This is a guide dedicated to playing World of Warcraft on Apple Mac computers.
It will cover basic hardware questions, basic software questions, how to maximise your gameplay on your Mac. It will also cover some extras such as what mice and keyboards you can use.
It will also cover some optional extras people that play WoW like to do.
Why did I bother making this guide?
I made this guide because there is a lot of mis-information out there about playing World of Warcraft on a Mac. Particularly, I had LOADS of questions about playing WoW on Macs before I tried it, so if I did, surely lots of other people do too!
I feel that if you are reading this, you probably had a few questions, and hopefully this has gone some way to answering them!
How can I contribute to this guide?
I welcome all contributions to this guide! And I will try to keep it as up to date as possible. It already draws in some information from the official WoW forums (credits at the end), but the best possible source is directly from people who play WoW on their Macs.
You can contribute by simply reading it! The more hits it gets, the more it gets showcased Alternatively, you are absolutely more than welcome to post on it to offer advice, thoughts, or generally whatever (but please try to keep it helpful)
What isn't this guide?
Fanboism. It's not mean to be a "WoW is better on a Mac" guide - that's simply not true. It's just answering some questions about playing WoW on a Mac
2. Software
Do I need to buy new discs to install WoW on my Mac?
You do NOT need to buy separate copies of the game! This is the 1st misconception about WoW and Macs. The Mac client is already on your normal install discs! Just pop them in the CD/DVD drive and you are away! The install process is very straight forward.
If you have lost your discs, you can download the Mac client from the official website www.worldofwarcaft.com or www.wow-europe.com
What Operating Systems are supported by WoW?
Taken from the Official system requirements: (http://www.worldofwarcraft.com/info/faq/technology.html)
Mac System Requirements
OS:
Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer
Processor:
Minimum: PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core Duo processor
Recommended: Intel 1.8GHz processor or better
Memory:
Minimum: 1 GB RAM
Recommended: 2 GB RAM
Video:
Minimum: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 64 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 class card or better
Recommended: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA 7600 class card or better
You will most likely see the best gameplay (FPS) from using the latest version of OSX (Snow Leopard at time of writing). Always make sure you have all the latest updates installed.
Is there any difference in the Mac client v the Windows client?
The simple answer is no! The real answer is yes, but the only difference is that the Mac client has a built-in recorder (more detail later). ]
Is there a 64-bit version of the WoW client?
No unfortunately not (as far as I am aware). Here is a link to the latest Blue post I could find on the subject - http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...75928086&sid=1
If anyone finds anything more recent that states the contrary, please tell me and I'll update this.
3. Hardware
What Hardware do I need to play WoW on a Mac?
See above for the hardware system requirements for playing WoW on a Mac.
Will I get any benefit from using a Quad-Core CPU compared to a dual-core?
Yes and no. You may see some benefit, but the game is not designed to properly use all 4 cores. On the technical info it states it's threaded for 3 cores, but the 3rd only does music. Also, the most recent BLUE post I could find on it is here http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...73499400&sid=1. There was a forum post somewhere about enabling more cores, but it looked dubious so I haven't included it.
What can I expect from playing WoW on my Mac Mini/Macbook/iMac?
Well, this is really impossible to say categorically, as it depends on a lot:
I’ve only played WoW on my new iMac, not the others
It depends exactly what hardware you have in your computer and what other software is running on the Mac while you are playing
However, here is a link to a post on the official forums about frame rates on various hardware
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...28094861&sid=1
I personally play wow on a Late 2009 iMac, core 2 duo, ATI 4850 512mm with 8gb RAM, and personally I have anywhere from 60-180 FPS on ultra settings @ 2560x1440 resolution.
Obviously the better your hardware, the better your FPS will likely be. The exception perhaps being that the 27” iMac with ATI 4670 HD card may see lower FPS than the 21” iMac with same graphics card - this is because the 27” uses a higher resolution.
What resolution should I play the game at?
You are most likely to see the best gameplay at resolutions which are the same as the native resolution of the screen you are playing it on. You may get an increase in FPS playing at lower resolution, but the game may appear distorted.
For example, my screen has a native resolution of 2560x1440, so I play at that resolution. If I play at a lower resolution, I get much higher FPS, but the game becomes all distorted and stretched, and looks a bit crappy.
Ultimately you should have a play around and find whatever resolution you are most comfortable at.
Can I add extra hardware to my Mac to get more performance?
Again this depends entirely on the type of Mac you own. If you have a iMac like me, your upgrade options are very limited as basically everything is hardwired in, except for RAM and Hard Drive. This is the same with the Macbook and Macbook Pros.
To see if you would benefit from adding in extra RAM, you can open up your system profiler while you are playing WoW, and see what the % RAM usage is. If it is quite high (80%+) you might see some benefit in getting more RAM / faster RAM.
You may also see a benefit in loading times if you buy a faster Hard Drive, or an SSD hard drive (although these are very expensive). Note though, SSD drives are not designed to be used continuously, so you should not record to them using the in-game recorder (discussed later in the guide).
4. Peripherals
I already have a gaming keyboard/mouse, can I use these?
Of course! Well, that’s assuming they are compatible with your Mac! Most Macs will have at least 2 USB 2.0 inputs, some have firewire inputs, and as far as I know, none have PS/2 inputs. Snow Leopard is extremely good at Plug and Play peripherals, and 99% of them will work without any problems.
However, you may have to download additional software (specific to your keyboard/mouse) to get the most out of them, just like you have to do for Windows.
Do I need to buy a gaming keyboard/mouse for WoW? I heard the Mac ones are bad for gaming!
Nothing could be further from the truth! You do NOT need to buy additional peripherals if you do not want to!
It is entirely personal preference here. The game is designed to be used with any keyboard/mouse combo, and you should use whatever you are most comfortable with. I am very happy playing WoW with my wireless keyboard (compact version) and Magic Mouse, and personally I do not see any significant battery drain, or any lag (latency) from using my wireless components. However, if you play from across the other side of your house, you may see some latency
How can I get the most out of my Apple Keyboard and Magic Mouse?
A good question! To get the Most out of your keyboard, you will want to set up some keybindings. These work exactly the same way as any of your keybindings would on your Windows client / or any gaming keyboard (restricted to keys you actually have though!)
To lock the Fn Keys so they are used like normal F1-F12 (or higher) keys like on a normal desktop keyboard, you can go into System Preferences > Keyboard > Keyboard, then check "use all F1,F2 keys like standard...". This switches around the default action of the F keys to the normal F1-F12, rather than Adjust brightness, dashboard, etc.
Please note, the standard wireless keyboard which ships with new Macs does not have a numeric keypad, so don’t set any keybinds for that which you don’t have
Due to the compact size of the Mac keyboard though, you might need to take some time to get used to using it! Don’t expect to be a pro straight away
Regarding the mouse, it can be used to play WoW without any problems at all. There is a lot of misinformation out there, stating “do not use the Magic Mouse with WoW”. This is completely wrong! You just need to get some additional software to get the most out of your mouse.
2 programs spring to mind, although others are available - Magic Prefs, and BetterTouchTool (BTT). I personally use BTT, as I find it’s more customizable than Magic Prefs. You will definitely need to play around with the settings to get to a point you are comfortable with, but it’s more than adequate for playing WoW on. You can even set custom gestures with BTT, then set them in WoW. For example, 2 finger tap on my mouse and it does auto-run! I also turned down the sensitivity a bit, so I don’t keep interrupting my spell casts by running when I don’t want to.
What options do I have for microphones and headsets?
The same as on any Windows PC! I use exactly the same Logitech headset (some people hate this FYI) as I did on my Windows PC and it works perfectly. Alternatively, you might want to use the built in iSight microphone if you have one, although this can cause problems with echoing in voice chat programs, the same as using any microphone without a headset.
All Macs have an audio in and audio out for use with headsets.