Question about MacBook Air and online games

[ssledoux]

My grandson wants a laptop, but he specifically wants to play a Jurassic World game on it, and likely some other games moving forward (he’s 11).

Is this possible on a MacBook Air? If not, what should I be looking for if I want to get him a laptop? I told him if he saves half the money, I’ll pay the rest. I just don’t have a clue where to begin.

 

[Juicy Box]

ut he specifically wants to play a Jurassic World game on it

I think you should let us know what exactly the game is that he wants to play, as this could really be the determining factor for what advice to give.

 

[ssledoux]

I think you should let us know what exactly the game is that he wants to play, as this could really be the determining factor for what advice to give.

I think it’s just “Jurassic World: The Game”

 

[Juicy Box]

I think it’s just “Jurassic World: The Game”

I am not sure, maybe someone else can answer.

From a quick search, it appears that Jurassic World: The Game can run on older Intel Macs, but being an older game there isn't a lot of info on how it runs on AS. I only found one post saying that the person couldn't get it to work on the M1 Mac, but that was also an old post from a 1.5 years ago.

It might be a good idea to confirm with your grandson that it is indeed "Jurassic World: The Game", and not one of the newer Jurassic World games.

 

[ssledoux]

I am not sure, maybe someone else can answer.

From a quick search, it appears that Jurassic World: The Game can run on older Intel Macs, but being an older game there isn't a lot of info on how it runs on AS. I only found one post saying that the person couldn't get it to work on the M1 Mac, but that was also an old post from a 1.5 years ago.

It might be a good idea to confirm with your grandson that it is indeed "Jurassic World: The Game", and not one of the newer Jurassic World games.

Yeah I was wrong - Jurassic World: Evolution

 

[Juicy Box]

Yeah I was wrong - Jurassic World: Evolution

I thought so.

Just curious, what does he currently play it on?

Also, if your grandson plans on using this laptop for other games, would you consider getting a PC instead of a Mac? Mac gaming tends to be very spotty in terms of support.

 

[ssledoux]

I thought so.

Just curious, what does he currently play it on?

Also, if your grandson plans on using this laptop for other games, would you consider getting a PC instead of a Mac? Mac gaming tends to be very spotty in terms of support.

I’d consider it, but it’s definitely not my first choice.

He doesn’t play it at this time. He plays a Jurassic Park game on his iPad, but wants to be able to play that, along with other things.

 

[Juicy Box]

It looks like Jurassic World: Evolution doesn't natively run on the Mac. It works on Mac using Parallels with Windows, but not sure if you want to get into that as it is additional costs and it has to be set up. It also appears that Jurassic World: Evolution using Crossover may not work as well.

So, probably not a good idea to get a Mac if playing Jurassic World: Evolution is the main task. Or, at least look into what would be involved with setting up Parallels.

A side note, even if there was a Mac version or if you need to get him a Mac, gaming on the MBA can give mixed results due to it being fanless. The MBA is an excellent Mac, but for long term GPU or CPU intensive tasks, like playing a modern game for more than 20 minutes, the heat builds, throttling the speed to get the temps down. This could affect performance of the games.

If you decide to get an AS Mac, and it would exclusively for games, get something with a fan, like a MBP, Mac Mini, iMac, etc.

Also, you could get an older Intel Mac and install Windows on it, it isn't difficult with Apple's built-in Boot Camp app.

But the newer AS Macs cannot (at least for now) run Windows or Windows apps natively.

 

[ssledoux]

It looks like Jurassic World: Evolution doesn't natively run on the Mac. It works on Mac using Parallels with Windows, but not sure if you want to get into that as it is additional costs and it has to be set up. It also appears that Jurassic World: Evolution using Crossover may not work as well.

So, probably not a good idea to get a Mac if playing Jurassic World: Evolution is the main task. Or, at least look into what would be involved with setting up Parallels.

A side note, even if there was a Mac version or if you need to get him a Mac, gaming on the MBA can give mixed results due to it being fanless. The MBA is an excellent Mac, but for long term GPU or CPU intensive tasks, like playing a modern game for more than 20 minutes, the heat builds, throttling the speed to get the temps down. This could affect performance of the games.

If you decide to get an AS Mac, and it would exclusively for games, get something with a fan, like a MBP, Mac Mini, iMac, etc.

Also, you could get an older Intel Mac and install Windows on it, it isn't difficult with Apple's built-in Boot Camp app.

But the newer AS Macs cannot (at least for now) run Windows or Windows apps natively.

Thanks. That’s what I figured. The only thing is, I haven’t a clue where to begin with a windows device. It has been forever since I’ve used one.

 

[Wokis]

Macbooks are such a hostile environment for regular gaming that I would not go that route unless I specifically wanted to tinker more with getting things to work rather than playing the games themselves.

If you're in for something baseline but still nice, I want to mention that a friend of mine got a Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (Specs: 15.6" / 1920 x 1080 / 120 Hz / Ryzen 5 / 5600H / 16 GB / 512 GB / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti) which I thought was pretty nice for the price. AMD's 5600H is a perfect compromise of price/performance/power-draw and the 3050 Ti has enough power to not be an issue for any game at 1080p.

No doubt there is a clear build quality desparity between such a laptop and a Macbook, but any game your grandson wants to run (it's Jurassic World today but in 6 months it will likely be something else ), he would be able to.

Regarding some other options I'd suggest you look at some youtube-vids

Engadget rapid-fire on 5 popular models.

LTT "How to buy a laptop" - a comprehensive approach to teaching you the details on what to look for and what to avoid. Heads up that the video *is* a year old by now, but most things are still pretty accurate from what I can tell at a glance.

 

[ssledoux]

Macbooks are such a hostile environment for regular gaming that I would not go that route unless I specifically wanted to tinker more with getting things to work rather than playing the games themselves.

If you're in for something baseline but still nice, I want to mention that a friend of mine got a Lenovo IdeaPad Gaming 3 (Specs: 15.6" / 1920 x 1080 / 120 Hz / Ryzen 5 / 5600H / 16 GB / 512 GB / NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti) which I thought was pretty nice for the price. AMD's 5600H is a perfect compromise of price/performance/power-draw and the 3050 Ti has enough power to not be an issue for any game at 1080p.

No doubt there is a clear build quality desparity between such a laptop and a Macbook, but any game your grandson wants to run (it's Jurassic World today but in 6 months it will likely be something else ), he would be able to.

Regarding some other options I'd suggest you look at some youtube-vids

Engadget rapid-fire on 5 popular models.

LTT "How to buy a laptop" - a comprehensive approach to teaching you the details on what to look for and what to avoid. Heads up that the video *is* a year old by now, but most things are still pretty accurate from what I can tell at a glance.

Thanks so much for the info, and the videos!

 

[Madhatter32]

Thanks. That’s what I figured. The only thing is, I haven’t a clue where to begin with a windows device. It has been forever since I’ve used one.

I crossed this road about 5 years ago with my son. I ended up getting him an HP Omen, which has been great. He used to love playing online games. Now, he is into sports so he doesn't use it as much except for his homework. Many kids today do not seem to be as into Apple computers as the older folks because of gaming but they do love the iphone.

 

[Huntn]

Thanks. That’s what I figured. The only thing is, I haven’t a clue where to begin with a windows device. It has been forever since I’ve used one.

I am completely vested in the MacOS for my everyday computer related tasks. I’ve got iPhones and iPads. iOS is my choice for mobile devices. A nice ecosystem there. Only as a last resort will I game on iOS and the same would go for Android if I owned any of those.

What has irritated me for a couple of decades, I can’t say the Mac costs a lot, but it does everything. So, I have a PC for gaming. That is the reality, especially now that Bootcamp* is dead. There are games for Macs, but they are relatively limited as compared to both PC and Console. For the casual gamer, not picky about what titles are available, the new M1 Macs might do.

*Bootcamp is an Intel compatibility utility that allowed Mac users to install Windows on their Intel Macs.