World of Warcraft Running Slow on Mac
World of Warcraft has been the most popular MMORPG (massive multiplayer online role-playing game) for over fifteen years. It still has millions of players spread all over the world, playing on all sorts of devices. The game is also available for Mac - a nice surprise considering the fact that many modern games do not offer support or Mac systems.
While your iMac or MacBook might not be the ideal choice for gaming, high-end systems should still provide fairly decent performance. However, what do you do if World of Warcraft is running slow on Mac? There are multiple things you can do and troubleshoot in order to get the best possible performance.
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Is Your Mac Overheating?
If you are using a MacBook, then you might want to consider purchasing a cooling pad to use during your gaming sessions. It will give your laptop an extra bit of cooling that may help prevent throttling. Of course, do not underestimate the importance of maintaining your device's hardware – the thermal paste needs to be changed regularly. Furthermore, fans need to be dusted off periodically as well – otherwise, dust and grime buildup may result in overheating.
Lower World of Warcraft Settings
The next step to try is to switch to a lower resolution in-game. This might reduce graphics quality a bit, but it is one of the best way to enhance performance. We also advise you to try lowering graphics and shader details, as well as turning off unnecessary graphics features. While your game's graphics quality will take a hit, you should see an immediate performance gain.
Free up RAM
If you do not have at least 16GB of RAM on your Mac, then there is a chance that the game might not have access to enough RAM. In such cases, you should take the required steps to turn off background services and applications. We have a more comprehensive guide on How to Clear RAM on Mac.
Stop Background Apps
Many users overestimate the power of their laptop or desktop, and end up running too many apps simultaneously. Whenever you want to run a heavy game on your Mac, we advise you to stop any other software you are using. For example, do not stream music via Spotify/YouTube, stop your Web browser, and turn off any other unnecessary applications.
