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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 MacWorld editorial, 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.
The author of a BareFeats review, 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.
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".
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?
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