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I have been trying out the game now on my 2017 5k iMac with High Sierra 13.4 installed. From my experience the gameplay has been fine, its stil worse then the windows client but I was able to enjoy myself. The read / write issues seams to have been resolved which was one of my biggest issues. I was able to play for a couple of hours without any major issues. There where some stutters here and there and I had lower frame-rate then usual in one of the new zones. But overall, the game was playable as long as I didn't crank up the settings to high, I played on medium settings. And I aslo ran the game on an external Ssd.

These are my specs3,4 GHz Intel Core i58 GB 2400 MHz DDR4Radeon Pro 570 4096 MB250gb Flash storage250gb samsung SSd. (external)

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@Calisanna.8732 said:So this is my last effort here. I had slight issues on the 32 bit Mac client on my Mac mini but overall it worked great. I recently bought a new Mac mini and was forced into the 64 bit client. Totally unplayable. Many issues that I have read here. Much worse than the 32 bit. I wrote support and after sending my info I received an answer saying that my brand new Mac mini does not support the 64 bit client and that system requirements can change. So yes system requirements changed from the 32 to 64, I get that. So basically I am understanding anyone who had a Mac is screwed now cause they are no longer compatible? I do t know much about comps but aren’t most macs the same? Can’t upgrade much and add graphics cards right? So what is going to happen with the Mac based players? Is there any suggestions on how I can mAke the game work? Played WoW waiting for answers and a fix to the crappy Mac situation and and bored. I want my gw2 back. Much better game imo. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I would like to add that it was the Intel Iris 1536 that “does not conform” so if u have a Mac mini and the 32 worked for u and the 64 doesn’t I guess we r outta luck unless there are suggestions

The 64-client is smooth on Sierra, no problems at all anymore!

Like Menadena said: I also wouldn't recommend playing on a Mini and/or minimum specs.It's good if you're on the road, but at home, look for an upgrade or at least a breakout-box for an eGPU.

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@Matick.4132 said:

@Calisanna.8732 said:So this is my last effort here. I had slight issues on the 32 bit Mac client on my Mac mini but overall it worked great. I recently bought a new Mac mini and was forced into the 64 bit client. Totally unplayable. Many issues that I have read here. Much worse than the 32 bit. I wrote support and after sending my info I received an answer saying that my brand new Mac mini does not support the 64 bit client and that system requirements can change. So yes system requirements changed from the 32 to 64, I get that. So basically I am understanding anyone who had a Mac is screwed now cause they are no longer compatible? I do t know much about comps but aren’t most macs the same? Can’t upgrade much and add graphics cards right? So what is going to happen with the Mac based players? Is there any suggestions on how I can mAke the game work? Played WoW waiting for answers and a fix to the crappy Mac situation and and bored. I want my gw2 back. Much better game imo. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I would like to add that it was the Intel Iris 1536 that “does not conform” so if u have a Mac mini and the 32 worked for u and the 64 doesn’t I guess we r outta luck unless there are suggestions

The 64-client is smooth on Sierra, no problems at all anymore!

Like Menadena said: I also wouldn't recommend playing on a Mini and/or minimum specs.It's good if you're on the road, but at home, look for an upgrade or at least a breakout-box for an eGPU.

Um, I've been playing on a Mini. In fact, I play on a 2014 mini. I run the game off an external SSD for speed, but apart from that, it's working GREAT since the last patch. If a brand new Mac Mini is 'not compatible' with the game, something drastic has changed. From what Calisanna said, the problem isn't that the specs are too low, but that the game is considered not compatible with something in the new Mini. Which might end up being a problem for everyone, if whatever's incompatible is something that's going to be appearing in more new Macs.

Calisanna, I think you ought to write back and ask support exactly what part of your brand new computer is incompatible, because it sounds weird that the Mac version is incompatible with a new Mac. I wonder if the support guy you talked to was confused.

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The important distinction is what specs you are running. For example, my iMac is from 2013 but I bumped it up to 24 GB of memory, bought the fastest CPU chip apple offered, and boot/play the game from an external fast SSD. On the other hand the macbook pro I use is from 2015 and fully stock ... when I travel I use it for my daily login reward and it is slow as anything. While it will cost more overbuilding your machine will add a few years of reasonable life to it so my 2013 iMac is probably still faster than my spouse's newer mostly-stock iMac in some ways.

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@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:

@"Calisanna.8732" said:So this is my last effort here. I had slight issues on the 32 bit Mac client on my Mac mini but overall it worked great. I recently bought a new Mac mini and was forced into the 64 bit client. Totally unplayable. Many issues that I have read here. Much worse than the 32 bit. I wrote support and after sending my info I received an answer saying that my brand new Mac mini does not support the 64 bit client and that system requirements can change. So yes system requirements changed from the 32 to 64, I get that. So basically I am understanding anyone who had a Mac is screwed now cause they are no longer compatible? I do t know much about comps but aren’t most macs the same? Can’t upgrade much and add graphics cards right? So what is going to happen with the Mac based players? Is there any suggestions on how I can mAke the game work? Played WoW waiting for answers and a fix to the crappy Mac situation and and bored. I want my gw2 back. Much better game imo. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks

I would like to add that it was the Intel Iris 1536 that “does not conform” so if u have a Mac mini and the 32 worked for u and the 64 doesn’t I guess we r outta luck unless there are suggestions

The 64-client is smooth on Sierra, no problems at all anymore!

Like Menadena said: I also wouldn't recommend playing on a Mini and/or minimum specs.It's good if you're on the road, but at home, look for an upgrade or at least a breakout-box for an eGPU.

Um, I've been playing on a Mini. In fact, I play on a 2014 mini. I run the game off an external SSD for speed, but apart from that, it's working GREAT since the last patch. If a brand new Mac Mini is 'not compatible' with the game, something drastic has changed. From what Calisanna said, the problem isn't that the specs are too low, but that the game is considered not compatible with something in the new Mini. Which might end up being a problem for everyone, if whatever's incompatible is something that's going to be appearing in more new Macs.

Calisanna, I think you ought to write back and ask support exactly what part of your brand new computer is incompatible, because it sounds weird that the Mac version is incompatible with a new Mac. I wonder if the support guy you talked to was confused.

I, too, play on a Mac mini of 2011(!), and it is just fine to play, although obviously not the best.Mac mini (Mid 2011) (Spec-ed best CTO build back then...), still running 10.11 El Capitan (avoiding High Sierra just for GW2)2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 (Dual core, wished it was quad...)16 GB 1333 MHz DDR3 (max-ed out)AMD Radeon HD 6630M 256 MB (Discrete GPU, but tiny RAM size for present standards...)w/ two (2) 27" 1920 x 1080 Full HD IPS-LED LCD monitorsand GW2 on external Thunderbolt 2 SSD drive (Wicked-fast, probably the fastest-possible external Thunderbolt 2 drive I can use with my (old) Mac mini)

Yes, I would love to have a faster & newer Mac, with Thunderbolt 3, but mine still works fine so far for my needs.

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@Menadena.7482 said:The important distinction is what specs you are running. For example, my iMac is from 2013 but I bumped it up to 24 GB of memory, bought the fastest CPU chip apple offered, and boot/play the game from an external fast SSD. On the other hand the macbook pro I use is from 2015 and fully stock ... when I travel I use it for my daily login reward and it is slow as anything. While it will cost more overbuilding your machine will add a few years of reasonable life to it so my 2013 iMac is probably still faster than my spouse's newer mostly-stock iMac in some ways.

Well, my mini was the cheapest rung on the ladder (and a hundred bucks cheaper for being last year's model when I bought it), so:

2.6ghz Intel core i58gb 1600mhz DDr3Intel iris 1536 mbRunning Yosemite with no intention of upgrading. (10.10.5)Running the game off an external SSD via USBI don't really know enough to be able to draw a comparison, but am pretty sure I do not have any sort of high-performance gamer's rig going on here.

So that's why I'm curious and worried why a brand new Mini is no longer compatible with the game. Different chipset? Different graphics card? What's going on? Hearing that someone was told it is simply not compatible with the game sort of takes me back to the horror days of game support in the 90s/00s, where your first e-mail got you a useless automated response based on keywords, your second attempt got answered by someone paid by the number of 'solutions' they sent out in an hour who clearly did not read beyond the first sentence of your e-mail before copy-pasting solutions that either had nothing to do with your problem or ignored the fact that you had already said in your e-mail that you had tried that solution without success, and your third (angry) e-mail was answered by someone who said that you had no right to be annoyed with the bad support, because the problem was your computer which made it not their responsibility.

Anet support, in my experience, has always been WAY better than that.

So. GW2 not compatible with new Macs? Details would be appreciated, even if I have no immediate upgrade plans.

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Minis are not new, in fact on mac forums the phrase 'new mini' is sure to bring laughter as they do not get updated often. If you have a setup (between specs and game settings) that you are happy with, great, just be aware a mini is often not a performance machine for games and anything else resource intensive. There is a reason why that line is low-cost, and it is not because you need to buy a monitor for it. Remember, mac pros do not come with monitors either.

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The point is not that I think the newest mini should be an awesome performance machine. (Which I never said.)

The point is, the Mac version of the game should be able to run on a new Mac--of whatever sort--and if it doesn't, it's most likely something that may become a problem with all new Macs.. If the game is incompatible with new hardware or software in Mac computers, the game is going to need an update.

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@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:The point is not that I think the newest mini should be an awesome performance machine. (Which I never said.)

The point is, the Mac version of the game should be able to run on a new Mac--of whatever sort--and if it doesn't, it's most likely something that may become a problem with all new Macs.. If the game is incompatible with new hardware or software in Mac computers, the game is going to need an update.

I think a misunderstanding came in. I was not saying anything against recent minis, rather I meant that minis (no matter the generation or game) should not be listed as even minimal requirements as that yields a false expectation that the game will play well on them. The game launches on my off-the-shelf 2015 macbook pro too but I would not suggest it for a gaming platform either.

Minis are great for some uses, I have seen them used by companies. They just can give an uneven mac experience for other uses, although you can tweak some things to make the performance not as bad.

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Hey guys n gals. I have been reading over your responses to my question. Again, I know nothing about computers but I can give you the exact wording I was given about my Mac mini. So by "new" I mean I literally went to the store and bought it within the last month. I don't know if it is new software. I would assume that the Mac mini would have been updated since the last time I bought one 4 years ago. Mac minis suit my needs well for photog reasons. Had no idea about gaming. It had always worked fine in the past until the 64 bit.

This is what I was told when I sent in my comp info"After reviewing the details of your Mac's configuration, it appears your system does not meet the minimum specifications to play Guild Wars 2. Specifically, your system's Intel Iris 1536 MB does not conform to the required minimum specifications." AND"Note: Due to potential changes, system requirements may change over time and you may be required to upgrade your current system (or obtain a new system) to continue to play the game."

I hope that it is ok I directed quotes from support.

Here is info on my Mac- again forgive me if I don't add correct info as comps are beyond my scope. They are for gaming and photoshop only for me lol.Memory Size: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3Graphics Model: Intel Iris 1536 MBMac OS 10.13.3

I only updated to High Sierra after gw2 stopped working. Hope this helps. Thanks again folks. I just downloaded patch and will see if its any better. Fingers crossed.

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@"Calisanna.8732" said:Hey guys n gals. I have been reading over your responses to my question. Again, I know nothing about computers but I can give you the exact wording I was given about my Mac mini. So by "new" I mean I literally went to the store and bought it within the last month. I don't know if it is new software. I would assume that the Mac mini would have been updated since the last time I bought one 4 years ago. Mac minis suit my needs well for photog reasons. Had no idea about gaming. It had always worked fine in the past until the 64 bit.

This is what I was told when I sent in my comp info"After reviewing the details of your Mac's configuration, it appears your system does not meet the minimum specifications to play Guild Wars 2. Specifically, your system's Intel Iris 1536 MB does not conform to the required minimum specifications." AND"Note: Due to potential changes, system requirements may change over time and you may be required to upgrade your current system (or obtain a new system) to continue to play the game."

I hope that it is ok I directed quotes from support.

Here is info on my Mac- again forgive me if I don't add correct info as comps are beyond my scope. They are for gaming and photoshop only for me lol.Memory Size: 8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3Graphics Model: Intel Iris 1536 MBMac OS 10.13.3

I only updated to High Sierra after gw2 stopped working. Hope this helps. Thanks again folks. I just downloaded patch and will see if its any better. Fingers crossed.

The latest release of the mac mini was in October of 2014. We might get a new model later this year but that is not a guarantee. If so, most likely it will get announced this summer and be available in the fall. The Mac Minis and Mac Pros are not as frequently updated as the laptops and the iMacs.

Look at https://help.guildwars2.com/hc/en-us/articles/201862978-Guild-Wars-2-Mac-Edition . Part of that lists supported macs and it includes the 2014 mac mini.

I am not sure why support would say you do not meet the minimum specs. The past few models of the mini had either an i5 or an i7 chip, and the minimum specs call for either. For the cpu look at the 'processor' line by doing an 'about this mac' from the apple menu on the upper left of your screen. For example, mine says "3.5 GHz Intel Core i7". I am guessing they thought "intel Iris 1536 MB" was your cpu (rather than your graphics) and it did not match someone's script but if you do that I think you will find you have an i5 or an i7 at a certain speed measured in GHz.

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@Calisanna.8732 said:@Menadena.7482 yup its 2.5 GH intel core I5. I actually tried the game today after patch and it is def running a lot smoother. I still have to run low on most graphic settings in WVW to avoid issues but its totally playable! So glad that I have kept up with the forums and have wonderful people to help me. Thanks so much for your information!

Glad to hear it! Have you also considered getting an external SSD drive and installing the game on there? It sounds like your specs are actually very close to mine, and the Solid State Drive was the only thing that made it playable for me before the patch. Now, after the last patch, I am still running it off the drive, and have turned up some of my settings to medium because it still works better for me that way than it did before the patch with everything on Low. ^^ (And I put Animation on High now and get to see all the pretty effects.)

@Menadena.7482 said:

@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:The point is not that I think the newest mini should be an awesome performance machine. (Which I never said.)

The point is, the Mac version of the game should be able to run on a new Mac--of whatever sort--and if it doesn't, it's most likely something that may become a problem with all new Macs.. If the game is incompatible with new hardware or software in Mac computers, the game is going to need an update.

I think a misunderstanding came in. I was not saying anything against recent minis, rather I meant that minis (no matter the generation or game) should not be listed as even minimal requirements as that yields a false expectation that the game will play well on them. The game launches on my off-the-shelf 2015 macbook pro too but I would not suggest it for a gaming platform either.

Minis are great for some uses, I have seen them used by companies. They just can give an uneven mac experience for other uses, although you can tweak some things to make the performance not as bad.

Sorry if I got argumentative, I was up till 2:30 last night, which tends to make me owly. And I had no idea that Mac Minis were not being updated. It's kind of shocking that Menadena's new computer has almost the exact same specs as my low-end 2014 one.

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@Calisanna.8732 said:Can you suggest an SSD drive that you use so I may look it up? I have one that backups my portraits but not sure if it’s the same thing! Thanks @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015"

I don't really have a particular recommendation, but I know Sandisk and Kingston are reliable name brands. I bought an internal Sandisk Ultra II SSD (240gb) and a cheap external SSD-to-USB enclosure to connect it up. You can also buy external SSD drives which are all set to plug and play. They range wildly in price, though.

The main things to watch are: Make sure it's an SSD (because the no-moving-parts is what makes it fast): Make sure you have a way to connect it: Make sure you have enough memory on it to run the game. The game app takes up 38gb on my drive, so you can probably get away with a smaller drive than the 240gb I went for. (But more disk space is always nice.)

Two other things I'll mention: as I've posted before, when the game is on an external disk, you need a different address in the terminal to run the repair app--/volumes/NameOfDrive/Guild\ Wars\ 2\ 64-bit.app/Contents/MacOS/GuildWars2 -repair(Replace NameOfDrive with the name of your drive.)

One problem I have, and I believe it's a Yosemite bug that you will probably not have to deal with: if I leave the disk plugged in and idle, for some reason after a short time the computer can no longer communicate with it, and gives me annoying messages like "Your disk can't be ejected because it may be in use" or "the app can't be started" or -36 errors. After trying several suggested fixes online, I gave up, and now only plug the disk in when I'm about to use it, and eject it as soon as I'm done. It's annoying, but with any luck at all, you won't have the same issue, since it doesn't seem to be widespread.

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@Calisanna.8732 said:@Menadena.7482 yup its 2.5 GH intel core I5. I actually tried the game today after patch and it is def running a lot smoother. I still have to run low on most graphic settings in WVW to avoid issues but its totally playable! So glad that I have kept up with the forums and have wonderful people to help me. Thanks so much for your information!

You might want to add an SSD if you want. Both to have the game and boot off of. The genius bar will tell us you can not boot off of an external SSD but ..... yes you can.

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@"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015" said:Sorry if I got argumentative, I was up till 2:30 last night, which tends to make me owly. And I had no idea that Mac Minis were not being updated. It's kind of shocking that Menadena's new computer has almost the exact same specs as my low-end 2014 one.

No problem, you should see some of my posts when I am running on fumes. Anyway, when I buy a new machine I think "what would make me happy to have in 5 years". Not that the future of computers can be predicted with accuracy, but generally this means getting a high-spec thing from Apple then upgrading stuff with aftermarket components. If my next mac has soldered ram I will scream.

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@Calisanna.8732 said:Can you suggest an SSD drive that you use so I may look it up? I have one that backups my portraits but not sure if it’s the same thing! Thanks @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015"

Go to mac sales.com and see what they have for your machine. I have the 1/2 TB Mercury SSD running on a USB3 port (roughly the same speed as the thunderbolt 2 ports on this model mac).

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@Calisanna.8732 said:Can you suggest an SSD drive that you use so I may look it up? I have one that backups my portraits but not sure if it’s the same thing! Thanks @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015"

FYI, about playing off external SDD drives, I bought off Amazon a Monster Digital Overdrive Thunderbolt (SSDOT-0240-A), a 240 GB SDD connected by Thunderbolt 2 to my Macs, at the cost of $150. The disk speed is VERY fast, faster than the USB3 external SDD drives I've tested so far. Minimum 2 times, maybe 3 times as fast. The GW2 loads very quickly, with minimal wait time, even on my Mac mini (2011), and plays fine, at the lowest settings, that is...

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BTW, look into any SSD you get. Unless you have prior experience with the company you are likely to run into great SSDs and meh ones. Also remember that overprovisioning (unformatted space) on a SSD is important. If you can, install OSX to the SSD as well rather than just copying GW2 to it as that will yield even more speed.

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@DrMORO.4627 said:

@Calisanna.8732 said:Can you suggest an SSD drive that you use so I may look it up? I have one that backups my portraits but not sure if it’s the same thing! Thanks @"Cragga the Eighty Third.6015"

FYI, about playing off external SDD drives, I bought off Amazon a
, a 240 GB SDD connected by Thunderbolt 2 to my Macs, at the cost of $150. The disk speed is VERY fast, faster than the USB3 external SDD drives I've tested so far. Minimum 2 times, maybe 3 times as fast. The GW2 loads very quickly, with minimal wait time, even on my Mac mini (2011), and plays fine, at the lowest settings, that is...

On my next system, whatever it is, I will definitely boot off of TB3 unless the SSD is internal. All the tests I found at the time when researching my current system said I would get comparable speeds no matter if it was TB2 or USB3 and since the case did not have a TB2 connection at the time I just went with the USB3. I am guessing TB2 got a boost after that but TB3 would not even make it a question.

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I would LOVE to see a mini that is basically an iMac without a monitor. There would still be issues like not having a dedicated graphics card but I am guessing that is less a priority than other hardware issues.

Given the pro redesign you can combine the mini and pro lines: the more minis are hooked up the more powerful the pro. Introduce some specialty units that can plug in there as well, like a unit whose primary purpose is to hold a full-size graphics card. Also mini/pro central units with a variety of cpu chips.

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