New Macbook Pro crashing when trying to play Civ VI - (GPU Crash?)

Dec 6 2020 Solution

Machine: 2020 iMac 3.3 GHz

OS: Big Sur

Civ 6 Ver 1.0.7.9

Issue: Civ 6 seems to be causing two types of crashes, 1.) a catastrophic crash requiring a hard shut down of the machine, 2.) a more minor game crash, which allows access to OS to force quit Civ 6 app. The first crash seems to be related to a GPU issue that Aspyr is aware of but has not fixed. I would experience the catastrophic crash every 20-30 minutes, even when running no other apps.

Solutions:

1. Put the app into low resolution mode. Close the app and Steam. Locate the app file through a Finder search looking for "Civilization VI" (the app is in the Library not the app folder). Right click app and choose Get Info. Check "Open in Low Resolution." This prevented most (but not all) catastrophic crashes for me.
2. Adjust display options in Civ 6. These worked for me: resolution 2560x1440, anti-aliasing: disabled, performance and memory impact: low. Advanced options: Frame limiter: 30 FPS. High Quality Visual Effects: Low.

It's unfortunate we can't take advantage of the Mac's 5k retina, but the game still looks fine and this allowed play without any crashes.

I have exactly this problem with identical graphics corruption. I have a long note in Evernote detailing all my experiences, things I've tried, interactions with Apple Support and Aspyr, screenshots, etc..

One relevant thing not mentioned here, that you may consider trying... You can setup Bootcamp and install Windows 10 in a separate partition using about 60GB of space. Install Steam and Civ VI there. This will work and the game will run very well. This is what I do. It does require rebooting to play the game, but considering that I usually sit down to play for a while, the reboot is a small time to wait.

I would like to note that even in Windows, Civ VI will have some minor graphics corruption. It's hardly noticeable, but it exists. This suggests to me there may be something more fundamental going on... like a problem in the design/build of the MacBook Pro discrete graphics.

Also, I played the open dev beta of Humankind on macOS in Steam and I believe I saw some similar graphics problems (i.e., similar to the Windows graphics problems) in this game also... but the open dev is over and I never had a chance to go back and verify it.

youlovefuture wrote:

Subsequent digging through forums/reviews show this is a known issue. Many negative reviews in the App Store for the game state the same.

Seems you have discovered you are not alone which means you need to contact the developer/publisher of the game for support. It is not uncommon for games to cause graphical glitches or anomalies. It is one of the main problems people report regardless of the game or the hardware used. It may or may not indicate a hardware issue. Personally I don't really consider Macs suitable for higher end games.

To check for possible software issues you can post an EtreCheck report here using the "Additional Text" icon which looks like a piece of paper. You definitely want to minimize the number of third party drivers and apps that are active while you are gaming as they can easily interfere with a game. You can also run the Apple Diagnostics to look for hardware issues.

I have a 16in MBP and have the exact same issues. One of the issues beyond the crash that makes me have to restart the computer (or just Force quit the game and relaunch the finder) is how hot it makes the computer run. It will run hot and loud right off the bat. A solution for this is the change the frame rate in the game options to 30FPS or 20FPS. I didnt notice any change in the graphics at all and the games runs way way cooler. It will still run a little warm as it is using a decent amount of memory but it is much better now. That doesn't fix the GPU crash but it does deal with your overheating issue.

Here is a video of how Civ VI graphics corruption looks on Windows 10 running on my 2019 16" MacBook Pro.

https://youtu.be/CmMt7eCmLpc

This graphics corruption is the same in macOS and Windows. On macOS it eventually leads to the graphics crash/freeze with similar colored triangles described in the OP. On Windows, I've only seen a full graphics crash maybe once or twice after hundreds of hours of playing.

Hi there youlovefuture,

We understand you're experiencing an issue with an app closing unexpectedly on your Mac, and we'd like to share a resource that can help.

Check it out here: If an app freezes or quits unexpectedly on Mac

Cheers!

I installed Windows on my Mac. This is relevant because some graphics problems persist under Windows on the Macbook Pro. I believe there may be a fault in the design of the hardware (or a firmware bug). It's a guess. The problems are less severe under Windows on the Macbook Pro and limited to subtle artifacts in the rendering. I see the same subtle artifacts under macOS, but of course, eventually, Civ VI under macOS causes exactly the graphics "crash" in the screenshot at the top of this post.

apparently Aspyr is looking into it ... https://support.aspyr.com/hc/en-us/articles/360049626712-Why-is-Civilization-VI-is-freezing-mid-game-

Thank you so much for your help. It was incredibly helpful. I think I will just have to wait until the develops sort the bug, but at least now I know what's wrong and that there's not a lot I can do unless I want to downgrade.

Thanks for your advice. I did everything you recommended except the "start game in strategy mode," (which I could not find on the options), and unfortunately the game still crashes at the same point.

This definitely helps - Thank you, but it does not remove the problem completely as I have still suffered the same old crashes.

Hi!

how did you get to play Humankind open Dev on MacOS? they say it is only on PC.