Is there any way to make The Sims 3 run faster on a MacBook Air?

Which MacBook Air do you have? The older models have less powerful graphics.

If you have an older model, users in the below thread also report that the game is slow:

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=700388

Your only option is to wait for Sims 3 to come to a cloud gaming company (where the game runs on a server owned by the providing company) like OnLive. I see that there is a trial that plays through GaiKai in your browser. See this site:

http://www.thesims3.com/trial

If you have the late 2010 model, it should play Sims 3 just fine. See this video for an example of how it plays on the 11" model. Yours should play the same way

http://vimeo.com/20053366

Hope it helps,

Gator

Same for me, the game is already slow when creating persons. When hovering buttons etc. Same for Portal, should run fine as other websites say, but mine it's very slow.

(Latest MBA 13")

Would also know about suggestions how to speed it up ..

I've noticed some others reporting that the OS X 10.6.7 update causes graphics performance issues with games. Are you running that version (check Apple menu -> About This Mac)? If you are and performed the initial update through "Software Update," then you may be experiencing the same issue. Has the gaming performance ever been adequate (maybe before you updated)?

See these threads for details. The first one specifically mentions that Portal was affected. No reports on Sims though.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/2795016?start=15&tstart=0

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=1124748&page=4

Some of those users resolved their graphics performance issues by reverting to version 10.6.5. The chance of that procedure resolving your issue seems slim to me, but if you have Time Machine backups it might not be too risky. If you decide to try an older OS X version and before restoring, please back up from your MacBook Air everything that you care about; it would be awful to loose saved games, pictures, email, or other irreplaceable files while troubleshooting this issue.

Best of luck,

Gator

MAKE THEM RUN FASTER BY BUYING A PC NOTEBOOK! SPARE YOURSELF!

Please see below for my personal experience with Apple and MacBook Air:

I purchased my first Mac previously having been a PC user about two and half years ago. I received a defective Macbook Air that has had nothing but problems from day one. So far it has had 3 logic boards, 2 hard drives, 2 top covers, 2 displays, etc. I have suffered through 3 major repairs and am not confident in the machine that I currently have. I have been denied supervisors and ignored by two Sr. Representatives. I have been read to from a poorly written script and feel that no one at Apple including the Customer Relations department cares about me or is interested in upholding the Apple Care Protection Plan which stipulates that I will get a new, working unit if the one that I have has major manufacturing issues. The latest mishap has cost me critical data and ruined a year-long project that I have invested the past five months of my life into. The "authorized retailer" still has my MacAir along with my sole external hard drive, even though they have reported the status as "repaired" to Apple. I have not been offered anything to compensate for the lost of my data, time, gas, wrangling rides or period that I have not had access to a computer. Furthermore, the authorized retailer (Core Mac in Rochester, NY) looks like it is inside a dirty, abandoned building and I do not feel confident that the computer will be usable after receiving it back from them. Apple is not a company that I feel fairly represents its products or customer service. They do not stand behind their products and do not care about the billions of dollars that they make in revenue off of starving artists like myself each and every year. Does any one know how to contact Jobs or Wozniak directly? This situation is out of control! I am devastated.

Hey I am sorry to hear your story, I have had a similar issue with my previous mac, with different result.... I had an original white macbook in 2007 and it had hardrive falure on me in the middle of my applecare warrenty so they replaced it and i opted to upgrade to a black mac. When I received it it was DOA (apples term for dead on arrival) they comped me my ram upgrades on the black mac and sent me a new one. It got stolen... but I still had issues with the apple people trying to rip me off about the new apple care on the new computer and trying to keep me on my old applecare from my first mac which would have ended in a year after getting my new black mac..... sorry i feel ur pain... where some of the billions dollars of revenue coming back to help the customer base that gave them their billions>???