WoW on a Macbook. Yes you can!
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After spending a fair amount of time scouring the internet for information on whether World of Warcraft was playable on a Macbook, I decided to create a post dedicated to answering the question "Can I play WoW on my Macbook." Most of the information circulating on the web fits into one of the following categories
1. "If you want to play WoW, you should get the Macbook Pro"
2. "WoW won't work on a Macbook due to the low end graphics"
3. "I played WoW on my Macbook" (and of course no details on performance)
I play WoW. I usually play WoW on my custom-built gaming PC desktop. I also bought a Macbook as my primary laptop. In the case that I am away from home and want to play WoW, I want to be able to play it on my laptop. Comments like "you should get a Macbook Pro" don't help anything. I already HAVE a Macbook. So hopefully the following information will help you if you are also in a similar situation.
Testing machine:
2.0 GHz Macbook (white)
80 GB HD
512MB RAM (default)
1. YES! Yes, WoW runs on a Macbook!
2. Yes, it really is playable. No, it won't measure up to your gaming desktop (duh) but unless you need to experience the same full graphical effects you've seen over and over the last year and a half, you really shouldn't be worried.
3. The framerate isn't fantastic, but it's not bad either. If you are like me, you want to play WoW on your Macbook on the occasion that you aren't at home. Let's say that you're on a business trip, and on one particular evening your guild could potentially finally beat C'Thun. Yes, you CAN run WoW on your Macbook. Yes you CAN play it just fine. No it won't have super smooth framerate, but not enough to really have an effect on your ability to play normally. I got the impression from other sources that the framerate would be so terrible that it would be virtually unplayable. This isn't true at all. I just left the graphics on the default setting after installing WoW, and it ran just fine.
If you want to buy a machine specifically for playing games like WoW, I wouldn't suggest a Macbook (or any laptop for that matter.) However if you have a macbook, and want to play WoW on the occasion that you're not at your desktop gaming PC, go for it!
-Linkbeat
2GHz Macbook 80gb HD / 512Mb - White, Mac OS X (10.4.6), 60gb iPod Video / 512Mb iPod Shuffle