Is it safe to run this simulator on a macbook air?

Question

I downloaded this simulator today and when i started it up my macbook air started making more noise the I've ever heard it make before, only making me assume that it is really struggling to run the simulator, i dropped all graphics to minimum and the sound still continued, is this normal or is it possible that the game might cause my laptop to overheat?

Comments

Overheating is definitely possible though it sounds like the cooling on your laptop is working as intended. Most likely the laptop will freeze and reset before when it actually overheats to prevent damage from happening. Also, expect OSX to start throttling your cpu/gpu when you hit high temperatures. I use smcFanControl to control the fans on my imac 5k. It reports the temperature and I usually set the fans to about 80% before starting x-plane to prevent hardware throttling kicking in. On the off chance you get any usable performance on a macbook air (I'd be surprised), using that might help you get the most out of your laptop.

Answer 1

Hi Jake,

I am not with Laminar Research; just a flight simmer.

X-Plane is resource hungry whereby good cooling is required.for the graphics card and the CPU.  X-plane will successfully run on a laptop if it is a designated gaming machine.

Dedicated X-Plane users usually run a purpose built Windows based PC which allows for future upgrades rather than purchasing a new unit every few years.  These units have additional cooling included when purchased.  Any Mac system is basically a sealed unit and is difficult to upgrade.

You need to look at the specifications to successfully run X-Plane which can be found at http://www.x-plane.com/kb/x-plane-11-system-requirements/   and compare with your system.  Many flight simmers build/purchase a system that is equal to or has higher specifications than the recommended systems.

Good luck

Glenn