FPS increase on mac

[Bilbo Swagg3nz]

Hello, I can run the game fine on my computer, but I'm making this post for a friend of mine with a 2013 Macbook with a i7-3740QM processor, and Nvidia GT 650M graphics.

Currently he is playing on minimum settings and getting only about 15-30 fps. I have a similar CPU to his in my pc, so I can assume his poor FPS is due to the GPU he is stuck with.
Are there any updated performance enhancing mods or any other tricks he could possibly use?

[Supernovae]

Originally posted by Bilbo Swagg3nz:

Hello, I can run the game fine on my computer, but I'm making this post for a friend of mine with a 2013 Macbook with a i7-3740QM processor, and Nvidia GT 650M graphics.

Currently he is playing on minimum settings and getting only about 15-30 fps. I have a similar CPU to his in my pc, so I can assume his poor FPS is due to the GPU he is stuck with.
Are there any updated performance enhancing mods or any other tricks he could possibly use?

He could lower the resolution and scaling (internal resolution). 1280x720p at 100% scaling is only 44% as many pixels as 1920x1080p at 100% scaling so this is a pretty easy way to boost performance assuming the GPU is the bottleneck.

Also make sure there are minimal background tasks running. Leaving a browser open or even electron apps like Discord or WhatsApp can eat a lot of RAM which would negatively impact performance.

I've also found driving in 3rd person (cam 2) usually gets almost twice the FPS as driving in 1st person (cam 1) and some areas of the map take more resources than others. Driving through the deserts of NM is going to have far higher FPS than driving through DFW for instance.

[Wolfgang]

Honestly there is not much your friend can do other than to have all settings at the lowest possible.
Mods won't do anything other than putting additional load on the system further reducing performance.
The only real solution is to get a hardware upgrade.

[nautofon]

You won't be able to get higher FPS on a machine like that. I know because I used to get similar numbers on a 2014 MacBook Pro that was considered pretty beefy at the time. Some general hints:

Your descriptions sounds like the 15" Early 2013 Retina MBP. On a Retina display, use max resolution, but lower scaling below 100%. I use 70% myself, but on a machine that old you may need to go lower still.

Disable Vsync. This won't bring more fps, but may make gameplay more tolerable.

Disable SSAO. It's a huge performance drain.

Use trucks with no hood or side mirrors, and use mirror quality settings as low as possible. Don't use F2 mirrors unless you have to. Mirrors also cost a lot of performance. Consider driving in cam 6 (I don't like it myself, but it's worth a try).

Many of the other graphics settings don't really use up that much performance, so you might as well experiment a bit and see what looks good to you.

If Boot Camp is available, trying in Windows might be an option. You'll still have the same hardware constraints, but you will be able to use DirectX graphics instead of OpenGL, which may bring a performance and/or quality boost. Apple's Metal graphics API is not yet available in ATS. That might or might not change in future.

Finally, don't forget to ensure proper airflow for cooling the machine. MacBooks running at full power generate a lot of heat, which may shorten the life of the built-in battery.