• How To Install Wow Addons
• Best Addons For Wow

This is an article about World of Warcraft functionality on Macs.

WoWmapper is a Windows desktop application that works alongside ConsolePort to convert controller input into keyboard and mouse input recognized by World of Warcraft. It natively supports Dualshock 4 and Xbox controllers as well as vibration feedback and many more features to assist with controller gameplay. Not using Windows? World of Warcraft Addons, Interfaces, Skins, Mods & Community. News Addons Tukui Download Changelog Tickets Git ElvUI Download Changelog Tickets Git Browse. Fixed UI-Scale being off for Mac users as well. (Thank you critklepka for helping debug the Mac scale issue). The first World of Warcraft addon that makes real, efficient controller gameplay a possibility, ConsolePort brings a number of unique features to make gameplay with a controller fast, efficient and painless. ConsolePort Action Bar. A unique action bar designed for controllers, with over 40 bindable button combinations.

Feb 04, 2014  Applications / World of Warcraft / Interface / Addons. However, whenever you download an add-on to your computer, look inside the downloaded file first. If there are two or more files in the main file, and no programs (just files), these need to be removed from the main file, and dropped individually into your Addons folder. Make sure World of Warcraft is closed and not loaded; 2. Download the addon.zip file you want to install. Save the.zip files to your download folder; If, when you try to download the file, it automatically “opens”, you need to RIGHT click on the link and “save as” or “Save Target As”. Extract the file. I figured I would make a video about how to do this since the new patch came out and Curse client sucks for Mac. I have to download all my addons manually and I figured I would show you all how.

Mac is an abbreviation for 'Macintosh', a brand of computers manufactured by Apple Inc.

Mac OS is short for Macintosh Operating System; the first version of Mac OS X was the 10th major revision (hence the Roman numeral X) of the Mac OS. The latest release of Mac OS X is listed at Apple's web site: http://www.apple.com/osx/ (after 10.11: http://www.apple.com/macos/)

Playing WoW on a Macintosh presents the player with some unique challenges and opportunities, hence this page. Issues to be aware of include: differences in the effect of certain video settings on system performance, trouble finding equivalent hardware to that available to the PC player, and the availability of in-game native UI Video Recording exclusive to Mac players. Despite these problems, the latest model can run WoW with around 70 FPS in Orgimmar/Stormwind and 100 FPS anywhere else.

System Requirements Edit

These are the system requirements for World of Warcraft through Legion:^[1]

Minimum System Requirements Edit

• Mac OS X 10.10 (latest version)
• Intel® Core™ i5-750
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 640M or ATI Radeon™ HD 4850 or Intel® HD Graphics 5000
• 2 GB RAM
• 45 GB free hard drive space
• Broadband Internet connection
• DVD-ROM drive (required for retail disc versions only)
• A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported.
• 1024 x 768 minimum display resolution

Recommended System Requirements Edit

• Mac ® OS X 10.11 (latest version)
• Intel® Core™ i5-4670 or better
• 8 GB RAM or more
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 775M or AMD Radeon™ R9 M290X or better
• Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel

Supported video cards Edit

• See Supported Video Cards for World of Warcraft: US(Updated: May 8, 2012; Article ID: 100493) or EU(Updated: 24-Jul-2012; Article ID: 100493)

PowerPC Compatibility Edit

PowerPC hardware is no longer supported by Blizzard for World of Warcraft. Shortly before the release of Cataclysm patch 4.0.1 was released in which PowerPC processor based Macs were no longer supported. This update indicated the removal of PowerPC support from World of Warcraft.

Systems pre-patch for Legion Edit

• Mac OS 10.9.5 will no longer be supported as of the systems pre-patch (patch before the expansion releases).^{[citation needed]}

Systems pre-patch for Mists of Pandaria Edit

• Mac OS 10.5 will no longer be supported as of the systems pre-patch (patch before the expansion releases).^[2]
  • Mac OS 10.6 support dropped also since the minimum requirement is 10.7.4, but it has not been officially announced.

User Interface Addons Edit

Users are sometimes unsure if Macs are able to make use of User Interface Addons. In fact, all UI Addons are built on an XML/Lua scripting system built into WoW and cannot contain native code, so they will run on any platform World of Warcraft runs on —Windows or Mac. Simply place an addon in your World of Warcraft/Interface/AddOns/ folder and restart WoW. (Switching? You can copy that entire folder from a Windows box to get all your addons onto your new Mac. Copy the World of Warcraft/WTF/ folder too and you'll get all your macros, chat window settings, and addon saved data, too.). For users that play on different machines, it can be beneficial to move the Interface/AddOns and Interface/WTF folder to an online cloud service, such as DropBox with a symbolic link in the original Applications/Warcraft. This will allow multiple machines to have the same UI, shared through a cloud service.

Caveats:

• Most addons are available in .zip files (which can be opened with Mac OS X built-in software). Some Addon authors like to package their products as self-extracting/installing .exe files; while the addon will work on a Mac, the .exe file will not. If you find an addon that is only available in an .exe, ask the author for a .zip version — most will be happy to oblige.
• A few addons come with an external program — e.g. for uploading game info to database sites or downloading auction prices for viewing in-game. The addons themselves will work on the Mac, but you will need a Mac version of the external program to get the functionality it provides. (Note: use of third-party programs in conjunction with World of Warcraft may violate the Terms of Service.)
• As a general rule, .exe files should only be trusted as much as you trust the person or entity it comes from. Very few people will click an .exe file that comes in an unsolicited email, but the same cannot be said for .exe files that purport to be self-extricating wow addons. Let the player beware, though this is less of a Mac issue and more about prudent personal security.

Technical Support Edit

Blizzard offers a support forum for Macintosh-specific problems on WoW. The Mac team has proved highly responsive to known issues.

• Official Blizzard Mac Technical Support forum

NB: This forum is for players registered through the US servers only, and will not recognise login details for those on other servers. Mac users on the European servers should post Mac queries on Blizzard's European Technical Support forum.

Performance Tips Edit

This thread on the Blizzard Mac Technical Support forum offers good information on how to optimise WoW both through tweaking options and upgrading graphics cards. Furthermore, Accelerate Your Mac has a page dedicated to user reports on WoW performance on individual Macs.
General Tips

• The more RAM you have, the better; 1.5 to 2 GB is a good baseline. Note that buying RAM from Apple is notoriously expensive, 3rd party sellers have been known to sell at 1/10th Apple's price.
• The Fullscreen Glow effect (in WoW's Video Options) has a much greater impact on performance under Mac OS X than on Windows. Turn it off if your framerate is too low. The Anisotropic Filtering and Multisampling settings can also also drastically lower framerate.

PowerPC-only Tips
A recent thread with posts by Blizzard employee Tigerclaw on the Blizzard Mac Technical Support forum has important things to say about WoW on PowerPC Macs running Tiger or earlier OSes - specifically, that performance will always be limited by the exclusion of certain OpenGL features that are available on Tiger on the Intel-based Macs. Until the release of Leopard (available October 26th, 2007) or OS X 10.4.11 (either of which may or may not include these OpenGL features for the PowerPC), or in lieu of upgrading to an Intel-based Mac, PowerPC users may wish to try the following tweak:

G4 users should specifically note the information provided by post 47 on this thread, which highlights that G4 Macs have an insoluble bottleneck limiting graphics card performance.

Intel-only Tips

• Multithreaded OpenGL is enabled by default, increasing performance on dual-core (or multi-CPU) Intel Macs. An experimental version of this technology can be enabled by typing /console GLFaster 2 in-game — it's even faster but can sometimes lead to noticeable mouse/UI lag. (Type /console GLFaster 1 to return to the normal setting, or /console GLFaster 0 to turn it off entirely.)

World of Warcraft on Intel Macs Edit

On January 10, 2006, Apple announced the first of the Intel-based macs (Macbook Pro and iMac) which can still run older PowerPC programs in emulation mode with Rosetta. Intel-ready programs are usually available as Universal Binaries, programs that can run on PPC and Intel.

As of Patch 1.9.3.5059, WoW for Mac OS X supports the Intel Macintosh. Performance is generally considered very good.

Intel-based Macs Edit

Note: Please beware that several old revisions of iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook and Mac mini use integrated graphics chipset (Intel GMA950 or GMA X3100) instead of a dedicated GPU+VRAM, which has very poor graphics performance. Owners of such models will benefit from running World of Warcraft under Microsoft Windows using Apple's Boot Camp utility, but requires a purchase of Windows.

Apple has stopped making such models in late 2008 (Mac mini was the last model to use Intel graphics and was updated in March 2009) and all new Macs come with dedicated GPU.

WoW on OSx86 Edit

'OSx86' (or 'hackintosh') is the name given by the community to the collaborative hacking project to run Mac OS X on non-Apple computers. The level of compatibility depends on the hardware used but in most cases is stable due to the recent modifications to OS X's kernel and drivers.

It has been reported by several OSx86 users that WoW runs stable and smoothly on this systems though few graphical glitches can be seen on some systems where the GPU drivers doesn't fully support the GPU used. Besides this, no bug related only to 'hackintoshes' has been reported. As many OSx86 users tend to remove Apple's macs only processes and components, they can even get slightly more performance with similar hardware than real macs.

Voice Communication Edit

WoW offers a built-in voice communication feature as of version 2.20. Blizzard's Mac developers have confirmed that it'll work cross-plaftorm.

Ventrilo Edit

• Ventrilo Mac Status, Ventrilo Download Page

The official Mac port of Ventrilo is currently in beta and missing some features. Ventrilo's developers promise full cross-platform feature parity for their upcoming 3.0 release. Unfortunately this didn't quite go as far as including a way to 'normalize' incoming communications, with the result that Mac users either have to go through a two-to-three program long workaround (involving taking the incoming voice comms through at least one other application before going through GarageBand and then out through the speakers), or to suffer the whims of the Ventrilo Volume gods.Ventrilo servers use the GSM codec by default; the Mac client only supports the Speex codec, so usually a server will need to be reconfigured to support Mac clients. A common misconception among Ventrilo users is that using the Speex codec results in poor audio quality; this is actually an effect of the Ventrilo client/server architecture when mixed-version clients are connected. All clients, Windows included, must be updated to the latest version of Ventrilo or Speex audio quality will be reduced.

Using 'Push To Talk' functionality in Ventrilo requires turning on 'Enable access for assistive devices' in the Universal Access pane of System Preferences.

TeamSpeak Edit

• TeamSpeex for Mac, TeamSpeex Download

TeamSpeex is a third-party client for TeamSpeak 2 servers. It supports only the Speex client (however, this is default on TS servers, so it's less likely to be an issue). 'Push To Talk' functionality is available without enabling Universal Access.

• TeamSpeak 3 officially supports Mac, Download

TeamSpeak 3 is not compatible with Version 2, use TeamSpeex in those cases.

Mouse Issues Edit

Older Macs came with one-button mice, and the built-in trackpad on Mac notebooks has only one hardware button. Since WoW's UI is designed for a 2+ button mouse, this can lead to some confusion.

Ctrl + Mousewheel Up/Down Edit

Mac OS X UI comes with a default setting that prebinds the keybind `ctrl + mousewheel up/down' under desktop control (it's used to zoom in/out while on desktop - useful when you need to zoom in and out in pictures etc while outside the game). When in the game pressing `ctrl+mousewheel' gets captured by the OS (instead of the game) and any macro binded to (or meant to handle) `ctrl+mousewheel up/down' will not work. To solve this remove the aforementioned keybind-combo from desktop-control, via Mac Os X settings. Go to:

• System preferences
• Universal Access
• Tab: Seeing
• Component: Zoom
• Options
• Go at the bottom of the new window that will pop and untick the option called: `Use scroll wheel with modifier keys to zoom'

And thats it. `Ctrl + Mousewheel up/down' will now work as intended.

Left / Right Click Edit

• The single mouse button corresponds to 'Left click' in WoW's UI.
• In WoW, holding the Command (Apple or ⌘) key while clicking is equivalent to a right-click.
• Recent Mac notebooks include a feature where holding two fingers on the trackpad while clicking produces a right-click. This can be turned on in the Keyboard & Mouse pane of System Preferences.

Any standard multi-button USB mouse can be used with a Mac. (Macs with Bluetooth can also use any standard BT mouse.) No third-party software is necessary to make use of the secondary button or scroll wheel, or to be able to bind additional buttons to WoW actions. (Third-party software may be useful if you wish to customize extra-mouse-button actions outside of WoW, though.)

Mighty Mouse Edit

Until late 2009, desktop Macs came with Apple's (USB or wireless) Mighty Mouse, a 4 button mouse with a bidirectional scroll ball. It, too, has some caveats when it comes to WoW:

• Right-clicking is disabled by default. It can be enabled in the Keyboard & Mouse pane of System Preferences.
• The mouse uses a touch sensor to determine when to send a right click signal, and falls back to sending a left click signal if it's unsure. You may need to lift your finger away from the left side of the mouse while right clicking.
• The mouse cannot send a 'both left+right buttons down' signal, which in WoW makes you run forward while allowing you to steer your character with the mouse. This 'Move and Steer' action can be set to a different mouse button in WoW's Key Bindings window, however. (It uses Button 3 — pressing on the scroll ball — by default.)

Magic Mouse Edit

Since December 2009, Apple has shipped Macs with a new model mouse, the Magic Mouse, which only works with OS X 10.5.8 or later. This is a single-button mouse with multi-touch capabilities; it supports right-clicking in the same way as the Mighty Mouse (that is, by pressing the right half of the mouse while there is no touch on the left side), except this is enabled by default.

The Magic Mouse has no scroll wheel or ball: swipe from front to back, or vice-versa, over the mouse to get the same effect as when using a scroll wheel on traditional mice. WoW recognises this and treats it like any normal use of the scroll wheel or ball on another mouse.

By default, the Magic Mouse is set up for 'momentum-scrolling' — that is, if swiping a finger over the mouse and lifting it off as part of the swipe, it will continue scrolling for a little bit (this does not happen when deliberately dragging a finger over the mouse and stopping it on the mouse, rather than lifting the finger off the mouse during the swipe). In WoW, this has the unfortunate effect that almost any accidental swipe over the mouse usually leads to zooming in or out completely. If your character appears to have become invisible, scroll out by dragging a finger across the mouse from front to back. Momentum-scrolling can be turned off on the Mouse pane of the System Preferences, but would have to be turned on again if you want to be able to use this when using other programs than WoW.

Although the standard settings for the Magic Mouse are to support two-finger swipes as well, WoW does not recognise these. However, by installing an extra program such as MagicPrefs or Better Touch Tool, the mouse can be programmed to act as if it has more buttons, some of which WoW will recognise. Using these, it is possible to, for example, make a 'middle click' (pressing the mouse button with one finger in the centerline of the mouse) equivalent to holding down both the left and right mouse buttons, which causes your character to run.

Swimming While Dead Edit

Patch 1.10.1 added key bindings for pitch control, so one no longer needs to use the mouse to swim (or fly) upwards or downwards. However, these controls only change the orientation of your character, not that of the camera -- swimming below the surface of water while water-walking (or while dead and in spirit form) requires making both your character and the camera point downward. This can only be done using the mouse: hold the right mouse button (or equivalent) and drag the mouse cursor down.

Alternatively, use the 'Mac Options' and 'Bindings' to remap the W key to 'Move and Steer.' Then face the camera down, and press W to get underwater. This works better on a Mac laptop with no spare mouse handy.

Mouse Acceleration Edit

World of Warcraft’s mouse sensitivity controls seems to be more useful on a Windows based machine.

It looks like, it could be disabled with SET useDesktopMouseSpeed '1', found here.

People who regularly use a Mac may not have any problems with the OS’s mouse acceleration in-game, however people who switch between Mac and PC often will find two totally different mousing experiences.

There are a few tools available to fix acceleration in OS X since the operating system has no system options to do this on its own.

USB Overdrive is a shareware (free) option. It offers a message upon boot, but has no restrictions, and the message can be removed with purchase.

Keyboard Issues Edit

Help with function key problems Edit

Help! My Function Keys Don't Work Like Normal Function Keys!

On laptop Macs, the function keys usually perform double duty. F1 and F2 control screen brightness, F3 and F4 control volume, etc. Pressing the Fn key will use them as function keys, but you can change them to work as function keys by default in System Preferences. Open System Preferences -> Keyboard & Mouse -> Check 'Use all F1, F2, etc. keys as standard function keys'.

On desktop Macs, screen brightness is controlled by F14 and F15. Their PC equivalents (Scroll Lock and Pause/Break) don't usually do anything.

Switching to Other Apps Edit

On Windows, one can use Alt-Tab and related shortcuts to switch to other applications without quitting WoW. On the Mac, Command-Tab generally serves this purpose, but when an app 'captures' the display to go fullscreen on the Mac, it usurps such system keyboard shortcuts even if it doesn't do anything with them.

WoW (and older Blizzard games, since they've been nice and consistent about it) can be switched between fullscreen and windowed modes with Cmd-M. After switching to windowed, you can Cmd-Tab to another app, Cmd-H to hide WoW, etc.

You can also use 3rd-party software to be able to change apps without switching to windowed mode:

An alternative solution would be as follows:

• From within the game, enter the Options menu (ESC)
• Choose Video
• Check to enable Windowed Mode
• Check to enable Maximized

This will provide the feel of fullscreen while allowing the hotkeys to work for Spaces in Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. The only caveat with this configuration is that upon returning to the game screen, you must click within the game window to fully resume focus and you still can't use Cmd-Tab.

Exposé Keys Edit

There is an — apparently — well-known issue of the WoW client overwriting the default Exposé configuration on exit; these keys get used within the client for various functions but not restored after exit.

A currently untested patch from a third party purportedly works around the issue:

In a thread on the Blizzard Mac Tech Support Forum an alternative work-around has been suggested: removing the Key Bindings for keys F9 to F12, and simply using Shift-B to open all of your bags. This has apparently met with a reasonable amount of success.

Another workaround: some have noticed that the loss of Exposé settings tends to occur when quitting the game while in full-screen mode; making a habit of switching to windowed mode before quitting (Cmd-M) seems to reduce the frequency of the problem.

Sound Issues Edit

Q: HELP! I don't get any sound during the opening cinematic or the Wrathgate cut-scene!

A: Fear not, young Leetskilzninjaxx. This is caused by old version of DivX/Xvid codec installed on your system. You will need to find your Library/Quicktime folder (hint: there are two of them, one in your Macintosh HD root directory and one in your Users/Usernamehere directory — you want the first one iirc), and move or delete your DivX and/or Xvid codecs.^[3]

Image and Video Edit

Screenshots Edit

To take a screenshot in WoW, press the F13 key (or, since some Macs don't have an F13 key, go into WoW's Key Bindings menu and change it to something convenient. This saves the latest frame drawn to a Screenshots folder inside your World of Warcraft folder. (You can also use the Mac's builtin screenshot key shortcuts CMD-Shift-4, but these aren't synced with the game's graphics engine, so they may capture an incomplete or 'torn' image.)

Screenshots are saved in the JPEG format by default. This is a lossy compression format -- it produces small files, but with reduced image quality. The format and quality of screenshots can be changed via the screenshotFormat and screenshotQuality config variables. For example, to switch to a high-quality PNG format, type the following into the chat frame once logged into WoW:

For more details, see the [#Console Variables] section below. (The screenshotFormat control has been available on the Mac since Patch 1.11; it and screenshotQuality were made cross-platform in Patch 2.1.0.)

Video Capture and Editing Edit

Patch 2.2.0 brought a built-in video capture utility to WoW on the Mac.

Since this is a hugely complicated issue, it now has its own WoWWiki page at Mac Video Recording and Editing.

Examples of videos captured and edited on Macs:

Available Codecs Edit

MJPEG
H.264

MPEG-4

Faster video compression Edit

Sneaky Faster Video Compression Process While You Make A Sandwich

See Mac Video Recording and Editing.

Changing Recording Location Edit

See Mac Video Recording and Editing.

Using Two Screens Edit

It is possible to play WoW on a Mac with two screens (also known as 'dual-head' configuration), playing the game on one and leaving the other usable for different programs (such as looking up things on WoWWiki).

This setup is possible on all Mac Pros, MacBooks and MacBook Pros and Intel-based iMacs, as well as certain models of Mac mini and many older models of Mac. It is necessary to hook up a second screen to the video-out port — on current models of Mac, this will most often be a mini DisplayPort or in some cases a mini-DVI port; older models of Mac laptop may have a full-size DVI or a mini-VGA port. In all cases except the full-size DVI port, you will need to buy an adapter to go between the port and the cable supplied with the monitor; these are available from Apple as well as some other manufacturers.

When the cable is plugged in, the screen should automatically be recognised by the computer. On laptops, the external screen can be switched between mirroring mode (in which the screen shows the exact same image as the built-in one) or as an actual second screen; on current desktop Macs, it is normally set to be a true second screen. The menu bar and Dock will be on the main screen, while the second screen has just a desktop background; to change which screen the menu bar and Dock appear on, go to System Preferences → Displays and on the Arrangement tab, drag the menu bar to the screen you want it on. You can also choose whether or not the screens mirror each other on this tab.

Issues Edit

There is, however, a problem with playing WoW on a Mac with two screens: the game does not support this properly.

• When playing in full-screen mode, WoW always takes up the internal screen and switches the external one to black — which means that having the second screen is completely pointless;
• When playing in windowed mode on the main screen, the menu bar and Dock remain accessible, but the WoW window resizes to fit between them, making for a smaller viewing area — the main use for the secondary screen in this case would be to open other programs on like a web browser (this is probably most useful if your secondary screen is smaller than the main one);
• With WoW in windowed mode on the secondary screen, it is possible to drag the window to near-fullscreen size, but because the window's title bar automatically stays on the screen, 'unusable' strips of screen remain to the sides of the WoW window (this is probably best if both internal and external screens are the same size);
• When playing in windowed mode but selecting the option to play maximized in the interface options (press Esc → Video, and then check both the 'Windowed Mode' and 'Maximized' boxes), WoW again always uses the internal screen but leaves the external screen usable; however, because the menu bar and Dock are on the main screen, this is not much better than having the external screen turned to black.

A solution might seem to be to put the menu bar on the external screen and then setting WoW to maximized, windowed mode, so as to leave the menu bar and Dock accessible. Unfortunately, when WoW switches to maximized mode, it hides both Dock and menu bar, making the net result almost exactly the same as when the menu bar is displayed on the internal screen. As such, the best way to play WoW on a secondary screen is probably to use the windowed mode and put up with not being able to play completely fullscreen.

For a more complete solution, see the following section for a successful workaround.

Another issue is that in windows mode, the framerate drops to about half the rate it has in fullscreen mode (on the current author's mid-2008 iMac with an ATI Radeon HD2600 and 256 MB video memory). As mentioned in the Performance Tips, however, turning off the fullscreen glow appears to improve the framerate somewhat.

Two screens & secondary screen WoW window max Edit

Using two screens with the WoW window maximised on the secondary monitor (Work around)

Using AppleScript it is possible to run WoW full screen on a 2nd monitor, leaving the Menubar and Dock on the primary monitor.

This script depends on:

• 'Enable Assistive Devices' being enabled in the Universal Access pane of System Preferences
• WoW pre configured to both 'Windowed' and 'Maximized' mode (correctly set for the monito you wish to use).

The position in the script is measured from the top left corner of the primary screen (the location of Apple menu). A positive value will move the window the right, a negative to the left.

Here's and example script (for dual monitors of Resolution 1680x1050, primary monitor on the right, WoW on the left):

For ease of use, a clickable application (launcher) can be created using /Applications/Utilities/AppleScript Editor (or Automator), and the icon can be changed to something more suitable.

Known issues of this workaround:

• The menubar and dock both disappear whilst WoW is the active application. Activating any other application (or simply clicking anywhere on the desktop) will reveal them again.
• If you wish to launch WoW from the dock, this will result in an extra icon required for the script and the actual WoW application.
• If WoW is 'unmaximized' (Command-M), when maximized again it will return to the internal monitor, simply running the script again will fix this. WoW does not need to be relaunched.

Note: This has been untested on anything prior to 10.6

Mac-specific Console Variables Edit

These can be set by typing /console variablename value while in WoW.

• GLFaster - Enables Multithreaded OpenGL on dual/multi-core Intel Macs.
  • 0 - Off
  • 1 - Default
  • 2 - Experimental faster option, may lead to UI/mouse lag
• maxfps - Caps framerate (useful to minimize CPU usage / temperature or extend notebook battery life). New in Patch 2.1.0
  • <number> - framerate not to exceed.
• maxfpsbk - Caps framerate while WoW is not the frontmost app. You must have maxfps also set in order for this value to work. New in Patch 2.1.0
  • <number> - framerate not to exceed.

NOTE: 'maxfpsbk' can be used in a bit of a convoluted process to maximize the speed at which WoW compresses player-recorded video. Details above or in WoW Mac Tech Support Forum.

• screenshotFormat - Controls which graphics file format is used for screenshots taken in-game.
  • jpg - JPEG, a widely-supported format using lossy compression. (Default)
  • png - PNG, a format using lossless compression, fairly well-supported on all platforms.
  • tga - Targa, a lossless format, but not supported by many cross-platform viewers.
• screenshotQuality - Controls compression level and image quality of screenshots taken in-game.
  • <number, 1-10> - Lower number: smaller file, lower quality image. Higher number: larger file, higher quality image.

Patch Mirrors Edit

'Dual-Boxing' on one Mac Edit

Dual boxing (being logged in on multiple characters at once) is possible on the Mac -- in fact, with the abundance of multi-CPU/multi-core Macs, it works quite well -- but requires some setup. You'll need to make a separate copy of the World of Warcraft application, as attempting to re-launch the same application will just refocus the already running copy. Depending on your goals, there are three common ways to go about doing this:

1. Using WoW-Multiboxer application:
   • The WoW-Multiboxer application enables you to run two or more WoW applications simultaneously.
   • The only requirement for using this application is to have your World of Warcraft installed in the default directory (Applications folder)
2. Copying the entire WoW folder:
   • Open the Applications folder (Command-Shift-A in the Finder).
   • Select your World of Warcraft folder.
   • Duplicate the folder by typing Command-D.
3. Copying just the WoW app:
   • Open your World of Warcraft folder.
   • Select the World of Warcraft.app Application Bundle.
   • Duplicate the Application by typing Command-D.
4. A hybrid approach:
   • Make a new folder outside your main WoW folder, and copy just the World of Warcraft app to it.
   • Make a symbolic link (not an alias as created by the Finder, but a Unix symlink; see A brief tutorial on symbolic links, Symbolic link or Hybrid Approach 'How-To' section below for info) in the new folder, named Data, pointing at the Data folder in your main WoW folder.
   • If you want both copies to share the same addons, make another symlink for the Interface folder.

Whichever approach you choose, you'll need to repeat some of you work when a WoW patch comes out. If you copied the entire folder, you can just run through the normal download/patch process for each (though you can skip the download process by copying the 'WoW-x.y.z.n-to-x.y.z.n-enUS-downloader' and 'WoW-x.y.z.n-to-x.y.z.n-enUS-patch' from one WoW folder to the other once the first copy is patched). If you copied just the WoW app, you'll need to re-copy it after patching your main WoW install.

And of course, any approach to multiboxing requires multiple separate WoW accounts (one for each simultaneously logged in character).

Pros and Cons Edit

Hybrid Approach 'How-To' Edit

Here is a shell script that greatly simplifies the Hybrid Approach for users who are not comfortable with creating symbolic links. This script allows you to run two clients, keep the cache separate between the two, and only uses about 17MB of additional hard disk space:

Optional: If you would like to share addons between the two installations, add the following line to the bottom of the shell script:

1. Copy/paste the script into a new TextEdit document, and save the file in your home directory as 'wowcopy.sh', i.e. the path to the script document should be something like:
2. Open Terminal (/Applications/Utilities/Terminal.app), type the following: and hit enter. This gives the operating system permission to execute the script, and then actually executes it.
3. Check your World of Warcraft folder for a new folder called WoWCopy. Inside should be three files: a Data folder, a realmlist.wtf text file, and a World of Warcraft.app. This application bundle can be launched completely independently from your main installation.

WARNING: Whenever a patch for WoW is released, patch your main installation and then copy the patched 'World of Warcraft.app' into your WoWCopy folder. Do NOT attempt to patch both installations as you may corrupt your Data folder and be forced to reinstall the game.

References Edit

1. ^World of Warcraft System Requirements (Updated: Nov 2016; Article ID: 7682). Battle.net Support (US). Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2016-12-26.
   World of Warcraft System Requirements (Updated: Jul 2016; Article ID: 7682). Battle.net Support (EU). Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2016-12-26.
2. ^Machkhan 2012-08-06. #1 - Mac OS X 10.5 Not Supported for Mists of Pandaria. Official Support > Mac Technical Support forum (US).
3. ^World of Warcraft - English (NA) Forums -> Wrathgate Cinematic - No Sound. Blizzard Entertainment. Retrieved on 2009-09-10.

See also Edit

• Mac Video Recording and Editing - WoWWiki page with a focus on full-process Mac/WoW audio-visual production, recording, compression, re-compression (!), editing and post-production for dummies and the technologically challenged. Programs discussed: WoW, Quicktime Pro and Final Cut Express. iMovie, VLC Player and MPEG-Streamclip also reviewed.

External links Edit

One thing that hasn't really changed about World of Warcraft since it released in 2004 is its user interface. Thankfully, enterprising modders have created a host of WoW addons that add all sorts of wonderful functionality. From addons that make managing your inventory a breeze to ones that replace the UI in its entirety, if you're not customizing your interface you're missing out on some serious improvements.

That's why we've rounded up a selection of the most popular favorites (and a few of our personal ones) to help you figure out which WoW addons are right for you and how to get started customizing the interface to be tailor-fit. Whether you're just getting started or are a hardcore player elbow deep in Battle for Azeroth, the latest expansion, this list will get you started.

Downloading the Twitch app is your first step as it gives you easy access to a marketplace where most of the WoW addons on this list can be found. The app automatically detects your World of Warcraft installation and makes managing and updating your WoW addons ridiculously easy.

Now that you're all set up, let's take a look at some great addons to try. All of these addons (except ElvUI) can be found in the Twitch app, but I've also linked to sites where you can manually download them.

How To Install Wow Addons

Must have WoW addons

World of Warcraft's hotbars are easily the most outdated part of its user interface. By default, they're quite small, can lack crucial information, and you don't have a whole lot of customization options. Enter Bartender, an addon that gives you full control of ten action bars including their position, size, and even transparency.

If you're starting out in World of Warcraft as a brand new player, this should be one of the first mods you consider. Before long, your hotbars are going to fill up and become an annoying mess. Bartender lets you set keybindings and position them perfectly for an optimal setup. More advanced users will appreciate the ability to program custom macros that can change the state of your action bars too.

The other major addon that you shouldn't be without, Deadly Boss Mods makes World of Warcraft's complex boss fights a little more approachable by providing real-time alerts to keep you one step ahead. With this addon (and its other versions for older expansions) installed, you won't have to painstakingly memorize every boss fight. Alerts and camera effects will warn you of dangerous attacks or give you simple instructions. Raid and dungeon timers are synchronized between other members of your group, which keeps everyone on the same page even if one player accidentally disconnects.

What I really love, however, is a tiny feature that auto replies to in-game messages while you're in a boss fight. This optional autoresponse will let whoever whispered you know you're kinda busy and tell them how much health the boss has left so they know if things are going poorly.

World of Warcraft's inventory system is kind of a mess in the default version. Instead of having one large inventory, you have separate bags that store all the stuff you find while exploring. It's cumbersome to deal with, but Bagnon makes this nightmare go away. It replaces the entire inventory window with one large bag that stores all your items, but its other features are what makes it a must-have.

For one, you can view the items (even if they're in the bank) of all your alternate characters on your account. Icons also have special coloring based on item quality, helping you more easily discern rare items from trash. A search engine in the inventory window makes finding specific items even easier and there's the always helpful sort items option, which cleans up your bags and groups relevant item types together.

You get one guess what this addon does. MoveAnything is a powerful tool that lets you adjust every UI element, giving you complete control over not just your action bars but quest list, portrait location, minimap location, and more. If you've ever wanted to fully redesign WoW's UI, this is a good place to start.

Best Addons For Wow

Total conversion and immersion addons

This is one of the most popular total conversion addons for World of Warcraft. ElvUI replaces every single user interface element with a sleek redesign that is a lot more modern and readable. The tradeoff, of course, is that you're also getting rid of the fantasy themed UI altogether. You also have to install and update it manually, but it's not too much of a chore. What ElvUI brings to the table makes the sacrifice more than worth it because, along with the overhaul, ElvUI offers a ton of customization and also includes a suite of addons like TidyPlates that help clean up the look of WoW's aging interface.

One of my favorite parts about ElvUI is that it comes with an in-game setup process that'll help tailor the UI to suit your needs. There's class-specific setups that emphasis the interface elements most important to your role, and the settings have a ton of options to play with. I particularly love how the action bars behave in ElvUI, and its built-in addons means you won't have to fuss with other addons like OmniCC. Just beware, if you want to use ElvUI, install it first before bringing more addons into the fold because it doesn't always play nice.

In patch 7.3.5, World of Warcraft introduced dynamic level scaling to all of Azeroth, entirely changing the way you level new characters. It's a great time to start a fresh character and experience Azeroth from a new perspective—literally. Using the Action Cam feature that was implemented in an earlier patch, Dynamic Cam shifts the perspective to make WoW feel more like a third-person action game. By doing so, Azeroth has a sense of scale that makes it feel wondrous and exciting again. What's great is that Dynamic Cam automatically shifts between different camera positions depending on what you're doing, which Action Cam can't do on its own.

If you're leveling a new character, this is a fantastic addon that'll make your time in Azeroth feel more immersive and intimate. You just can't appreciate the size Ironforge using the usual, zoomed out camera.

Combat addons

This addon is tiny but oh so effective. Basically, it adds text to your action bar icons so you can better read how long the cooldown is on your abilities. There's some nifty customization options, like being able to determine when the cooldown timer starts showing fractions of a second (if you want to be really precise with your abilities). But OmniCC is the kind of addon that does one tiny thing, and does it very well.

Details! Damage Meter is a very accurate graphical DPS meter that shows how much damage you and everyone in your party is doing by sifting through the combat log. If you're playing a damage-dealing specialization, I cannot stress how important it is to have Details. Not only will it help you up your game, its optional tools are a godsend, like being able to see the talent choices and item level of your party members.

You might think that only the tank would need a readout of monster aggro, but you'd be wrong. Omen Threat Meter also helps healers and DPS by showing each party member's relative aggro for whatever monster you are targeting. That way, you know if you're in danger of stealing aggro from the tank or, god forbid, if the tank dies who the monster is going to target next. In high-level raids and dungeons, having that kind of information is invaluable.

Easily the most complex addon on this list, Weak Auras 2 is a framework that lets you display special graphical elements on screen to indicate buffs, debuffs, and other relevant status effects instead of just bombarding your eyes with more numbers and meters. There's an insane level of customization available here, from using custom sounds (like Owen Wilson saying 'Wow!') to class-appropriate visual cues. It can be a lot to take in, but meralonne's video guide will get you started. The great thing about Weak Auras 2 is that, if you don't have the energy to program your own custom ones, you can easily import templates from other players. Here's a website with a massive list of pre-built Weak Auras 2 scripts you can use.

Quest, profession, and miscellaneous addons

World Quests are a new type of temporary daily quest first introduced in Legion. It's a great system that suffers from World of Warcraft's outdated map interface, but World Quest Tracker fixes those problems. From a zoomed out view, World Quest Tracker shows you the rewards available from World Quests in each zone, so you can quickly see if there are rewards that are relevant to your goals. From there, you can simply click on the reward icon to automatically track multiple world quests in your quest window so you don't waste time having to check the map again and again. World Quest Tracker also has a stats screen that tracks how many world quests you complete, cumulative rewards, and more.

Once you've finished leveling your first character to 120 in Battle for Azeroth, you probably aren't keen on doing that whole process over again with another character. Enter Azeroth Auto Pilot, a speed-leveling addon that automates dozens of tiny things to make grinding a new character to max level even easier. With this installed, you'll have an arrow that guides you from quest to quest in highly optimized path while the addon handles all the little things like talking to NPCs, interacting with items, and more. Really, it's like leveling a new character on auto pilot.

There's been a lot of controversy in the community over Blizzard trying to limit addons that automatically place you in groups for World Quests, largely negating the need to even participate in the quest to complete it. LookingForGroup is a nice compromise, though, that makes it easy to instantly find groups without having to comb through the cumbersome group finder interface. Once you reach level 120 in Battle for Azeroth, it's a great tool to help make knocking out those daily World Quests a little easier.

For you crafters and gatherers out there, Gatherer is a must. The addon shows the location of mining, herbalism, and treasure locations on your minimap. It does this by remembering the location of resource nodes that you've previously found. That doesn't sound all that handy because you'll need to find those nodes to begin with, so import the GathererDB from WoWHead. This contains data for all the possible node locations in Azeroth, and Gatherer will always point you toward the location of precious resources.

If you fancy making a bit of gold in World of Warcraft, Auctioneer is going to become your best friend. This complete overhaul of the auction house interface can scan the market to track bids, buyout prices, and quantity of items sold. Simply put, it gives you all the information you need to make informed purchasing and selling decisions on the auction house. One thing I love is that item tooltips will now display a recommended selling price based on some black magic and statistical math. Another amazing addon included in this suite is Bean Counter, which tracks your bids and postings to give you reports on item-specific profitability, helping you identify what's really making you money.

That's just the tip of the iceberg too. Enchantrix shows you the value of materials from disenchanting, milling, and prospecting. Informant tells you if the item is relevant to quests or a certain class. SearchUI will notify you if there are auctions that fit your criteria for buying or bidding. The list goes on and on.

This one is real simple, OPie creates contextual radial menus so you can easily use certain abilities on your action bar with just your mouse. It's not a necessary addon by any means, but it's sleek and simple to use. I love freeing up action bar space and dumping seldom, but still necessary, actions (like Demon Hunters' spectral sight) on the radial menu.