Can I run the game Civilization on mid-2011 MacBook Air?

Solution 1:

I have the same generation MBA. You don't specify 11 or 13 inch, and that makes a potential considerable CPU difference, but on my 11" 1.6Ghz 4Gb RAM Air I have played Civilization V just fine. Slows down a little as the game progresses, but looks good and plays perfectly acceptably to me.

Solution 2:

Civilization V works great on my MacBook Air. I run full-resolution (1440x900) with graphics set to middling levels.

Solution 3:

I ran Civ IV & V on a 2008 White MacBook with the old Intel card, so I highly doubt that the latest Air won't be able to handle it. I know on V the diplomacy screens would crash, but I think that was related to the version of the game I had, because it worked fine on my newer machines after an update.

My best advise, try. There is no harm in installing it and giving it a shot.

Solution 4:

About the graphics of the Macbook Air

The Macbook Air mid 2011 has Intel HD 3000 graphics. These are basically the same as the integrated graphics of the Macbook Pro models, but run on lower frequencies.

Due to their low power consumption, the MBA's CPU is referred to as an Ultra Low Voltage processor:

ULV processors core ix-2xx7 with Intel HD 3000 graphics (base freq. 350MHz, turbo 900-1000MHz)

The same Intel HD 3000 graphics of higher end models run between 650MHz and 1200MHz.

Civilization 5

You can carefully compare benchmarks that have been run on Macbook Pro models using integrated graphics only. But you need to be aware of the resolution used as it can significantly affect the max fps during gameplay.

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Benchmarks submitted at Notebookcheck.net (see picture) suggest that Civilization 5 cannot be played. The human eye can distinguish between up to 12 fps - which is lower that what this benchmark shows - but the fps go down during intensive gameplay.

Civlization 1-4 and Conclusion

We can rule out Civilization 5 and 1, 2 (too old). Which leaves us with Civilization 3 and 4.
Civlization 4 can be played very well on a MBP 2011 with the 2.3 GHz i5 CPU as this video proves.

Civilization 4 and the less resource demanding version 3 should provide acceptable gameplay.