Thanks to ApfelFlieger, Catboy and gzt007 for your useful comments, and to Mtyn for your comprehensive answers to all my questions!
Having received such excellent advice so quickly, I had to restrain myself from buying a Mac mini M4 right away. Maybe this weekend!
A few questions from someone seriously interested in Aerofly FS4 on a Mac:
1. Will a Mac mini M4 be sufficient to run Aerofly FS4 well? Or do I have to step up to the Mac mini M4 Pro, at more than twice the cost?
2. Is there any disadvantage to downloading Aerofly FS4 from the Apple Store, as opposed to Steam? I am not a gamer and have no other reason to open a Steam account.
3. Does streamed scenery offer the same visual quality as downloaded scenery DLCs? I have 600 Mbps internet service, so streaming is not a problem.
Specs: Mac mini M4 -- 16GB unified memory, 10-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 256GB storage, list price USD 600
Mac mini M4 Pro -- 24GB unified memory, 12-core CPU, 16-core GPU, 512GB storage, list price USD 1400
I have been interested in flying for a long time, but have been reading the FAA Handbooks to prepare for using a flight simulator instead. Much cheaper and safer, with the ability to fly anywhere! Was attracted to Aerofly FS4 by its reputation for working well on lesser computers, and have been impressed by online photos and videos. A nice balance of features chosen by the developers, concentrating on the right things.
I have used a Mac since its inception in 1984, now own an Intel-based Mac mini, and will upgrade to an Apple Silicon-based Mac shortly. I rejected other options such as an XBox or PC running Microsoft Flight Simulator, and would prefer not to buy a more-expensive Mac just to run X-Plane, which appears more computationally intensive or poorly optimized compared to Aerofly.
IPACS team (Torsten/Marc/Jan/others), please accept my thanks for the intelligent choices you made while developing Aerofly FS4. I greatly appreciate any advice from you and other forum members!
