Apple CAD software?

[Snowy_River]

Okay, so here's a question. Clearly Apple has some amazing industrial design going on for all of their products. Beautiful curves, highly compact design, etc. But my question is, what CAD software does Apple use? Do they use Ashlar's offerings? Those are the only really high power CAD package that I'm aware of that run on the Mac. Or do they actually run (GASP!) Windows to do the design work for their products? Or... do they, as they did with Keynote, have an in-house CAD package that they have designed themselves?

Does anyone have any insights into this matter?

 

[arkitect]

It'll be interesting to see what people come up with.

I asked the same question about a year (maybe more) ago and nothing definitive.

It would be ironic if they had to use a Windows based app. But it wouldn't surprise me.

I highly doubt they are using something they developed… otherwise they would be missing a golden opportunity.

 

[weazle1098]

Vectorworks? But it's not awesome to draft things in, more of a pain in the arse… But good if your a lighting designer

If the did have developed their own CAD program, I would probably be mad at them for not letting me use it.

 

[Snowy_River]

Ah, but, again, Keynote was developed in-house and wasn't released for quite a while. It may be that they aren't ready to release it. Having a "captive" user base and dealing with the support issues with a "wild" user base are two very different things. This same issue faced HP for a long time. They developed their own CAD package called, most recently, OneSpace, that they didn't sell to anyone outside HP for a long time. I believe that it was actually recently bought by PTC (ProE).

In any event, I don't think that it's inconceivable that they're working on an in-house design package. In a way, I'd love to hope that they are, because that opens up the possibility that it will follow in the footsteps of Keynote and be released to the public.

 

[Snowy_River]

Vectorworks? But it's not awesome to draft things in, more of a pain in the arse… But good if your a lighting designer

If the did have developed their own CAD program, I would probably be mad at them for not letting me use it.

Have it. Use it. But it's not the kind of high-end 3D solid modeling program that you need to be able to do the kinds of designs that they're doing. At least not very efficiently. It would be better for them to run Windows and SolidEdge or SolidWorks than try to do these kinds of things in VectorWorks.

 

[tersono]

I'd hazard a guess that they'd be using an in-house software package - certainly Apple do tend to 'roll their own' for quite a bit of their essential corporate software.

Just a wild-ass guess, but given that Pixar grew their own design software....

 

[CarlosG]

Apple use Unigraphics don't they? And NX is being ported to OS X.

Solidworks and solidedge are not top end packages. Catia and pro/e are much higher powered.

Why is vectorworks good for lighting design? I design lighting for a living and it doesn't look very suitable.

 

[Snowy_River]

Apple use Unigraphics don't they? And NX is being ported to OS X.

Solidworks and solidedge are not top end packages. Catia and pro/e are much higher powered.

Why is vectorworks good for lighting design? I design lighting for a living and it doesn't look very suitable.

SolidWorks and SolidEdge are both major players in the realm of MCAD. While Pro/E may be more powerful in some ways, working somewhere where both Pro/E and SolidWorks are used, I can honestly say that SolidWorks is the preferred platform, and both are openly acknowledged as having strengths and weaknesses. I've worked with SolidEdge before, and have generally been impressed. I haven't had much experience at all with Catia, though.

VectorWorks has a module called Spotlight that is designed for lighting design.

Oh, and thanks for the tidbit about NX!

 

[tonitrum]

Apple Industrial Design Group uses Autodesk Alias 3D for surfaces, Rhinoceros 3D for conceptual design and Nx (unigraphics) for manufacturing design.

 

[LongSticks]

Okay, so here's a question. Clearly Apple has some amazing industrial design going on for all of their products. Beautiful curves, highly compact design, etc. But my question is, what CAD software does Apple use? Do they use Ashlar's offerings? Those are the only really high power CAD package that I'm aware of that run on the Mac. Or do they actually run (GASP!) Windows to do the design work for their products? Or... do they, as they did with Keynote, have an in-house CAD package that they have designed themselves?

Does anyone have any insights into this matter?

This is worth a look - http://www.3ds.com/products-services/draftsight/overview/ - for CAD design and is free and Part of the Catia/Solidworks family. This is the system I use outside of windows for quick drawing/DWG file viewing/markup.

You also have AutoCad for Mac - though to be honest I have found it a bit of a dog. I think it's the menu changes compared to Win slows me down.

For rendered production Maya would be my choice on Mac, though not done any for a long while. Also Google Sketchup is used a lot more widely than people think.

It's unfortunate, but Win does still rule the CAD market. I use AutoCad 2013 through VM and Bootcamp with no issues though!!!!!

 

[flat five]

Why is vectorworks good for lighting design? I design lighting for a living and it doesn't look very suitable.

i think he's talking about lighting as in set design, events etc.. in which case, yes, most of the producers around here gravitate towards vectorworks and many are using sketchup as well..

but if you're designing lighting as in actual fixtures/bulbs/ etc then i think there are some better options besides vectorworks.

[edit] hmm. but now i'm thinking you're doing the type of 'lighting' which is in the stage production realm.. i dont know.. confused now.

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Apple Industrial Design Group uses Autodesk Alias 3D for surfaces, Rhinoceros 3D for conceptual design and Nx (unigraphics) for manufacturing design.

i use rhino for all three of those.. concept, surfacing, and final construction drafts.. but then again, my needs are much less complex than i imagine apple designers/engineers to be