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AutoCAD for Mac 2024 Gains Native Apple Silicon Support

TSE said:
Solidworks, Keyshot, and more professional programs, get it together and give up on X86! She's past her prime, a little bloated, the wrinkles cannot be hidden anymore, and she is not nearly as attractive as she once was. Come to the slender, new, fun, and young paradise of Apple Silicon! As long as you pay up, she does what you say and so much more.
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keyshot has supported silicon for 2 versions now.
 
Nick_P said:
With coworkers yes, all the time. I send them a link to the design I'm working on, and they can view it in great detail. They don't need a license either. Here is a quick example I just drew up. Standard zoom/pan/rotate commands with a 3 button mouse. The trackpad also works. (Only works properly on a computer browser, not mobile, due to the touch input. For mobile, you would need the free app to spin it around properly)

Link to Mac128 I drew:

Onshape

Sign in to Onshape, the #1 fastest growing CAD system in the world with over 4 million users.
cad.onshape.com cad.onshape.com
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Wow, pretty cool. Thanks!
 
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JM said:
Oh please. As a daily CAD user, I can attest that using two hands on the keyboard is the absolute MOST efficient way to use AutoCAD. No need for a mouse at all.

🤣
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You might think you're joking, but you're really not far off. In my case I would have one hand on the mouse and one hand on the keyboard.

Speaking of AutoCAD Lt, years ago that was basically AutoCAD but with the cool stuff removed (3D modeling and AutoLISP.) Is that still true?
 
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TheWatchfulOne said:
You might think you're joking, but you're really not far off. In my case I would have one hand on the mouse and one hand on the keyboard.

Speaking of AutoCAD Lt, years ago that was basically AutoCAD but with the cool stuff removed (3D modeling and AutoLISP.) Is that still true?
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Daily vectorworks user here, and yeah I'm mostly left-keyboard right-mouse, but I also incorporated a StreamDeck XL into my workflow this year and it's been amazing. Lot of shortcuts mapped to it. different views as well.
 
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Add in my own "Great... now come up with a Mac version of Revit you %#$%#s!" hot take ;-).

Will never happen though. If Autodesk was owned/run by professionals in the AEC industry then they would have done a full rewrites of AutoCAD and Revit years ago. The 40-year old legacy codebase within AutoCAD makes even Windows system reasonable. Revit... well, Revit's been a conceptual mess for as long as I've been using it. The fact I need four versions of the software (at several Gb per version) installed in order to preserve and work on different projects alone is beyond stupid. Let's not talk about IFCs... (I've wasted the past couple of days on that)

But instead Autodesk is owned/run by an investment firm who's sole interest is money (that's what investment firm's do) and thus they'll make the most of the industry's Stockholm syndrome and milk it for all it's worth with exorbitant annual subscriptions. Given that most people (read: most companies) buy workstations to suit the software rather than the other way around, there's little encouraging Autodesk to invest in developing a Revit for Mac version or even achieve reasonable feature-parity between the Mac and Win versions of AutoCAD. The irony is that developing for and supporting a handful of Mac configurations would be waaay easier than trying to come up with a short list of "approved" Windows PC workstation and graphics card combinations.

I still hate our ArchiCAD-using architects and trying to work with their IFCs and converted DWG exports... but I understand fully why they stay out of the Autodesk ocean.

(Posted from work on my i7-based system with both Revit 2023 and AutoCAD 2022 running alongside.)
 
TheWatchfulOne said:
Speaking of AutoCAD Lt, years ago that was basically AutoCAD but with the cool stuff removed (3D modeling and AutoLISP.) Is that still true?
Click to expand...

Still is. Also doesn't have the GATTE (Global Attribute Edit) command which allows you to update multiple titleblock fields across a file.... which honestly is a must have when you've got 10-100 sheets in a project.
 
Wingsley said:
In the summer of 2014, I took a week-long crash course at a local Vo-Tech school. One thing I did not learn is how to deciper AutoDesk's AutoCAD product and pricing matrix. Still cannot understand which version would work for me at a price I could afford. Also, I was bummed when I tried downloading a trial version of AutoCAD onto my iMac and then tried making basic mechanical drawings on it and bring it with me on a thumb drive to school, but the PC at school couldn't open the files.

I would like to be able to occasionally use 2D and 3D CAD software to design various projects...

  • Being able to do visioning and design for room layout renovations for interior renovations, like new cabinets and adding a bathroom, etc.
  • Being able to design cabinetwork, carts with built-in cabinets, workbenches, etc.
  • Being able to take a design on an iPad Mini 6th gen. and plug it into a Maslow CNC Router to precision-cut high-quality plywood for making projects (and avoid material waste) like cabinets, power tool storage caddys, workbenches, shop carts, etc.

Plus, I need to find software that it inter-operable between MacOS, Windows, and iPad so that I can work cross-platform and exchange drawings with other contractors and organizations without compatibility issues.

Currently, I have an old, late-2013 iMac running 10.14.16 Mojave, and an M1 Mac Mini (loaded) running MacOS Ventura. I also have a 2022 iPhone SE and an iPad Mini 2, and would like to get an iPad Mini 6.
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TheWatchfulOne said:
You might think you're joking, but you're really not far off. In my case I would have one hand on the mouse and one hand on the keyboard.

Speaking of AutoCAD Lt, years ago that was basically AutoCAD but with the cool stuff removed (3D modeling and AutoLISP.) Is that still true?
Click to expand...
I’m definitely joking. Cad work needs a mouse.

I too have left hand on keyboard and right hand on mouse day in and day out.

I’ve never used LT, as I’ve only ever used the full version for school and then work.
 
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anthony13 said:
Daily vectorworks user here, and yeah I'm mostly left-keyboard right-mouse, but I also incorporated a StreamDeck XL into my workflow this year and it's been amazing. Lot of shortcuts mapped to it. different views as well.
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Left hand keyboard, right hand on trackball. Works much better for me than mouse for CAD and there is very little fatigue after long use.
 
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ikramerica said:
Left hand keyboard, right hand on trackball. Works much better for me than mouse for CAD and there is very little fatigue after long use.
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Yea I’ve often wondered about using a trackball. The thing is I love the feel of the Logitech MX and all the expose shortcuts I have mapped to it. I also have my most used commands like duplicate array and mirror on it.
 
any recommendations for alternative for autocad LT? I want to design a new shed for myself, but don't want to shell out 500$ for one time use, and there is no [k] for autocad on AS chips..
 
MacFarmer said:
any recommendations for alternative for autocad LT? I want to design a new shed for myself, but don't want to shell out 500$ for one time use, and there is no [k] for autocad on AS chips..
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Onshape. 100% free (for hobby). Works perfectly on a Mac. I’m a mechanical engineer and have used several cad systems professionally since the 90’s. Onshape is by far my favorite, easiest to learn and use. They also have excellent training videos built into the system, also free.
 
iZac said:
Great AutoDesk, now do Revit!
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Revit native on Apple silicon: This would mean going head on with archicad and that’s not going to happen in my view. Those ‘competitors’ are too comfortable in the duopoly they have.
+ all the add-on, Dynamo, .net … guess that’s another bunch of reasons that’s never going to happen.

I sure enough wish it did thou , and whilst at it, start from the ground up and get it fixed!
 
Nick_P said:
Onshape. 100% free (for hobby). Works perfectly on a Mac. I’m a mechanical engineer and have used several cad systems professionally since the 90’s. Onshape is by far my favorite, easiest to learn and use. They also have excellent training videos built into the system, also free.
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thank you for your wounderful recomendation! Heven't heard about this. I will definitely try this out!
 
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davedrives said:
Revit native on Apple silicon: This would mean going head on with archicad and that’s not going to happen in my view. Those ‘competitors’ are too comfortable in the duopoly they have.
+ all the add-on, Dynamo, .net … guess that’s another bunch of reasons that’s never going to happen.

I sure enough wish it did thou , and whilst at it, start from the ground up and get it fixed!
Click to expand...
exactly. Imagine new competitor, some light and nimble indie dev team creating some bad as CAD software. Would be amazing. Something like Pixelmator or Affinity
 
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