MBP for Xcode, AutoCAD and Fusion. Coming from a windows PC.

[goldmac2006]

It will work.

You will be able to run development environments just fine.

However, if you planned on using LLMs to help you write/translate code, you won't be able to run the larger models locally.

So, when I create watchlists and price alerts for them, I’ll be doing that for that specific configuration. By the way, I also tried out the M4s at the Apple Store today. I decided to get the 14-inch MacBook Pro. I think it’s the perfect size for me, and I don’t like going too big in size with my Apple devices. No Pro Max iPhones, no 45/46/49mm Apple Watches, and definitely no huge chargers. No large 🧱 ones. I really am going to let go of the 16-inch ThinkPad clunker from my school once it’s time to retire it this summer. It’s slim, but the charging cable is so big! I need to buy a huge pencil pouch or cosmetic bag to hold my computer accessories. My laptop charger organizers don’t even fit in there.

Back to the topic. At the Apple Store, I tried out the MacBooks I’m interested in. I put on all the widgets, apps, and everything I demoed on those Macs. And guess what? Final Cut Pro is super fast on all the MacBooks I tried. The demo ones don’t have Xcode installed, so I still need your opinions on it even though I’ll still watch YouTube videos reviewing them. Here’s my favorite color: space black is a bit too dark for me. Silver is a 10/10. I even took pictures of About this Mac on all the MacBook Pros while I was playing around with them while waiting for the Vision Pro demo.

 

[picpicmac]

Final Cut Pro is super fast on all the MacBooks I tried.

Apple's software is optimized to run on MacOS.

In your title you claim to want to run AutoCAD. I don't use it, but there are long running discussions about AutoCAD for Mac being not the same as for Windows.

So if you want to run Windows software then you'll need to run Parallels or some other emulation software.

All of which eats up memory.

So if you like the MBP, and go for the M4, I still say go for 32GB and 1TB storage.

At which point people will bring up that you might as well go for the M4 Pro version, as it's only a little bit more money.

 

[goldmac2006]

Apple's software is optimized to run on MacOS.

In your title you claim to want to run AutoCAD. I don't use it, but there are long running discussions about AutoCAD for Mac being not the same as for Windows.

So if you want to run Windows software then you'll need to run Parallels or some other emulation software.

All of which eats up memory.

So if you like the MBP, and go for the M4, I still say go for 32GB and 1TB storage.

At which point people will bring up that you might as well go for the M4 Pro version, as it's only a little bit more money.

Y’all think third-party professional applications consume more RAM than Apple applications? I’ve noticed that AutoCAD occasionally causes kernel panics on my Windows laptop when performing intricate tasks like 3D modeling features and rendering. Parallels, which you all seem to like, is a good option. If there are deals on it, I’ll consider using it after I get my Mac. Since bootcamp isn’t available for Apple silicon as it’s deprecated, I’ll opt for the configuration with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in the picture above (with a silver finish on a 14-inch model). I’m considering either the M2 Pro, M3 Pro, M4, or M4 Pro chip.

By the way, how do you partition a disk on macOS for virtualization machines? Do you use Disk Utility or Terminal?

 

[EdwardC]

Make sure AutoCAD has what you need, the Mac version is not really the same thing as the Win version. I keep a ThinkPad and a HP desk pro around just for CAD use. YMMV......Ed

 

[goldmac2006]

Make sure AutoCAD has what you need, the Mac version is not really the same thing as the Win version. I keep a ThinkPad and a HP desk pro around just for CAD use. YMMV......Ed

Oh no, I totally forgot about that! I’ll look into it and also ask my mentor who taught me AutoCAD how it works on macOS. He has a 16-inch late 2019 SG MacBook Pro with an Intel processor. He runs SolidWorks on his Mac because it’s not available on macOS yet, haha. The last time he booted it on macOS was on macOS Catalina. Anyway, the ThinkPad X1 is a school-issued laptop, so if I transfer or graduate, I have to return it to the library within a month after graduation. But I’m going to ask a few people in my AutoCAD summer class if they used a Mac to get their drawings done. I’m using other programs that I mentioned in this thread about why I need a MacBook Pro, so feel free to check them out. God bless!

 

[EdwardC]

Oh no, I totally forgot about that! I’ll look into it and also ask my mentor who taught me AutoCAD how it works on macOS. He has a 16-inch late 2019 SG MacBook Pro with an Intel processor. He runs SolidWorks on his Mac because it’s not available on macOS yet, haha. The last time he booted it on macOS was on macOS Catalina. Anyway, the ThinkPad X1 is a school-issued laptop, so if I transfer or graduate, I have to return it to the library within a month after graduation. But I’m going to ask a few people in my AutoCAD summer class if they used a Mac to get their drawings done. I’m using other programs that I mentioned in this thread about why I need a MacBook Pro, so feel free to check them out. God bless!

It may not be an issue but it’s definitely worth looking into. I assume as a student you have the free license. If one of your classmates has a MacBook load it up and check it out. The interface is very different and will take some getting use to.

 

[goldmac2006]

It may not be an issue but it’s definitely worth looking into. I assume as a student you have the free license. If one of your classmates has a MacBook load it up and check it out. The interface is very different and will take some getting use to.

So, here’s the deal: I can use F360 and ACAD for free until a year after I graduate, unless I want to pay for them. If I do want more for it free, I can enroll in a graduate program.

Now, this is a bit different since I have to run it on an ARM-based DMG on a Mac. Oops, I forgot that my summer school AutoCAD class was online. But I did see a few Mac users when we did a freestyle drawing final project. Some were lazy, while others didn’t know how to screen record their PCs or Macs. I saw them using their Macs or iPads at home. Haha!

Anyway, I need to find any Mac users who were in AutoCAD boot camp with me. Hard to get any contact info as the canvas got taken down , so I have to check through my club rosters for any familiar faces. Or, if anyone in my engineering club has a MacBook Pro, I’m the VP there.

Oh, and I have a new mentor who’s an Apple fan like me. He’s a freelance iOS developer with dual software engineering and data science master degrees and a computer science teacher. He was my supervisor from my NASA internship trip, representing the interns from my school. I’d love to know what his configuration is for his space gray MacBook Pro, I’m going to shoot an iMessage to him one day. He has an iPhone 14 Pro Max Space black, an Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods Pro 2.

But wait, why do you have an M1 Mac mini running AutoCAD? Still works, right? I’m curious to hear your opinion on the specs, even though desktop Macs aren’t really my thing. My desk is too small for an iMac.

 

[diggy33]

By the way, how do you partition a disk on macOS for virtualization machines? Do you use Disk Utility or Terminal?

You do this within your app of choice for running the VM - you set the disk space you want to allocate for the VM, and the app handles the rest. Some things I'd consider when choosing the VM app you want to use - cost, support, and whether you can save snapshots of the VM. Just remember if you want to run Windows on your Mac, you're going to need a Windows activation key, so if you dont already have one to use, factor that cost in to the equation. UTM and VMWare Fusion are a couple of free options you can test, and I believe Parallels comes with a trial version. You'll also need to be sure to get the ARM version of Windows 11, and with that being said, it looks like AutoCAD for Windows doesnt support ARM processors, so you'd need to get the Mac version. Based upon their system requirements

 

[EdwardC]

So, here’s the deal: I can use F360 and ACAD for free until a year after I graduate, unless I want to pay for them. If I do want more for it free, I can enroll in a graduate program.

Now, this is a bit different since I have to run it on an ARM-based DMG on a Mac. Oops, I forgot that my summer school AutoCAD class was online. But I did see a few Mac users when we did a freestyle drawing final project. Some were lazy, while others didn’t know how to screen record their PCs or Macs. I saw them using their Macs or iPads at home. Haha!

Anyway, I need to find any Mac users who were in AutoCAD boot camp with me. Hard to get any contact info as the canvas got taken down , so I have to check through my club rosters for any familiar faces. Or, if anyone in my engineering club has a MacBook Pro, I’m the VP there.

Oh, and I have a new mentor who’s an Apple fan like me. He’s a freelance iOS developer with dual software engineering and data science master degrees and a computer science teacher. He was my supervisor from my NASA internship trip, representing the interns from my school. I’d love to know what his configuration is for his space gray MacBook Pro, I’m going to shoot an iMessage to him one day. He has an iPhone 14 Pro Max Space black, an Apple Watch Ultra, and AirPods Pro 2.

But wait, why do you have an M1 Mac mini running AutoCAD? Still works, right? I’m curious to hear your opinion on the specs, even though desktop Macs aren’t really my thing. My desk is too small for an iMac.

So I have a M1 Mini 16GB as well as a M2Pro Mini. AutoCAD for MacOS is ARM Native and is extremely fast. With that said I no longer use AutoCAD as I prefer a perpetual license. I use two alternatives, ARES Commander (Mac) and BricsCAD (Win). They both can be outright purchased. Thery also both have a 30 day free trial and are free for students. Even though BricsCAD is available for Mac it is not a good experience and is very buggy unlike it's Windows counterpart. Here is a screen shot of the ARES Commander interface for Mac which is very much like AutoCAD for Windows.

 

[goldmac2006]

You do this within your app of choice for running the VM - you set the disk space you want to allocate for the VM, and the app handles the rest. Some things I'd consider when choosing the VM app you want to use - cost, support, and whether you can save snapshots of the VM. Just remember if you want to run Windows on your Mac, you're going to need a Windows activation key, so if you dont already have one to use, factor that cost in to the equation. UTM and VMWare Fusion are a couple of free options you can test, and I believe Parallels comes with a trial version. You'll also need to be sure to get the ARM version of Windows 11, and with that being said, it looks like AutoCAD for Windows doesnt support ARM processors, so you'd need to get the Mac version. Based upon their system requirements

Oh no! If the app has a Mac version, I’d be happy to use it, especially if it’s only available for Apple silicon Macs. 💻 I might check out activation keys for Windows 11 Home or Pro installs and see if there are any deals after I get my Mac. But apart from AutoCAD and the apps I listed, I’m using Mac versions, so I don’t need to set up a virtual machine for Windows if I need it. The only reason I might need a virtual machine or an application with a virtual desktop for Windows is if I have to use apps that don’t exist on macOS yet, like Solidworks. I can use Xcode instead of visual studio, but I can install both apps on Mac. I can still download Chrome on Mac. 💻 However, I’ll switch to Safari primarily unless I need to use my screen reader software, which also has a Chrome extension and web app, in which case I’ll use Chrome.

So I have a M1 Mini 16GB as well as a M2Pro Mini. AutoCAD for MacOS is ARM Native and is extremely fast. With that said I no longer use AutoCAD as I prefer a perpetual license. I use two alternatives, ARES Commander (Mac) and BricsCAD (Win). They both can be outright purchased. Thery also both have a 30 day free trial and are free for students. Even though BricsCAD is available for Mac it is not a good experience and is very buggy unlike its Windows counterpart. Here is a screen shot of the ARES Commander interface for Mac which is very much like AutoCAD for Windows.

you can edit DWGs on both of these ACAD alternatives right? Seems a little bit similar to each
other. I am staying on AutoCAD, Fusion 360 and everything for the win.


Happened to meet with a 16-inch MBP late 2019 user on my first day back from school after winter break, she uses ShadowPC for Blender which is more gaming-oriented. Y'all think it is a great VM to use? Give me your opinions please.

 

[goldmac2006]

Now that new releases of the MBA M4 are available in a new blue color, there might be more price drops. I check the Apple insider pricing website regularly, as it updates its chart every few days with information on Apple deals from authorized resellers in the United States. I specifically look for price drops on non-iPhone models. Like Apple Watch and AirPods.

Here’s the link to the updated chart: https://prices.appleinsider.com/macbook-pro-14-inch-m3-pro-m3-max

As for the configurations you recommended, I haven’t found anything lower than $2K or the best deals under $1.5K.

By the way, I’ll continue to find a few friends who own MBPs and ask their opinions about them using pro apps like I use on my Windows 11 laptop.

 

[goldmac2006]

Hey everyone, just wanted to check in and see what’s up!

I totally spaced on this thread because I was feeling under the weather for April and had finals and graduation to deal with.

Instead, the MacBook Pro hunt has turned into a iMessage chat with my school friends (one of them used to work at Apple and now sports a titanium Apple Watch Series 7!). We’re chatting with Apple Store employees and Best Buy folks, and even getting some PMs from you all in the forums.

So, here’s the scoop: almost everyone agrees that the MacBook Air won’t be the right fit for me. I also did a bit of a deep dive into the MacBook Pro (base M4 vs. M4 Pro with 48GB RAM and 2TB storage), and here’s what I found out:

Hey, so I’ve been testing the MacBook Pro M4 base model, and guess what? It’s pretty impressive! I even have the exact one Rey’s brother has—it’s got 48GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, all at the Apple Store. It feels like ages since I last visited, with graduation, work, and finals keeping me busy last month.

I’m a big fan of realistic testing, like the YouTubers who open tons of apps and tabs on Safari. It’s way more accurate than those geekbench and cinebench tests that make the MacBook or iOS device push its limits or drain the battery. That way, I can really see how it performs in the long run, just like the 5-year rule I’m keeping for my Mac and the 45-minute load test Rey and Larry taught me.

The highest RAM usage I’ve seen is around 2.22 GB for a game on a Mac. 💻 I’m thinking of playing a little Roblox on my Mac. That’s the only game I’ll play on the new MacBook Pro. 💻

The MacBook Pro M4, 14-inch base model with 16GB RAM:

I’ve been playing lots of Roblox games and apps (since I can’t test Xcode, Fusion, and AutoCAD on demo models). The SWAP memory is always used up. With tons of tabs open, including 4K YouTube videos of my favorite K-pop music videos, all available apps open, and Roblox, I’m using 12 GB of the 16GB RAM, which totals to 80-85% of its memory usage. That’s why I’m using SWAP memory.

• So, I was playing Super Bomb Survival (my absolute favorite game 💣 Survival, thanks to my younger cousin for the recommendation!) on Roblox when this Apple specialist popped up. We chatted about how it felt like it was running on fumes 🤑, and it was like the MacBook Pro was catching its breath after an Ironman triathlon because it was working so hard to keep up. Fans were going off so loud a lot.
• During gameplay, the MacBook Pro setup wasn’t as smooth as I was crushing rounds of Super Bomb Survival on the base model Mac. That’s why many of y’all here from MacRumors, Rey (who used to work at Apple), the Best Buy guys, and the Apple specialist I spoke to all said this MacBook Pro setup simply wouldn’t be suitable for me. It won’t cut it. The 16GB base model MacBook Pro, loaded with Roblox and other demanding applications, had only 12-14GB of RAM, which was over 80% of its total capacity. Consequently, swapping memory was a significant concern while I was gaming on it.
• Imagine the same exact configuration of this machine on a MacBook Air. Oh, that would cause a lot of overheating issues when I do CAD, play Roblox games on the Mac, or compile code on Xcode! Even with multitasking! Thermal management is a major MUST, as they say.

The MacBook Pro M4 Pro with 48GB RAM and 2TB (the same one my friend Larry got).

• I played Roblox on it, and not a single stutter or slowdown when I pushed it to the limit. All the same apps were open, and there were no swap memory issues.
• No swap memory was used at all. The gameplay of the same game on Roblox was super smooth, with no slowdown at all. I picked Super Bomb Survival with the harder levels because more explosions and bombs 💣 would depend more on the graphics and RAM usage than simpler games. (If I have more time on my hands and haven’t ordered the Mac yet, I’ll test the M4 Max and the same Macs again with Destroy the Neighbourhood Roblox game. That one on an older iPhone can’t handle it.)
• The gameplay was even smoother, and I could switch between apps easily when Roblox was running with all the others in the background. The 16GB RAM I felt was a bit of a struggle during rounds of Super Bomb Survival with all these apps open. I did feel some heat, but the thermal management was doing a good job of keeping it under control, unlike the base model I tried out.
• Oh, and guess what? I had about 6-7 tabs open, all playing K-pop videos on loop! 🔂 I was jamming to BINI Cherry on Top, BTS Mic Drop, CLC Me, and CLC Black Dress 4K YouTube music videos. All at the same time. Plus, I had two Apple tabs open on Safari.

The selected panel of Mac and Apple users I consulted with has overwhelmingly voted in favor of this MacBook Pro, the one @picpicmac recommended me for:

Apple MacBook Pro 14" Z1FE000NH (Late 2024) 14.2" Laptop Computer - Space Black; Apple M4 Pro 12-Core CPU; 48GB - Micro Center

Get it now! MacBook Pro features the most advanced lineup of chips ever built for a pro laptop. Phenomenal single - and multithreaded CPU performance, faster unified memory, enhanced machine learning accelerators - the M4 family of chips gives you the kind of speed and capability youve never...

www.microcenter.com

While B&H offers a slightly higher price compared to this one, I’ve decided to order it after work tomorrow and pick it up in-store on my day off. So, I’m asking you all, should I go for it or not?

I’ll also be seeking recommendations from the panel of Apple users I recently connected with. Can’t show images due to MR file size restrictions

 

[goldmac2006]

Hey everyone! 🎉 Just wanted to let you know that the Mac 💻 I linked above 👆🏻 is all set! Now, MacBook Pro and Mac enthusiasts, let’s share some beginner tips with me! I also saw these videos that are fantastic for beginners!

Guess what? It’s arriving this week!