It’s official, with the latest Mac laptops I have caught the Mac hardware envy bug. The only problem is I have a PC for now and no personal extra hardware budget available currently or I would be posting this via Apple hardware. So with the deck stacked against my getting Apple hardware in the near future, I can only admire from afar, test one occasionally, and work with teams using Macs within Autodesk. I have also asked Santa for a Mac, but no official response from him or any elves. So Mac fans, I see what you have been buzzing about. I would really like to be a multi-OS user with the benefit of multiple platforms and running all on a stylish cutting edge designed hardware.
One common question on this blog, emails, and in person is “Will AutoCAD run on a Mac". The short answer is Yes.
Currently at Autodesk we have tested AutoCAD 2007, 2008, and 2009 on the Mac in Apple Bootcamp and virtualized solutions VMWare Fusion, and Parallels Desktop. AutoCAD is not officially supported on the Mac, but works just fine as have other Autodesk Windows based products like Revit and 3ds max. We have found a software activation issue but in all cases we have researched it is related to an external hard drive causing a conflict with the licensing. If you are having issues locking your activations, and are running an external hard drive, try booting up with the drive off or unplugged then add it back later and see if that resolves the issue.
We showed AutoCAD 2009 running on a Mac using VMWare Fusion last week at Autodesk University 2008 in the General Design booth. It caused a bit of a stir from people passing by as they are not used to seeing AutoCAD and a Mac in the same sentence although Autodesk does develop several popular native Mac based applications like Autodesk Maya, Autodesk Sketchbook Pro, and others.
Apple Bootcamp runs AutoCAD much faster but there is a downside in that you have to boot to it. Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion can run AutoCAD on the OSX desktop in a window.
I spotted fellow Autodesk employees “deskers” like Tom Stoeckel using a Mac at Autodesk University 2008 a little over a week ago.
As for a official Autodesk support of virtualized AutoCAD or a native Mac based AutoCAD, only time will tell and ever journey begins with a small step forward. There has been a great deal of research and discussions about the Mac and AutoCAD, but it is no simple change or effort. Virtualized solutions offer about the same benefits with a lot less effort.
So yes, you can run AutoCAD on the Mac and get about the same or better performance depending on your stylish Apple hardware.
Update 12/17/08 The VMware Fusion Team noticed this blog post, and liked it.
Autodesk Loves VMware Fusion: AutoCAD on the Mac. I found their post the same way they found my blog post “Run AutoCAD on a Mac” using the Google Alerts feature.
Best Regards,
Shaan
BootCamp isn’t virtualized, it’s how you dual boot a Mac fully into Windows. Can’t use Mac apps when in BootCamp.
Parallels and VMWare are virtualized. So Mac and Windows at same time.
BootCamp will give you the best performance.
Kevin,
Thank you for pointing out my error in classifying Bootcamp as a virtualized environment, I have corrected it.
Bootcamp is a pseudo native Windows install on Apple hardware. I say pseudo as somethings under the hood appear to be controlled by the Apple hardware making it a little different than installing Windows on a PC.
Best Regards,
Shaan
I am glad people are catching on that AutoCAD can be run on and will work pretty well on a Mac. I recommend the new Parallels 4.0 though and not bootcamp or VMware. 4.0 works with OpenGL and Direct X. And you can have AutoCAD right in a window inside your Mac.
I have a checklist of the software you need to run AutoCAD on Mac, including links to trial downloads.
I also have a lot of documentation and videos on how to set it up. It is not difficult to do, and setting up the Windows to run in a virtual machine is a snap if you use desktop 4.0 to do it. If you want to try it out click here to get everything you need for running AutoCAD on Mac
AutoCADforMac,
Thank you for your comment and information. VMWare Fusion also supports DirectX as well as some 3D graphics and HD video acceleration.
http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/features.html
Cheers,
Shaan
Shaan,
I have experienced a lot of combinations to run AutoCAD inside my Mac. It is a MacBook Pro, Core 2 Duo 2.5, 6Mb cache, 512Mb video, 4Gb RAM, HD 250 SATA, etc.
My tests and conclusions were:
1) Bootcamp: AutoCAD 2009 runs fine inside Windows Vista-32 (haven’t tried x64# but it does not take advantage of graphic acceleration of the NVidia graphics. Vista 32 is limited to 3Gb. It reports 4G installed memory but it uses in fact only 3Gb.
2) VMWare: I have installed both XP and Vista to run from inside Mac. XP runs ok but Vista runs really slow. I have tried also to runt it from an external Firewire 800 drive but it really does not work well. The system takes forever to boot up.
3) Parallels: Seems to have almost all the same issues that VMWare but it looks like more quick to setup and run. Tested with Vista 32 and it runs but slow too.
4) VirtualBox: A free solution for virtualization from Sun. It is really at early stages. Have tried Windows XP 32 but it reports a lot of problems. No success on running AutoCAD on this VM.
Note that as I’m running 4Gb RAM and Vista-32 address only 3Gb the MacOSX has 1Gb for itself and this really make the VM runs fine without cause to much trouble to host OS.
Here is a list of all known Virtual Machines:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_virtual_machines
This is really a subject I’m interested. Today I’m running 2 laptops #Sony Vaio/MacBook) but I really want to have only one running both OSX and Vista32/64.
Regards,
Fernando Malard.
I bought a macbook last christmas and one of the first things I did was up the RAM and set up Bootcamp. After setting up Bootcamp I then started to install AutoCAD, AutoCAD Electrical and Inventor and they work great. I have also tried VMWare Fusion and that works pretty good. Bootcamp is obviously better becasue you aren’t sharing resources with your MAC OS. Shaan, if you have any questions let me know, I am currently using this setup (my personal laptop at work) every day with AutoCAD 2005, 2009 and AutoCAD Electrical 2009.
Now, if only AutoCAD could run off Linux based OS I would be very happy indeed.
i used autocad/linear on imac an macbook withe vmware, since september 2008. no problems no crashs.
best wishes from germany
i run autocad on the macs in my office through parallels and have had, for the most part, success.
one recurring problem is that my mouse “hesitates” in cad, which is hugely frustrating. if anyone has a solution or suggestions i’d really appreciate it.
AutoCad for Mac: I have had AutoCad 2009 sucessfully running on an Intel MacPro since Aug. 08, however in late Dec. it has started to drop the activations. I removed USB drives as discussed above, ran the hotfix, and bindloss patch and installed SP1 thru 3. It works for a day or two and then wants to reactivate again. The counter has run out so now I have to submit a service request each time to get new activation codes. I am running Vista 32 bit, in bootcamp. All of the aplle software is current and alll updates have been installed. Once activated AutoCad runns perfectly. Just the annoyance of reactivating weekly. Any other suggestions?
Bruce,
It sounds like you may be running into the known issue that is easily worked around. Make sure to not boot-up with an external hard drive attached. You should be able to contact the Autodesk customer service and explain the situation and get a new activation.
I now also run AutoCAD on a Mac and have no issues except I make sure to not boot with an external hard drive during ANY bootup of the Mac. I also wish there was hardware acceleration in Parallels or VMWare but for that currently I have to use Bootcamp for performance and hardware acceleration. I also have Parallels and VMWare for testing.
Best Regards,
Shaan
Has anybody been able to print to pdf in AutoCAD under VMWare Fusion.
I have just purchased a 1.86Ghz 120gbHDD Macbook Air. The only time I need to run windows would be for autocad 2008… all the rest of the time I am gonna run mac OS (Adobe Photoshop, Sketchup… etc). Would anyone be able to suggest the best way to configure the machine? If bootcamp is to be used, how should the resources be allocated? Actually, VMware does sound better to me. Please enlighten.
Re: AutoCad 2009 on a BootCamp drive w/ Windows Vista.
I think I have the problem licked! After we had talked I ran the system without USB and NDAS ( SCSI ) drives attached and stayed out of the Mac software. It ran successfully for about a week or two and then having reached that milestone I started retrying things that may be the problem. I booted in and out of the Mac software back and forth to the Bootcamp / Windows side several times without effect. Next I re-enabled the NDAS software. It is a Ximeta system which installs a SCSI subsystem and allows for network connection to one or more shared external hard drives. At first the system seemed fine, AutoCad started and ran fine several times at home, with just the subsystem running. Then when I got back into the office, although I had not started the nearest hard drive on the NDAS system, a drive in the next office which was up and running and in shared mode, auto connected to my system and tripped my AutoCad activation. I have since removed all Ximeta software and NDAS drives form our local network and reactivated the AutoCad software and everything has been fine now again for some time.
The version of the software in question is Ximeta_ndas_3.20.1520, it had worked fine in Vista on a true PC based system with AutoCad. Apparently there is something else happening when the combination is used on a Mac running BootCamp w/ Windows Vista and AutoCad.
For now, so far so good, but I thought I would drop you a note to let you know what seemed to be the cause.
i am wanting to buy a mac and Auto Cad 2009. i dont no much about computers, after reading some of the above comments, it sounds like it has troubles working on macs. should i purchase a pc rather than a mac to use this software?
Chris,
While the Mac is not yet officially supported it does run AutoCAD just fine on Bootcamp or in VMWare Fusion or Parallels. The only thing is jut dont boot with an external disk attached and all will be fine. I use my Mac and PC for AutoCAD 2009 and AutoCAD 2010 daily without any issues.
Best Regards,
Shaan
what i can do to getout of activation problem of autodesk 2009
emadh19
Just do not boot your Mac with an external drive and also pick one method to run it in other words don’t run it both on Bootcamp and a VM like VMShare pick one.
With that said I run multiple on my Macbook Pro with AutoCAD 2010 and have not had a single activation issue.
You should be able to contact the Autodesk activation support phone number listed in your AutoCAD package and explain the situation to get a new activation.
Best Regards,
Shaan
Hi, intriguing post, have been reading this with great interest, as I’m in the market for a Mac Pro 4 or 8 cores beast (fell in love). I intend to use the ‘Bootcamp’ only method, as I need the maximum hardware resources (will also be running 3D Max Design 2010, which IS supported officially under Bootcamp – woohoo!).
My question is: do you run Acad on Bootcamp only AND switch regularly (reboot, that is!) between Windows and Mac Os X (without having the license problems)? I ask this, because I intend to do this. You see, I only need Windows for Acad and Max, all the rest, I’ll be doing with Mac Os X…
Thanks in advance!
Cheers,
Joe D., architect,
Belgium, Europe
Joel,
On my MacBook Pro I have 3 AutoCAD 2010 installations each with a different serial number although 1 serial in one of the methods would be fine as well. One in Bootcamp (fastest), one in VMWare Fusion, and one in Parallels.
I frequently reboot without my external drive attached. I have not lost an AutoCAD license yet even though I used it very frequently.
Best Regards,
Shaan
I have an issue.
I’m running a new I5, Imac, with VMfusion 3, Windows XP SP3, and autocad 2008 LT. All seems to work fine except my mouse jumps around on certain commands that require a pickbox. VERY ANNOYING.
I can’t get anyone from either Apple or Vmware to engage in the problem.
I tried installing a different mouse and same thing.
I am currently running a MS wireless laser 5000 mouse
PING:
TITLE: Rumor Post
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
I love my Mac machines, and I love my PCs, but I am receiving a ton of emails asking to confirm some Internet rumors.
PING:
TITLE: AutoCAD 2010 on my MacBook Pro
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
OK so it is not native Mac but pretty close. The new version of Parallels Desktop 5 for the Mac OSX has a new crystal view mode.
PING:
TITLE: AutoCAD Supported on Parallels
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
Now you can run AutoCAD and other Autodesk software on a Mac and be supported by Autodesk in both Apple Bootcamp and the Parallels virtualized software.
PING:
TITLE: AutoCAD, Revit, Inventor, and 3ds Max Supported on Apple Boot Camp
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
Autodesk has formally announced that we are officially supported Apple Boot Camp for Mac users for some 2010 products.
PING:
TITLE: AutoCAD on the Mac Survey
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
With over 20,000 responses in the last week alone to the AutoCAD & Mac OSX Survey we are thankful for all the great feedback.
PING:
TITLE: AutoCAD on the Mac Survey
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
With over 20,000 responses in the last week alone to the AutoCAD & Mac OSX Survey we are thankful for all the great feedback.
PING:
TITLE: New Autodesk Blog Without a Net with Tom Stoeckel
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
There is a new Autodesk blog in the CAD Blogosphere Without a Net.
PING:
TITLE: New Autodesk Blog Without a Net with Tom Stoeckel
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
There is a new Autodesk blog in the CAD Blogosphere Without a Net.
PING:
TITLE: I Need Your Input on AutoCAD for the Apple Mac OS X
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
At Autodesk we are always trying to stay in tune with our customers and the industries they are in as well as their needs. So what does this have to do with a Mac, the AutoCAD product team would like your feedback and opinions in a short survey to help…
I just installed Windows xp, bootcamp and autocad 2007 with service packs on my Mac. Autocad freezes every time I try to open a file from the autocad application. However, when I click directly on the file to open it from windows explorer, it seems to work fine. Then, when I try to print to PDF it freezes again. I have no clue what to do. Please help
I have the same problems as Judi,
I prefer using autocad on bootcamp which is smoother to use than with parallel or VM.
With beast with several cores and huge graphic Card things will get better but for the moment that’s not possible.
I hope that there will be a mac version in the future.
Alex Willbird
Senior Architect
Apx Forbale Design
WOW. big problem
I have installed vmware ON A NEW MAC BOOK PRO. 2.9 processor. 4 gigs ram. 2 gigs dedicated to vmware. I’m running vista 64 bit. oem version. installed without a hitch.
running auto cad 2009. barely. its completely unusable.
I’m using the logitech mx notebook mouse.
it pans very jagged. escape doesn’t work. I’m a keyboard user and the response is terrible.
any ideas. we are a small company. only 2 seats, on subscription.
can i use the same version / licence with boot camp. I’m waiting to install/upgrade to 2010. haven’t been to vmware’s forums yet.
are there any other good forums on cad on mac?
I would love to figure this out. I need to be able to use cad on the road. Man i hope i didn’t make a mistake not getting the Lenovo.
I love the mac otherwise.I’m gonna check out the auto desk forums also.
Shaun.Please Clarify.
I’m not sure if you are saying that as long as i don’t hook up an external drive. I can run the same seat on the mac book. in 1 instance, vmware, boot camp, or parallels. I just cant run 2 at a time. is that correct? LOL . just gotta call activation once I hope. if that’s the case. Id love to install. 2010 into all 3 and play with it for a while.
as long as it at least works well in boot camp when i need it i should be OK.
I have a feeling the answer might be to pick up some cheep 32 bit version’s of windows xp pro and install that in the virtual machines and boot camp.?
Fernando states
“1) Boot Camp: Auto CAD 2009 runs fine inside Windows Vista-32 (haven’t tried x64# but it does not take advantage of graphic acceleration of the NVidia graphic ”
does that mean vista 64 isn’t using the dedicated graphics card on the new mac book pros.?
i have it set to performance.
thanks for any help.
be well.
Dave,
I have not seen “unusable” AutoCAD 2009 or AutoCAD 2010 on my Macbook Pro in VMWare Fusion, Parallels or Apple Boot Camp on XP. Also with AutoCAD 2010 hardware, acceleration is available with virtualization software updates.
With regards to the external hard drive comment. I was mentioning that you could lose the activation due to a conflict in the Mac environment and our licensing. I would not advise running the same serial on a virtualized and Apple Boot Camp on the same machine for multiple reasons.
Hope that helps,
Shaan
Watch this. Autocad 2010 running on macbook pro under vmware fusion
@Dave G
To resolve the jagged panning and zooming issue for AutoCAD in VMWare please do the following.
Open the Virtual Machine Library, (If your environment opens, close it down.) select the Virtual Machine that has CAD installed, select SETTINGS, go to DISPLAY, then enable 3D ACCELERATED GRAPHICS.
Please note that an Nvidia Graphics Card will give you better results than a ATI.
Hope this helps.
Hi,
apologies in advance if this is a silly question but when you say Autocad 2010 are you also talking about Autocad Inventor 2010? I would like to run Inventor on my mac and am trying to decide on either Bootcamp, Vmware or Parralels. I’m at a lose as to which one I should choose though.
Regards,
Stephen
Stephen,
I am referring to plain AutoCAD http://www.autodesk.com/autocad and not AutoCAD Inventor.
Inventor takes more resources but Bootcamp should handle it if your Mac is beefy. Of course it is all unsupported officially at this time.
Best Regards,
Shaan
I’m an engineering student in college, and have installed both autodesk inventor versions 2009, and 2010 on my new imac. Version 2010 works great, no problems whatsoever, but 2009 is a different story. The 2009 version keeps dropping my license every time I close and start the program. There are no external drives attached, nor have there ever been any external drives attached, so the only thing I can think of is that since it uses a SATA drive, that must be the problem. I’ve installed the hotfix from autodesk that should fix the problem, but to no avail. It still drops my license. I’m running inventor on xp pro through the latest version of bootcamp. Anyone have any thoughts?
Hello Shaan, I’ve been using a mac for the past month. I am an engineer and obviously need CAD software to view DWG files. I had to do a thorough search on available software to basically read DWG files. I came across E-Drawings viewer (Free) from Solid works, which installs on Mac OS X. It works just fine. I did not want any trace of windows on a mac or any virtualization done just to feel and preserve the originality of the Mac. I think it is right to mention here as most people need to “only read” the files and not substantially work on them.
thanks
Mac Fan
This has been a great thread to read as I am getting ready to buy a Mac book.
What is the minimum macbook I will need to be able to run Revit, Autocad, Sketchup and Photoshop? I’d like to be able to run a couple of those simultaneously, but not all of them.
Will the 2.53Ghz, 4GB memory and Nvidia GeForce 9400m card do the trick? Do I need to jump up to the one with both a 9400 and a 9600 card?
I’m trying to keep it as basic (cheap) as possible, but not be underpowered. Screen size does not matter since I’ll use a docking station and two monitors anyway.
Thanks
What about for people who don’t want to install Windows on their MacBooks? I switched to Mac because I very strongly despise the Window’s Environment.
They are so unbelievable unreliable, buggy, and rely far too heavily on user input for processes that the majority of a population have absolutely zero knowledge of.
The beauty of a Mac is that the processes are governed by the computer without requiring user input: they just work! It’s like hiding the complex structure of a massive concrete (clearly heavy) cantilevered building to make it’s occupants feel like it is floating – that it’s lighter than air.
The thought of installing Windows XP, Vista, or Seven onto my MacBook Pro thoroughly disgusts me. It leaves me waiting for AutoCAD to be released for Mac, or for something better to blow us all out of the water.
Sorry if I’ve offended any avid Windows fans out there. Don’t be offended. It’s not meant to be offensive. This is just my own personal opinion.
Hi Dave G,
I have exactly the same problem. AutoCad completely unusable in VMware! Did you eventually get it to work somehow? Did you try the 32-bit version of vista? I am using VMware fusion 2 with windows 7 (64 bit) + autocad 2010 installed. Seems like VMware reads windows 7 as Vista.. I have the DirectX enabled for the virtual machine..
I have a macbook pro 2.8 GHz, 4 GB
I’m waiting for VMware f3 – which supports windows 7 – but does anyone have any ideas how I could fix the problem meanwhile?
Thanks for a great forum!
I have a MacBook Pro and it runs a Mac OS X Version 10.5.8,
Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
I have installed VMware FUsion in order to run Microsoft Windows XP as well because I needed AutoCAD 2010. I can install it normally but I can’t run it. It takes forever to load and at some point it freezes completely and I have to end the task forcefully.
Any idea why this is happening? I have a friend who has the same laptop and uses the same software and everything and has no problems running CAD.
Thank you in advance
I have a MacBook Pro and it runs a Mac OS X Version 10.5.8,
Processor: 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
Memory: 4 GB 1067 MHz DDR3
I have installed VMware FUsion in order to run Microsoft Windows XP as well because I needed AutoCAD 2010. I can install it normally but I can’t run it. It takes forever to load and at some point it freezes completely and I have to end the task forcefully.
Any idea why this is happening? I have a friend who has the same laptop and uses the same software and everything and has no problems running CAD.
Thank you in advance