AutoCAD natively on the Mac is no longer a myth or urban legend like bigfoot, UFOs, and unicorns.
AutoCAD returns to the Mac after an ~16 year absence. Customers have made the request, Autodesk listened and responded with a native Mac AutoCAD named (appropriately) AutoCAD for Mac.
![autocad_for_mac_logotype_ppt[5]](https://i0.wp.com/realshaanhurley-vylag.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/b742d-6a00d8341bfd0c53ef013486943bd8970c.png?resize=102%2C64 "autocad_for_mac_logotype_ppt[5]")
Yes, a native Mac 2D & 3D AutoCAD application utilizing the Mac experience, but still being the tried and true AutoCAD. Now AutoCAD users have a choice of two great platforms Windows and Mac to get their native AutoCAD DWG. You also have much of your customization you rely on such as LISP and Scripts. ![2010-08-30_12.41.06[5]](https://i0.wp.com/realshaanhurley-vylag.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/7855a-6a00d8341bfd0c53ef013486943be6970c.jpg "2010-08-30_12.41.06[5]")
From the native Mac User Interface elements such as Menubar to the integration of Cover flow support in Finder to visually scroll through your DWG file previews, multi-touch gestures, making use of the trackpad (love it), search Help and you get a pointer to the location of the command in the Menubar, and even searching for DWG files using Spotlight this is Mac.
This is a Mac experience and AutoCAD 2011 combined, not some Windows application just ported without consideration of the workflow, environment, and Mac user expectations.
This project was no simple project, we had to work with14 millions lines of code with technology dependencies to be more platform agnostic. The AutoCAD for Mac was a complete re-write and not a simple port or a LT version. We used the native Aqua User Interface standards on all non-custom interface elements and the underlying code is Cocoa for the Mac OSX and iOS platforms.
Our team had to immerse in the Mac world and learn from the Mac experts worldwide to make sure we understood what they would want and need as well as keeping the power of AutoCAD. It is not everyday you expect to see hardcore programmers in black turtleneck shirts and denim pants, but I am sure it happened. There was a delicate balance that took a great deal of work to accomplish. I am sure it will be an ongoing process as we begin to add more and more features for parity between platforms yet keep the individual character and UI experience unique.
Having mentioned the uniqueness of each platform, the challenges and work involved, there is also one more powerful component and that is AutoCAD. Chances are if you have used AutoCAD, you can use the AutoCAD for Mac with very little training or changes. It saves the same DWG as the Windows versions, so you can have people in a mixed platform working on the same DWG files. It also jhas LISP, a command line, UCS, Osnaps, constraints, parametrics, surfaces, meshes, solids, rendering, Visual Styles, rendering, ViewCube navigation, and more just as you would expect of AutoCAD.
When will it ship? In the fall 2010 and after successful completion of the pre-release beta testing by thousands of Mac using customers and students. It will hopefully be ready for students in Fall classes and needing a free student version of native AutoCAD for Mac from the Autodesk Student Community http://students.autodesk.com. There will be a non educational version as well including a trial download.
AutoCAD WS extends AutoCAD DWG to Apple iOS based devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch, and of course the iPad. This is like the Autodesk Labs Project Butterfly but on my Apple hardware. I have to say this is really nice to be able to edit and view DWG files on both my iPhone and iPad. http://butterfly.autodesk.com/mobile/
Where to find more information?
http://www.autodesk.com/autocadformac
http://butterfly.autodesk.com/mobile/
Autodesk’s YouTube Video Channel
AutoCAD Exchange http://autocad.autodesk.com
AutoCAD Facebook Fan Page http://www.facebook.com/AutoCAD.3D
Cheers,
Shaan
(both a Mac & Windows user)
Thanks Autodesk, now I know why I bought my iPad 😉
What about a Linux version?
It`s FANTASTIC news! Thank you for support Macusers!
Do we know something about AutoCAD LT for Mac?
Shaun, great news!
However I have looked through 10 press-release posts and all the Autodesk pages, and I cant find anywhere the official reason for naming it “AutoCAD WS”??
WS = I am guessing Web Software …
Is this a name designed by committee?
I am sure most people will want to know … even us Mac Users! 🙂
What about an LT version? I dont need the full version and wont be able to switch from my current windows LT version to full version. Doesn’t make financial sense.
I’m guessing WS = Web Service
Ok, why doesn’t Acad for windows look that good Shaan?
Now, where’s my Inventor for Mac, and an Inventor/DWG viewer for Android?
Any comments on limitations?
.NET? Full API support? VBA? How does Autodesk plan to tackle the many existing Windows dependencies?
But I’m indeed eager to try it out. Working in Parallels was a reasonable workaround, but for large files it does not cut it.
Thanks, sooooo great, AutoCAD on OS-X!
I was hoping for this step for such a long time, finally being able to switch to Mac in the office, too.
I really hope the Autodesk programmers have fun writing in Cocoa, so Revit and other software will follow, as we use Revit for the newer projects and like it even better.
Macs are just better computers, in any way.
Really enjoying your decision, thanks!
Ron
Thanks, sooooo great, AutoCAD on OS-X!
I was hoping for this step for such a long time, finally being able to switch to Mac in the office, too.
I really hope the Autodesk programmers have fun writing in Cocoa, so Revit and other software will follow, as we use Revit for the newer projects and like it even better.
Macs are just better computers, in any way.
Really enjoying your decision, thanks!
Ron
Too bad Steve J did not thank Autodesk during his presentation today. It would have been cool, but I understand why he did not. It was a music / iPod event.
There is full C++ ObjectARX but some components that are specific to Microsoft are not available such as ActiveX,VBA,com, .Net but we might find ways to change that.
Cheers,
Shaan
We do not have any public plans for an AutoCAD for Mac let, but we are listening and will respond to the requests. We needed to get this big first one and all the components before any other AutoCAD based products could be considered.
Cheers,
Shaan
That seems logical, but in reality there is meaning to the “WS”. I keep digging but getting the same answer.
-Shaan
One step at at time my friend. 🙂
Hopefully Autocad MEP will be rewriting too
will this run off of windows network license seat?
This first native Mac AutoCAD release will not support the network licensing.
Best Regards,
Shaan
WS = “Windows sucks”
It would be very nice if AutoCAD WS on iPad or iPhone could also read DWFx-Files.
Just tried it out – it doesn’t support options which are set when the drawing is created. Layers that are turned off still show up (viewports). There’s no option to set your layout background color. There’s no option to change your perspective on 3D views.
Honestly, this is for 2D drawings only. Pretty crap.
Matthew,
Thank you for the feedback. More details would be needed to know what exactly you encountered. Today there was a great deal of change going on with the Butterfly servers and that could have been part of the issue. The other is this is not a 3D viewer at this time, it is purely 2D. Yo can also set the View mode to change to Grayscale which provides a nice contrast. Butterfly now named AutoCAD WS continues to evolve at a rapid pace and should see updates and the features you want just make sure to use the feedback page on the site to make sure the team knows your requests.
Sincerely,
Shaan
PING:
TITLE: AutoCAD WS and AutoCAD WS Mobile ~ DWG in the cloud, iOS devices such as the iPad, iPhone, and IPod Touch. =Free=
BLOG NAME: Between the Lines
AutoCAD WS is now shipping as a commercial product after having graduated from Autodesk Labs as Project Butterfly. Project Butterfly has been evolving over time since appearing in the Labs with more functionality and performance along with getting grea…