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AutoCAD finally arrives on Mac -- iPad and iPhone, too!

by Jay Hathaway on September 1, 2010 at 03:30 PM

Mac-loving engineers and architects, get excited: AutoCAD is finally coming to the Mac, and iOS devices, too. The last time AutoCAD ran natively on a Mac was well before OS X, before iPhones, and possibly before time itself: 1992. Let's not revisit those dark times, though, let's think about what this means for the future: no more running Windows on Parallels or Boot Camp just so you can have your Mac at work!

The Mac interface will be the same familiar AutoCAD everyone is used to from the Windows version, but it's been Mac-fied with Cover Flow and Multi-Touch pan and zoom. It uses AutoCAD's standard DWG document format, too, so it will play nicely with the Windows version (and some other CAD software.) The iPad version could be pretty amazing for presentations or changing a design on the fly, though. I can see the iPad becoming a staple in many architects' offices.

Tags: architecture, autocad, autodesk, CAD, engineering, ipad, iphone, mac

Comments

Taylor. Yes, Taylor.Sep 1st 2010 4:08PM

Neutral

Does the iPad version allow for editing? I know some companies already sell viewers for android and I imagine iPhone, but just having a viewer is pretty uninteresting. I've been wanting a good, finger on tablet driven CAD program for a long time now. I don't have an iPad but if it was a full version of AutoCAD, i'd be very, very interested!
-Taylor

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RGSep 1st 2010 4:35PM

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Editing CAD on a screen that small? What next, movies? ...oh wait.

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ice_snow1983Sep 1st 2010 5:16PM

Neutral

As an AutoCADD/ALD/Civil 3D user I am not all that impressed with the fact that this software is now on the Mac's. In my field I can not see having the need/desire to switch from my Windows based PC for my drafting/design work to a Mac at all.

In my opinion they do not have the horsepower and GPU power that the PC offers. As AutoCADD and all of it's related products do not use the standard off the shelf graphics card that you would use for playing Video Games, they require a different card dedicated to doing rendering (I have a NVIDIA Quadro FX 580 in my Machine). Also if a part breaks (as they do in all computers no matter what they are) it is easier to replace that part in a windows PC than it is with the Mac.

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RenzaticSep 1st 2010 5:48PM

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It could be done. The high end Mac Pro line sports quite a bit of horsepower. Their dual i7 Xeon 4 core processors paired alongside a Quadro 4800 could easily provide enough to do the most demanding CAD tasks, and even do some decent renders quite quickly.

Of course the downside to a Mac workstation setup would be that, like any Apple products, you'll be paying a mint for the privilege, and all the replacement parts would be priced accordingly. In the end, I guess it all depends on how much you want that snazzy compartmentalized case and OSX.

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Big AlSep 4th 2010 6:54PM

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I guess you don't know what you're talking about then. I mean I guess an 8 or 12 core system might not do it, even with 4 SLI nVidia cards. But what do I know?

Not to mention it isn't exactly finally arriving, it's actually coming back to, as it was on Mac before already.

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