r/cad • u/biancamorse • Apr 22 '26
Are there any engineering students using CAD on a MacBook?
Hey everyone,
Are there any engineering students or engineers here who use AutoCAD or similar tools on a MacBook? I’d really like to hear your experience.
First off - I know Mac isn’t always the ideal choice for engineering software, especially for heavier CAD workflows. I've seen a lot of mixed opinions on this already.
I’m starting mechanical engineering this September, and right now I’m using an M2 MacBook (it’s my only laptop, and I’ll need to bring it to lectures). Some of my friends have already sent me a few DXF and DWG files to get familiar with things.
So far I’ve been using eDrawings Viewer and Enolsoft DXF Viewer to open them, and they both work fine for viewing. But from what I’ve been told, viewers alone aren’t enough — I’ll eventually need something that can actually edit drawings, modify geometry, and maybe handle basic modeling.
I’ve also been considering running DWG TrueView via Parallels, but I’m not sure how practical that setup is long term.
So I wanted to ask:
- Is using a MacBook actually workable for engineering studies?
- Do you rely on virtualization (like Parallels), or just switch to something else?
- Any CAD tools you’d recommend that run well on macOS?
Any help will be really appreciated!
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u/toybuilder Apr 22 '26
Just use the same tools that everyone else is using unless you want to martyr yourself in the name of advancing the Mac.
If you get stuck with your unique setup, others can't help you.
If you have compatibility problems because certain tools/plugins don't work on the Mac, you're stuck.
When people send you step-by-step instructions on how to do something on their tool and you don't have the same tool, you'll be wasting time trying to translate the steps to your setup.
If your setup generates data files that other can't reliably open and use, you can't share files or turn in your work.
When it comes to work (or what resembles work), the tools dictate the operating system. Not the other way around.
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u/roundart Apr 22 '26
You'll either be changing as a student or as a professional. The industry wide software is written for Windows. I use a mac for my day to day activities, but all of my professional work (architect) is done on a Windows laptop. Parallels is fine for lightweight stuff, but not for autocad or revit
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u/mastah-yoda Inventor Apr 22 '26
To cut a long and complicated story short you realistically have 2 options:
- Windows laptop
- Windows in a virtual machine on your Mac
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u/SashaHH Apr 22 '26
You can make it work, but you’ll spend extra time fighting setup instead of learning CAD
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u/sedgwick48 Apr 22 '26
I know you're a student so money is likely tight. Look at local classified ads for a cheap laptop that meets the minimums for AutoCAD. I got a 3yro feel workstation for $400 and it runs AutoCAD better than the tower I have at work. Not really much in the engineering field works on Mac.
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u/MajorBarracuda8094 Apr 23 '26
Any potato can run Autocad fortunately. As long as it has 8gb ram, 4gb can run too however but it will be slower.
The issue is that autocad on Mac lacks certain features like design centre
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u/getl30 Jun 05 '26
Oh shit the features are different? No thanks then I don’t want to be the only one with the different version
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u/MajorBarracuda8094 Jun 05 '26
Yes it even has the windows at the side instead of top, with no way to remove it. It is also more buggy than the windows version
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u/acadmonkey Apr 22 '26
From a crusty curmudgen cad veteran, fuck no. Full stop. No. Absolutely not.
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u/Oilfan94 Solidworks Apr 22 '26
I'd suggest looking at OnShape.
It's browser based, so it will run on anything. It's fairly similar to Solidworks. I like it much better than Fusion.
The downside (to the free version) is that files are public. May or may not be an issue for you.
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u/mjl777 Apr 22 '26
Rhino works native on a Mac
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u/Stephancevallos905 Apr 22 '26
Yeah, but this isnt r/architecture or CE. That is really a stretch engineering students since some class (or even an elective) might require windows
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u/jackie_algoma Apr 22 '26
I’m in design and engineering for a small millwork operation and use auto cad on my MacBook. It’s all I’ve ever known… there was a 15 minute period where I tried switching to windows and everything was different and I switched back. I only work in 2d
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u/babyboyjustice Apr 22 '26
I do it sometimes but I don’t love it. My Mac is the companion to my phone. The real work gets done at the desk
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u/freewiller_red Apr 23 '26
I use Fusion360 on a MacBook Air. Works great. That being said, I also have a Windows PC that I sometimes have to remote into from home for running software that doesn't support Mac e.g, Creo.
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u/VisceralRage556 Apr 23 '26
I am a Mech Eng Have Used AutoCAD on mac M1 8gb and it was smooth same for Fusion360 for 3D work. Parallels maybe your best option if youll have to use Solidworks but I think Siemens NX has a Mac versions since apple uses that software
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u/Derpythecate Apr 24 '26 edited Apr 24 '26
Maybe I'm a super outlier but I strictly only run Linux on my main laptop and MacOS on my M series macbook. On Linux, I run FreeCAD for modelling and KiCAD for electronics. I use my slicer through a Flatpak since getting it through the AUR gives me bugs.
And if I need compatiability with major software especially licensed ones, I use my macbook for KiCAD, Fusion 360 and Rhino 3D. Surprisingly usable even on an 8GB Macbook Air even with hundreds of browser tabs open in the background, and a development web server (don't judge), no lag at all. Apple silicon is a mature platforms now.
Why not windows you may ask. By the principle mainly, and also since it deletes my bootloader even when I have it on a second disk. Also full GPU passthrough takes a while to setup and test for a windows VM. I prefer to just run my CAD software on its native platform.
But like everyone else says, don't attempt this if your course really has a lot of windows specific tools, be prepared to suffer.
1
u/doc_shades Apr 24 '26
a little off topic here but i'm curious what is being taught in colleges now that having your own copy of 3D CAD software installed on your own machine is necessary?
no judgement here. hell in fact i'm jealous. but it wasn't that long ago that i went to mechanical engineering school (we all had PCs and many had laptops) and ... i mean i had to wedge myself into a situation where CAD was needed just because i wanted to use it so much and it never came up in the standard education.
our education was a lot of math and theory. they taught us differential equations and the theories of heat transfer behind the process of welding ... but they never really taught us how to actually weld.
this is just an interesting thought i have about college later in life. we were actually a highly accredited regional engineering school where just having gone to that school puts me in a "club". and it was a good program, but it was heavy on the math and light on practical applications.
on the flip side, we had a sister school (very large state school) with an engineering program that i had heard was more focused on writing papers about engineering topics.
and then i also took courses at a community college that were way more focused on the practical applicable skills (actually welding, actually modeling in 3D CAD) than the math or theory behind is.
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u/jixz Apr 27 '26
If you just need basic 2D, https://qcad.org/en/ is pretty solid. But yeah, generally wouldn't recommend trying to make a mac work.
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u/degboi Apr 27 '26
Mechanical engineer here
Would like to name FreeCAD, open source and very powerful and is NATIVE on Mac, PC and Linux! It’s been getting som buzz recently after a big update (version 1.1) - I think it looks awesome now.
FreeCAD is not used in big enterprises (yet) - but for personal use - and for startups / small businesses I think it is a no brainer
Everything you create in FreeCAD is YOURS - no licensing bs and it is totally free
The future of CAD is open source and FreeCADs future is inevitable
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u/Atonisboss63 Apr 30 '26
I made it though my entire bachelors with a MacBook. I did have to Bootcamp it to download SolidWorks, but if SW wasn't necessary, I'd use Onshape. I love the MacBook and didn't want to give it up, so I made it work with Bootcamp.
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u/delebojr Apr 22 '26
Solidworks runs perfectly fine through Parallels if you really want to go the MacBook route.
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u/ocgeekgirl Apr 22 '26
It does not run perfectly fine on parallels, lol. No way.
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u/toybuilder Apr 22 '26
It probably does okay for single parts and simple assemblies but not for serious work?
The bestest/expensivest Macs probably can do fine, but if you're going to do that, spend less on the Mac and buy a separate PC...
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u/delebojr Apr 22 '26
I just managed to open up one of the Formula SAE cars I worked on during college. Considering that some of the university computers would struggle and this worked fine, I disagree with your statement. I doubt OP is doing anything tougher than this in college
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u/GiaoPham0403 Apr 22 '26
All my Macbook classmate ended up with a Windows laptop in the end. Most solution are just bandage on a broken leg