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Running SOLIDWORKS on a Mac People often ask if it is possible to run SOLIDWORKS on a Mac – the good news is you can. We know quite a few users running SOLIDWORKS successfully on a Mac. The bad news is that it isn’t supported by SOLIDWORKS … There are no versions of SOLIDWORKS that are written for Mac OS and OS X, however there are versions of eDrawings available for Mac OS. A change in Mac OS or an upgrade to SOLIDWORKS may suddenly give you major headache. We would always recommend running SOLIDWORKS on a Windows PC.
Although installing SOLIDWORKS on a Mac isn't what we would recommend, it's important to know that the future of SOLIDWORKS 3D CAD is here and that's SOLIDWORKS xDesign. It moves the power of SOLIDWORKS to the browser, meaning that it works on any operating system. It is CAD on the cloud and platform agnostic. We are often asked if it is possible to run SOLIDWORKS on a Mac computer - find out in this video. Don't forget to check out our blog here for more informati. Apr 16, 2019 SOLIDWORKS cannot run directly on macOS, so first you will need to install Windows on your Mac using an application such as Boot Camp or Parallels. There are other considerations such as graphics performance and the applications you are using SOLIDWORKS for. Jun 20, 2018 Hello, Anybody succeed in running SolidWorks on MacBook Pro 2017? I am considering to get the 13' version. Is the Intel Iris Plus Graphics 650 sufficiently good enough? Does Realview work? For reference, I am using Mac laptop with Nvidia GeForce GT 330M 512MB. It is fast enough to get my work done.
However if you have to run SOLIDWORKS on a Mac read on:- Running SOLIDWORKS on a Mac means you are making compromises on speed, functionality and stability. SOLIDWORKS is only supported when:-
- Running on Microsoft operating systems. With SOLIDWORKS 2019, that means running Windows 10 or Windows 7 operating systems. However, Windows 7 will only be supported until the end of the 2020 release, so we recommend going with Windows 10. It also means you have to buy a copy of the Windows operating system.
- Running with a supported graphics card (more of this later).
The operating system on a Mac is called “Mac OS” and there are two ways of running Windows 10 on a Mac:-
- Boot Camp
- Parallels
- Boot Camp
This is the preferred method – it effectively runs Windows on your computer instead of Mac OS. In effect, you end up with one computer with a choice of two operating systems.
When you boot up your Mac you have to choose to run either Mac OS or Windows.
Boot Camp Assistant creates a partition just for Windows, leaving your existing Mac OS volume intact.
It is free to install but you do have to buy a copy of your preferred windows operating system.
Note: It is important you only use “boot camp assistant” to create this windows partition. See http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1461
2. Parallels
Parallels software can be installed on your Mac OS. It allows you to run a “virtual” copy of a Windows operating system at the same time as running your Mac OS.
In our case, we would use Parallels to run a “Virtual PC”. The “Virtual PC” would then run Windows 10 on which SOLIDWORKS can ultimately run. You need to buy Parallels and a copy of Windows 10 for this solution.
Running Parallels on a Mac is really convenient as you can seamlessly switch between Windows and Mac OS when needed.
Unfortunately, it really stretches the capabilities of most machines to run both Mac OS and Windows as well as a heavy-duty program like SOLIDWORKS at the same time. It also introduces an extra level of software to “go wrong”. Certainly running via Parallels is slower and more prone to crashing SOLIDWORKS than the Boot Camp solution.
Graphics Cards
You need to be running a supported graphics card to get the most out of SOLIDWORKS.
Only a few cards are supported by SOLIDWORKS.
NVIDIA sell a range of supported graphics cards called “Quadro” (the exception is the Quadro NVS, which is unsupported). Most NVIDIA cards are from their GeForce range, which are not supported.
ATI sell as range of graphics cards called “FireGL”/“FirePRO” which are supported. Most ATI cards are from their Radeon range, which are not supported.
Not many Macs come with supported graphics card. No MacBook or MacBook Pros have supported cards.
If you run via Parallels, you are running a “virtual” graphics card driver. There is currently no way to install the correct NVIDIA Quadro or ATI Fire drivers required by SOLIDWORKS via Parallels even if you have a supported card. You have to use the generic Parallels virtual driver. The virtual driver is much slower than using the correct driver running on a normal Windows PC or laptop.
Certain workarounds do exist to allow.
Without a supported card, you won’t get some feature such as the looking glass, RealView etc. to work.
Users have also reported items temporarily disappearing after you rotate/zoom/Pan e.g. dimension text.
Finally, without a supported card SOLIDWORKS is less stable and more prone to crashing.
If you are plagued by stability/display issues its worth running SOLIDWORKS with the option “Software OpenGL” turned on.
Start SOLIDWORKS without any document loaded and select “Tools, Options, System Options, Performance, use Software OpenGL”.
The option above calculates the graphics using your processor and a standard library, rather than the graphics card and graphics driver. This is slower but it can provide improve stability and a more reliable display.
Solidworks For Mac Student
If you have any more questions or would like us to spec you up a machine to run SOLIDWORKS on please refer to this guide, or contact us via one of our web forms here.
This is a fairly long-standing issue we come up against on the Innova Systems technical support desk, and also while talking to prospective customers about SOLIDWORKS. The simple answer is that SOLIDWORKS do not develop an Apple Mac version of the software, so we can’t install SOLIDWORKS natively.
We used to recommend the Bootcamp route, which involves installation of Bootcamp and then Microsoft Windows on the partition Bootcamp creates. The issue here is that if you need to access the Apple Mac Operating System (OS), you would need to shut down windows and boot up the Apple Mac OS, because they cannot be running simultaneously. This allows the full use of the hardware (RAM and graphics card) you have in your Apple Mac for Windows.
The alternative solution that we used to steer people away from is Parallels, a virtual machine software that allows you to run another OS inside the Mac OS (inside a window). The reason for not recommending this is that you are sharing the resource of the machine with two operating systems, thus not necessarily having the required resource to run a demanding program like SOLIDWORKS.
There were also historic problems with not being able to use the graphics card properly which would result in exceptionally slow performance when selecting things. This is due to most Macs not having certified graphics cards for SOLIDWORKS and parallels using a virtual graphics card driver or the default Windows driver. The virtual or generic drivers don’t offer the level of performance needed to run SOLIDWORKS correctly.
Innova Systems Technical Director, Ed Hawkins, explains
We have now installed and configured this on over 20 users’ Apple Mac computers and I have to say the response from these people has been amazing.
I have a mid 2014 MacBook Pro, which I’ve been using as a test bed. The specs are listed below:
You will note that this machine has Intel Iris Graphics (specific to the Mac) and not a certified graphics card for SOLIDWORKS.
So, I installed the latest version of Parallels (version 10) and a fresh copy of Windows 10 into the virtual environment and then set about making SOLIDWORKS work!
It’s pretty easy to get Windows installed, as Parallels guides you through that process very nicely. You can specify how much of the machine’s resource to give to the Windows OS – which is where a high spec Mac will stand you in better stead. It is always a good rule of thumb to assign half the available RAM to the Windows OS, so in my set up, I assigned 4GB of RAM.
The difficult bit is making the “Use Software OpenGL” button inside SOLIDWORKS become accessible. When you first install SOLIDWORKS, this button is ticked and greyed out, so we can’t turn it off. In our opinion, SOLIDWORKS is unusable at this point, as selecting geometry and navigating the software is too slow to be productive.
With a bit of effort, and some registry modifications, I was able to untick the OpenGL box, allowing us to use the graphics card to a much higher potential. The difference in performance was huge, and it allowed me to select and navigate the software much, much faster. One limitation that frustrated me early on was the lack of RealView Graphics (Accurate reflections and appearances), so I set about solving this problem too. I’m happy to report that RealView works perfectly on a properly specced Mac Book Pro!
Of course, this isn’t necessarily a new solution – Parallels has been around for some time, and installing Windows on a Mac for as long. The difference with our solution is that we can make SOLIDWORKS behave as well as a normal windows PC. No more slow selecting or poor rotational speed.
Above is a screenshot of the working set up, albeit in Window mode, not full screen. I have this running at a resolution of 2560 x 1600 in full screen mode and it is functioning very well. Please note: the specification of my Mac, and the resource I can assign to Windows is far from ideal. It would be recommended for people who are creating fairly simple parts with up to 100 features, and assemblies containing up to 500 components. Any more than that, and I think it would struggle.
In summary, the Parallels solution is now recommended by Innova Systems. We are confident of this working well in a production environment, but the spec of the Mac is key to the success. Along with our modifications to the registry in Windows, of course.
Video: See SOLIDWORKS running on Apple Mac
Video: How to run SOLIDWORKS on Apple Mac Computers
Solidworks For Macbook
Get in touch with us to find out more
Running Solidworks On A Mac
Are you based in the UK and interested in running SOLIDWORKS on your Apple Mac? We can demonstrate our configuration to you via a Team Viewer session, or if you prefer and are interested in purchasing SOLIDWORKS we can come out and show you live with some of your data.
Solidworks For Mac
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Solidworks For Mac Download
Editor’s note: This post was originally published in August 2015 and has been updated to feature new information on our process.