I am soon to be a third year student and planning to change my laptop. I am currently using hp envy ultrabook but isn't satisfied with its performance. The battery is already not charging and buying a new battery is too expensive. I am planning to buy a macbook pro 15" since it is said to be really fast, long lasting and can be updated for free. I am looking for a laptop (not desktop for portability purposes) that is fast and can last long or at least can last until I graduate. By the way, I am usually using sketchup but planning to learn autocad. Any suggestion? Would a macbook pro 15" be a good choice since it can also run windows?
If you are planning on running Windows on a Mac I would not recommend buying one. Yes there are benefits to buying a Mac, but I would say its performance will be reduced by running Windows software on it. Mac apps for Macs, Windows apps for Windows.
If you want a high end Windows laptop, I would recommend Alienware. A bit more pricey and definitely not as sleek or thin as a Macbook Pro though.
I used this setup during my second half of grad school, including for my thesis year. The Mac OS X side was fine, and Autodesk has finally worked out most of the bugs in the Mac version of AutoCAD. I had some pretty severe performance and stability issues when running Revit on the Windows partition, though. It may not have been much of an issue if I had been doing a small project such as a mediation cabin for my thesis, but I was designing a new Penn Station for New York, and ended up having to do most of the Revit work in the school's computer lab.
I don't get it, third year and just planning to learn AutoCAD?
Anyways, no, it's not worth getting a Macbook Pro 15-inch just to boot into Windows. If you like the other reasons to use OS X, fine, but it's better to just run software on its native hardware. If you want something that looks close to the Macbook, get a Dell M3800. Probably goes for half the price and pretty much the same performance.
Don't want to sound like a fanboy but i went from hp to mac and I love the quality of a mac book. I use a windows partition through the Mac bootcamp and it runs perfectly. There are no performance problems of using windows on a Mac. I love the battery life and the customer support with Apple is awesome. I think I'm going to stick with Mac for laptops but when it comes to a desktop build your own. I know it's not the popular opion because of the price but it will last you a long time. I've had mine for 4 years now and only had one issue when the new Mac OS came out but it was resolved in a few days
Buy a windows. I have a samsung 700Z7C and its mac equivalent and runs fantastic. its a work horse of a laptop, good graphics card and i7 core processor. those are really the two things you need as well as 32 gb ram to run most architectural programs. you'll get sick of the mac real fast and plus no architecture firms use macs. your better off saving your money and investing in a good windows laptop. the only profession thats really going to use mac's are graphic designers. plus any college student in the major will agree on how they acquired the adobe creative suite/rhino/vray etc... you won't be able to find those programs for a mac you'll have to pay full price and no one likes that.
Macs are fine but dropping the cash for the 15-inch seems wasted to boot into Windows when a comparable machine can be had for half the price. AutoCAD runs on OS X now but I don't know how long someone going into their final years of studies would still be using that. Rhino3D is still in beta and very early so that's a poor reason; Maya has their OS X version but Revit and 3ds Max will both require a Windows install.
At the price commanded, the specifications for a 15-inch Macbook Pro are underwhelming except for the processor which is basically desktop-class but thermally constrained to prevent fires. That and the PCI-e SSD and possibly the Iris Pro's eDRAM make it fast. It was a new thing in late 2013 but now every other OEM vendor has at least one of those three things listed as standard on their premium models.
Alienware is a terrible suggestion. There are a lot of better high-performance gaming laptops that are either cheaper and/or superior to Alienware. I don't believe anyone in a design program could bear carrying that gaudy design around.
The original question comes up way too much. I'm going to let buyer's remorse have the last word.
If you can afford go for it. I've had one before and then switched to Lenovo and really dislike the quality of it. Now I am looking for a new replacement and might go back to apple.
You can use bootcamp for mac for softwares that requires windows.
Depends on what you want to use it for. As most mentioned, you can run AutoCAD and Rhino on Mac OS now and others are starting to make more. I also don't understand how you're 3rd year and still haven't really used the computer for stuff, but anyway. It all comes down to what you want to do on it and what programs you'll use.
Mac's are solid and smooth, work great with Adobe, now AutoCAD, and partial rhino Rhino (no grasshopper). When it comes to rendering, pretty much everyone uses PC. Vray with some sort of something (rhino, 3ds, etc...) You can run bootcamp and crap but that uses power that can be put towards rendering or something else. If you're not going to be doing a lot of rendering like that, go mac. If not, just get a powerful pc laptop without a bunch of crap and you can use it for more stuff in architecture. Or just get a Macbook and a PC desktop. In the long run, whatever you enjoy having more.
Mar 25, 15 5:45 pm ·
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Is macbook pro 15" good for architecture student?
I am soon to be a third year student and planning to change my laptop. I am currently using hp envy ultrabook but isn't satisfied with its performance. The battery is already not charging and buying a new battery is too expensive. I am planning to buy a macbook pro 15" since it is said to be really fast, long lasting and can be updated for free. I am looking for a laptop (not desktop for portability purposes) that is fast and can last long or at least can last until I graduate. By the way, I am usually using sketchup but planning to learn autocad. Any suggestion? Would a macbook pro 15" be a good choice since it can also run windows?
no.
If you are planning on running Windows on a Mac I would not recommend buying one. Yes there are benefits to buying a Mac, but I would say its performance will be reduced by running Windows software on it. Mac apps for Macs, Windows apps for Windows.
If you want a high end Windows laptop, I would recommend Alienware. A bit more pricey and definitely not as sleek or thin as a Macbook Pro though.
I used this setup during my second half of grad school, including for my thesis year. The Mac OS X side was fine, and Autodesk has finally worked out most of the bugs in the Mac version of AutoCAD. I had some pretty severe performance and stability issues when running Revit on the Windows partition, though. It may not have been much of an issue if I had been doing a small project such as a mediation cabin for my thesis, but I was designing a new Penn Station for New York, and ended up having to do most of the Revit work in the school's computer lab.
I don't get it, third year and just planning to learn AutoCAD?
Anyways, no, it's not worth getting a Macbook Pro 15-inch just to boot into Windows. If you like the other reasons to use OS X, fine, but it's better to just run software on its native hardware. If you want something that looks close to the Macbook, get a Dell M3800. Probably goes for half the price and pretty much the same performance.
Buy a windows. I have a samsung 700Z7C and its mac equivalent and runs fantastic. its a work horse of a laptop, good graphics card and i7 core processor. those are really the two things you need as well as 32 gb ram to run most architectural programs. you'll get sick of the mac real fast and plus no architecture firms use macs. your better off saving your money and investing in a good windows laptop. the only profession thats really going to use mac's are graphic designers. plus any college student in the major will agree on how they acquired the adobe creative suite/rhino/vray etc... you won't be able to find those programs for a mac you'll have to pay full price and no one likes that.
@Driko
Macs are fine but dropping the cash for the 15-inch seems wasted to boot into Windows when a comparable machine can be had for half the price. AutoCAD runs on OS X now but I don't know how long someone going into their final years of studies would still be using that. Rhino3D is still in beta and very early so that's a poor reason; Maya has their OS X version but Revit and 3ds Max will both require a Windows install.
At the price commanded, the specifications for a 15-inch Macbook Pro are underwhelming except for the processor which is basically desktop-class but thermally constrained to prevent fires. That and the PCI-e SSD and possibly the Iris Pro's eDRAM make it fast. It was a new thing in late 2013 but now every other OEM vendor has at least one of those three things listed as standard on their premium models.
@apure
I wouldn't get a mac either, but personally, I think Alienware is pretty overpriced for what you get as well.
Alienware is a terrible suggestion. There are a lot of better high-performance gaming laptops that are either cheaper and/or superior to Alienware. I don't believe anyone in a design program could bear carrying that gaudy design around.
The original question comes up way too much. I'm going to let buyer's remorse have the last word.
If you can afford go for it. I've had one before and then switched to Lenovo and really dislike the quality of it. Now I am looking for a new replacement and might go back to apple.
You can use bootcamp for mac for softwares that requires windows.
Depends on what you want to use it for. As most mentioned, you can run AutoCAD and Rhino on Mac OS now and others are starting to make more. I also don't understand how you're 3rd year and still haven't really used the computer for stuff, but anyway. It all comes down to what you want to do on it and what programs you'll use.
Mac's are solid and smooth, work great with Adobe, now AutoCAD, and partial rhino Rhino (no grasshopper). When it comes to rendering, pretty much everyone uses PC. Vray with some sort of something (rhino, 3ds, etc...) You can run bootcamp and crap but that uses power that can be put towards rendering or something else. If you're not going to be doing a lot of rendering like that, go mac. If not, just get a powerful pc laptop without a bunch of crap and you can use it for more stuff in architecture. Or just get a Macbook and a PC desktop. In the long run, whatever you enjoy having more.
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