“Autodesk Inc. is expected to announce on Tuesday that its AutoCAD software will soon be available for Apple Inc.’s iPad, iPhone and Mac computers, a development that may boost acceptance of Apple’s systems among corporate customers,” Ian Sherr reports for Dow Jones Newswires.
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“The popular 3D design, engineering and entertainment software has been specifically created for Apple’s handheld devices, Autodesk said in the announcement which was seen by Dow Jones Newswires,” Sherr reports. “The specialized mobile version, dubbed ‘AutoCAD WS’ will be released alongside its counterpart for the Mac platform this fall in Europe and North America.”
Full article here.
Galen Gruman reports for InfoWorld, “The company says AutoCAD for Mac OS X is a fully native application, using Mac OS X libraries and native UI features. AutoCAD for Mac takes full advantage of Mac OS X, including graphical browsing of design files with Cover Flow and use of multitouch gestures on Mac notebooks, the Magic Mouse, and the Magic Trackpad for intuitive pan and zoom features, a spokesman said. User-experience design patterns, such as the visual approach to drawing and layout management, have also been incorporated into AutoCAD for Mac.”
“AutoCAD for Mac boasts an API the company describes as ‘extensive’ and flexible customization options that allow for tailor-built workflows, simple application development and adaption, custom configurations for settings, and screen real estate options to suit individual workflows and project demands,” Gruman reports. “The new AutoCAD software will ship “this falll,” the company says. The Mac OS X edition costs the same as the Windows version: $3,995 without a support subscription, and $4,445 with one.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: AutoCAD is a CAD (Computer Aided Design or Computer Aided Drafting) software application for 2D and 3D design and drafting. It’s developed and sold by Autodesk, Inc. First released in December 1982, AutoCAD was one of the first CAD programs to run on personal computers. Versions for Unix and Mac OS were released in the 1980s and 1990s, but these were later dropped. The last release for Apple Macintosh was AutoCAD Release 12 which debuted in June, 1992.
MacDailyNews Take: This is yet another major sign that Apple’s Mac is back in a big way!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “qka” for the heads up.]
Related articles:
AutoCAD returns to Mac; first screenshots posted online (with image) – May 22, 2010
Autodesk online survey: Would you like a native version of AutoCAD for Apple’s Mac OS X? – April 08, 2009
Autodesk: Support of AutoCAD on Apple Macs running Windows XP not yet settled, too soon to tell – April 17, 2006
Java-based application allows viewing Autocad files on Macintosh – July 23, 2004
Autodesk working with Apple: will it lead to AutoCAD for Mac OS X? – September 10, 2003
Autodesk requests AutoCAD for OS X feedback – May 05, 2003
A Powerbook in a Windows/AutoCAD Architecture Firm – April 02, 2003
Business and enterprise……….. here we come!
Business and enterprise……….. here we come!
Business and enterprise……….. here we come!
Business and enterprise……….. here we come!
@ Regular Reader – Right there with you. I hope 3rd party developers also port for the Mac as I also run Carlson Civil Suite along side Civil 3D.
I remember back then as I was running Autocad 12 on a IIci. That was a nice system. Two years later company went to PC’s.
What a load, who cares? Autocad is WORSE than Microsoft. They offered a dumbed down, under supported version on the Mac. Our firm spent thousands of dollars to buy seats and were promptly abandoned after a month! Thousands of users were left with a worthless P.O.C with no future. We switched to Vectorworks and it is fantastic and well supported. I would sooner eat crap then switch back to the shitastic lazy bastards that thumbed their nose and abandoned all the Mac users. Screw me once….
Big step forward. AutoCad has often been cited by PC pundits and business media as an example if the advantages PCs have over Macs in terms of the depth of enterprise software offerings. No more.
And to see AutoCad being developed for the iPad and iPhone completely refutes the “I fart in your general direction” insults hurled last week about the iPad not being a content creation tool by the frigtard CEO of LG Electronics.
Yeah, right.
Truth be told, you need only watch Apple’s new iPad commercials to see that the iPad can do anything your imagination allows.
1. It will be interesting to see how “native” the application really is, and how it looks and performs on the Mac compared to its Window’s version.
2. Will this stimulate other CAD publishers to bring their products to Mac? I’d enjoy not booting into Windows to use Solid Works.
Wow, it finally happened. I used to consult with an architectural firm, and they would have been thrilled to have a Mac version of AutoCad, which they were forced to use due to client requirements.
Welcome back, AutoCAD!
Yes it’s big and awful but it’s seen as a CAD standard and used by many mechanical engineers.
@Spark
You raise a good question and I hope it will bring them to the Mac. Some years ago there was a rumour that ProEngineer was coming to the Mac. The rumour was based, correct me if being wrong, that Apple needed a CAD program for their design work.
Also If I recall right SolidWorks once was named Bravo made by Schlumberger and available for the Mac early 1990.
Unfortunately, some of us have been locked to AutoCAD by our respective industries of trade. This is great news for us, and probably bad news for Parallels and VMWare. Even worse news for MS. I like Vectorworks, but no native DWG handling is totally unpractical for day-to-day use and multi-user workflows. There are several very useful Mac CAD apps out there, but they all suffer from the same flaw, and the ones that claim native support still have translation issues.
BTW. If anyone needs a simple 2D CAD app with DXF support, I recommend QCAD.
Waiting for a Mac version of AutoCAD was like waiting for
the Beatles to come ti iTunes. Their time has come and gone.
People have found other solutions over the years that are in
some cases better. Would you pay $4000 for AutoCAD?
Impressive. Looking to see what PTC is going to do.
right now, if you want CAD on the Mac you go with Vectorworks.
This is huge news no matter how you cut it. No other platform has tens of millions of users across a wide array of engineering fields and industries.
AutoCAD is a key line of business application that would allow a lot of migrations to the Mac platform where only marginalized applications have to run in a virtual environment.
Despite AutoDesk dropping support in 1994 (Apple dropped clones and the Newton – it’s about business), 2010 is a very different market and the trend lines point strongly in Apple’s direction.
Kudos to AutoDesk for recognizing that and bringing a native version – not a warmed over port from Windows.