The State of AutoCAD Support for Apple Silicon

In recent years, there has been a significant shift in the technology landscape with the introduction of Apple Silicon processors. As a result, many software developers are re-evaluating their compatibility with these new chips. One such developer is Spatial Corp, the company behind Autocad and ACIS.

According to reports, Spatial Corp had initially planned to release a native M1 version of Autocad in January 2022 but delayed it until November of the same year. The reason for this delay was due to the complexity of developing an executable that can run seamlessly on both M1 and Intel-based Macs.

The challenge lies in the fact that ACIS, a 3D modeling kernel used by Autocad, does not have a native M1 version yet. This has left many users wondering when they can expect full support for Apple Silicon.

In an interview with one of Bricsys' employees, it was revealed that the company had heard rumors that M1 support was lagging due to the limited number of Mac developers relying on ACIS. However, this is not entirely accurate as there are indeed many Mac-based CAD and 3D software systems that rely on ACIS.

One such example is formZ, a popular CAD/BIM platform that uses the Parasolid kernel, which has already made the transition to ARM chip support for iOS apps on iPad and iPhones. Vectorworks, another popular CAD/BIM platform, is also fully native as it uses the Parasolid kernel.

In light of this, some users may be left wondering if they should continue using Autocad on their M1 Macs. Fortunately, formZ will continue to be updated regularly to run as well as possible with the latest MacOS versions under Rosetta 2 until a native M1 version is available.

Unfortunately, it seems that creating a native M1 BricsCAD in the short term may not be feasible due to the complexity of developing an executable that can mix M1 and Intel built binaries. However, there are many other Mac-based CAD and 3D software systems that have already made the transition to Apple Silicon, including IMSI-Design's Mac products ViaCAD Pro, PunchCAD, and others.

In conclusion, while Autocad support for Apple Silicon is still in its infancy, it seems that Spatial Corp is working towards a solution. In the meantime, users can continue to use their M1 Macs with Autocad, albeit under Rosetta 2, until a native version becomes available.

Autocad apple silicon