Important news for professionals who have switched or are considering switching to Apple Silicon: Autodesk has announced the new ones 2024 versions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT, and will finally natively support Apple’s ARM-based chips. The company specifies, just to avoid misunderstandings, that they are compatible both M1 and M2 chips – and, let’s assume with a reasonable level of certainty, future series as well, net of sensational twists.
According to Autodesk, overall performance of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT 2024 on Apple Silicon is doubled compared to 2023 (which of course runs in x86 compatibility mode via Rosetta 2). Of course it is a figure that can vary from one device and one software environment to another, but let’s say that the order of magnitude should be roughly that. Autodesk has already confirmed that it is also working on the native Apple Silicon version of Fusion 360, which could arrive as early as this summer. Still nothing to do for Revit and Maya – least of all 3DS Max which continues to remain exclusive to Windows.
Autodesk takes this opportunity to announce some of the new features available on AutoCad 2024 for Mac:
- Markup Import and Markup Assist. Using machine learning, the software can automatically locate markups from JPG or PDF files and import them into a DWG. Only available for AutoCAD 2024.
- Automatic positioning of Smart Blocks based on the position of the previous ones, if the software recognizes a regular pattern. Also available for LT.
- New COPYFROMTRACE command and related settings in toolbar. Also available for LT.
- Ability to customize the background color of the 3D view. Also on LT.
- Support for 3D Connexion controllers (3D mice). Also on LT.
- Support for the Italian and Spanish languages arrives. Also on LT.
The 2024 versions of AutoCAD and AutoCAD LT are available for download now for subscribers.
