Apple vs PC for SketchUp

Technical Problems SketchUp
1

Continuing the discussion from Crashing and can I install on two pc?:

All I can say is there are SketchUp editions that run under Apple OSX. (But there is a minimum supported OSX version. as Apple drops support from each version, so does SketchUp.)

The newer SketchUp Pro licenses are now cross-platform (because they are cloud based schemes.)

You will not catch me buying anything from Apple.

I personally believe their hardware is inferior to any of the PC clones, and they allow less options for the end user to choose. (The recent ā€œdumbing downā€ of the Mini line is a case in point.) But Iā€™ve never been fond of anything Apple.

I think youā€™ll get much more for your money from Toshiba. (Weā€™ve had like 5 of them and theyā€™re all still going, even the old obsolete ones that are still running XP.)

Weā€™ve had bad experiences with HP machines, and will not be buying from them again.

Also, generally, I will now only choose Intel CPUs and Nvidia graphics,ā€¦ never again AMD CPU or ATI graphics. (Because of past poor performance, and high incidence of hardware failures from AMD/ATI products.)

But most what Iā€™ve said is subjective, and the result of my own experience.

Youā€™ll likely get the ā€œflip-sideā€ from @Barry as he used to work for Apple.

2

To offer an alternate opinionā€¦

It is true that the best of PC may well be better than the best of Apple.

Itā€™s extremely unlikely that the worst of PC is worst than the worst of Apple.

In general. most Apple is better than affordable PC. More expensive PC is comparable to Apple.

You should not decide what computer to get based just on SketchUp. But SketchUp does run quite nicely on Macs.

The overall advantage of Macs is that you donā€™t have to worry so much about combinations of CPUs, GPUs, drivers, and so on.

3

Yup. Apple just doesnā€™t sell ā– ā– ā– ā–  on the low end like PC companies do (with crappy graphic cards). Thereā€™s good and bad in that. They also donā€™t move price points or cannibalize themselves on the low end as much as PCā€™s. Rather, theyā€™ll load on more features and keep the same price points. Mac Mini has always been a pain point. In my days, it was nice because companies that didnā€™t allow Macs would often have Mac developers hiding their Mac Miniā€™s inside their PC towers. Itā€™s also nice to have HW & SW by the same company, because thereā€™s less finger-pointing bugs that way.

These are all general points, so Iā€™m not looking for an argument. Thereā€™s also a reason why our engineers and Googleā€™s engineers use them.

4

Also check the requirements for all the software you plan on using. Some developers still donā€™t have versions for Mac (this applies to a few SU extension developers too.)

5

There has been so many replies and like to thank everyone. Iā€™m still undecided on which pc to get . Right now Staples has Toshiba laptops on sell with the Intel,Intel CORE i3, or AMD A8.

6

I would prefer Intel for 3D work (just a personal preference). What is more important is that the computer must have a graphics card that is NOT an Intel HD integrated solution.

Anssi

7

Ideally a nVidia card, not AMD - graphic drivers are a bit too iffy.

1 Like
8

I think that in the days of slower computers that the GPU stealing half the bus time would have mattered more. These days CPUs and bus speeds are so high, and RAM so large, that it would be hard to notice any issues. I certainly donā€™t have any complaints on my MacBook Pro.

9

You can buy from direct from Toshiba.

Generally speaking those ā€œsaleā€ laptops are low end student laptops, bought in large quantities.

10

The Apple drivers for IntelHD graphics seem to do their job much better than the drivers for PC machines. SketchUp tends to crash on a PC with Intel HD graphics if OpenGL Hardware Acceleration is turned on.

Anssi

11

I never own an apple product before. How do you like it?

12

It has never crashed on my PC, and Iā€™ve always had all OpenGL options checked.

13

Thatā€™s good news - seems that Intel has finally produced a working driver.

Anssi

14

Except that my machine is even older than the HD4000 series.

15

you shouldnā€™t put the cart before the horse, ā€˜likingā€™ the make or an operating system is for ā€˜fanboysā€™ only and not the right way to choose the tool which should fulfill the requirements for doing work in a productive way.

better evaluate what is your already existing knowledge concerning the usage of an operating system, are the applications definitely required available for the targeted platform and which applications did you have already bought for a dedicated platform.

with all of this in mind, I do assume that buying a Windows PC is at least the rational choiceā€¦

4 Likes
16

the main problem is not the bus speed or the performance of shared/integrated GPUs but the maturity of the OpenGL support of the video driver.

17

If PC is rational, there are a hell of a lot of irrational engineers at Google and SketchUp.

18

Like some others here, I went to Google for a few days summit. As a goodie we were given a Samsung ChromeBook, and of course Google make Android OS. But, if you look at most peopleā€™s desks, they use Macs.

19

you are citing distorting.

20

Hello,

I have been using Windows since '93 and have never used any Apple products. However, Iā€™m thinking about going with a loaded-up iMac after the next batch is released. My questions are:

  1. Is the Sketchup team working on the Materials Editor and toolbar Docking problems I read about or is that just the way it is
  2. Do the trays in Layout dock
  3. Is the Sketchup team working on resolution problems with the 4-5k screens I read about
  4. How is the experience working in Parallels (does it have enough oomph) compared to straight up Windows or OS X

Thank You,

Paul