PC vs Mac for Interior Design

SketchUp
1

I need opinions on changing over from PC to Mac for Interior Design purposes … anybody out there using Mac? I was thinking of the Macbook Pro 15" Retina display.

2

There is a possible problem with your question:
You might not get useful information if you ask for opinions/ideologies. We generally can not provide recommendations that preferentiate one brand over others. You will have to take the final decision on your own. If you ask for opinions, you will get the loudest opinions, and those can be found already in [existing threads][1] or elsewhere on the internet.

Instead, ask for facts, concrete differences, or describe precisely your workflows and ask how people do the same workflows on each of the suggested platforms.
[1]: Mac vs. Pc for SU?

3

I’m not sure if the platform used has anything to do with the area SU should be used for… besides being inspired by the design of the OSX devices (which btw is inspired by famous Dieter Frams of Braun).

4

You can only customize 1 toolbar on the Mac. You cannot dock toolbars on the side on the Mac.

The PC edition does not have these toolbar limitations. (But you might be able to run the PC edition under Parallels or some other Virtual Machine on the Mac.)

Also neither edition (PC nor Mac) has yet been optimized for High DPI displays (if perhaps the Retina display was what was drawing you to consider switching.)

5

If you are a professional interior designer, you will have to ask yourself some questions before you decide on your computer platform. IMO it is about 98,7% about software:

  • what software am I planning to use (beside SketchUp)?
  • are the software packages available for the PC or Mac?
  • if I already own some of the software, is it cross-platform so I can switch from one to the other?
  • Does the switching carry a fee?
  • Do you have to communicate electronically with clients? In what format? Do you need special software just to create that format?
  • What do your colleagues use? It is often advisable to acquire skills in using what “everyone else” does instead of painting yourself into a corner where your opportunities are more limited.

Anssi

4 Likes
6

I do work on both platforms, but i favor PC over MAC for SketchUp.

its the materials that i find the most of trouble. but it shouldn’t have much difference performance-wise.