Hello!
I’m new to the SketchUp community and I would be really grateful if you could give me some advises.
In fact I’m new to SketchUp too!
I’m a furniture and interiors designer/maker. So far my business partner has been dealing with the SketchUp drawings, but I want to learn to use the program too.
I need to buy a laptop and I’m hoping you can help me with the choice.
My partner uses a pc, so I’m right to think it’s better if I buy a pc too so we can exchange files etc ?
I have been a Mac user for over a decade, so I’m feeling I’m a bit betraying Steve Jobs’ cult !
As I said we work on single furniture or the interiors of a room, so I"m assuming these are not massive files, so I wouldn’t want spend money for specs than I don’t need…
Do you have any recommendations ?
We bought the licence for SketchUp Pro for our business, I’m right to think we can download it in at least two machines?
Sorry if those questions seems really basic for you !
Ultimately there is a course you recommend for beginners?
If you are asking about SketchUp tools and extensions (I think @ateliernab meant other apps?), I don’t know of any that are Mac-only but there are some that are Windows-only because they use windows-specific libraries such as win32ole.
Thank you @ateliernab !
Yes sorry my questions are a bit too basic !
Ok so then I would prefer use a Mac…does SketchUp Pro looks the same on pc and Mac then ?
Considering we don’t need photo-like rendering and we work usually on small file do you think a MacBook Air M2 would do for running the program smoothly?
In alternative which pc would you recommend?
And we can use the licence we bought on more then one machine right ??
Thank you @slbaumgartner !
If there is no problem on sharing files etc I would prefer to stay on Mac then …
So if we need to share the licence we bought it, wouldn’t be a problem to download it in two machines that are a pc and a Mac ?
I’m really sorry if those questions are really obvious for you guys !…. I’m literally starting out now !m
As I was saying to @ateliernab , do you think a MacBook Air M2 would do it , if we work on not big files?
And could you recommend a pc alternative ?
Thank you so much again
Officially, a license is to a single individual. It can be used on two machines, including on a Mac and a PC, but by the same person. You should read the license agreement, ask a lawyer if you need further interpretation or advice.
more or less. there are a couple of panels that differ, the material one for example, and the topbar has a different ways of being customised.
beyond that, no, not that much. once you know the small differences you’re all set. and since there are talks about the mac version migrating to the same interface as the pc version, it won’t matter soon enough.
yeah. I’m running a mac mini m1 and it’s fine. if you can, get a RAM boost, it’ll always be useful.
as long as you purge your models frequently and stay away from some really big and heavy models f the 3d warehouse, you’ll be fine for the next decade or so.
It is clear that you can still use a Mac. I have always used a Mac. AutoCAD 2025 and SketchUp 2024 run smoothly on the M1 Pro chip, not to mention the current M4 Max chip. Enscape 4.2 also works perfectly, rendering a 4K image in just a few seconds. So you can continue using your Mac without any issues. However, it’s important to note that when transferring a model from PC to Mac, some Enscape materials might be lost; this isn’t significant if you’re not rendering. The SketchUp Pro license can be used on two computers but not simultaneously. There are plenty of free SketchUp courses available on YouTube or China’s Bilibili and Douyin platforms.
…. I’m literally starting out now !m