3DS Max for Mac?

[wispoxy]

Is 3DS Max ever going to come to the Mac? I've only been waiting forever. I'd like to see it on high res. retina display. At least change the terms and give licenses to allow people to convert it themselves from Windows to Mac. 

[PROH]

I wouldn't bet my money on it. I think it'll never happen, and the only way to run Max on a Mac will continue to be with windows and Bootcamp (or similar).

Best luck

[wispoxy]

Hello @PROH, 

Everyone that recommends bootcamp is basically telling me to buy windows. I want to have 3DS Max on my Mac, because my Adobe Master Collections contract is licensed under apple products. There are Universities facing the same issues. It's difficult to move over to 3DS Max Windows because the cost transfer under adobe bulk contracts would be three times the cost.

There's a conference call recently setup with Autodesk. I'll report back.

[PROH]

Just to make it clear: I'm not recommending anything. I'm simply telling that I don't think 3dsMax will ever come to Mac.

But I'm sure that if you can find a way to do it without windows, then many will be happy 🙂

Best luck

[wispoxy]

@PROH You're fine. I'm just mad because Adobe is (Windows and Mac), where Autodesk is more Windows or Mac. Autodesk needs to be more clear about products for operating systems.

Example: When someone buys an Autodesk product for the Mac, Autodesk probably should say something like 'other similar Autodesk products may not be available for your operating system.' *Notice the 'and / or'. If a company has 50 applications and 2 to 5 doesn't work on a certain operating system, it should be public. That way someone doesn't go with the wrong operating system.

Huge communication fault with an Autodesk representative for US Mid-west school districts and universities. It was clear by an Autodesk representative that the three products (we requested in bulk) were going to work on Macs. An Autodesk representative already reached us and setup a conference call. I'm confident that something will work out well in the end with Autodesk, but it should've never started. Like I said, I'll report back.

[dgorsman · Accepted solution]

The information is already public in the form of the system requirements page.  Anyone adopting new software should be reviewing that first off before any money changes hands.

3DSMAX is in the same position that AutoCAD was several years back.  Most, if not all, of the program is built on Windows exclusive technology.  In order for a native Mac program to be built, like they did with AutoCAD, they need to strip it down and re-engineer the guts to be system independent with an OS-specific user interface layer.  Because there are a number of differences between Win and Mac (including development and UI paradigms) we'd end up with similar results - a slightly different interface (with users demanding that they be identical); certain features not available in the Mac version, whether due to requiring more development time or simply not supported in the Mac environment (and further demands that they "just make it work"); and more than likely some serious limitations in scripting/API/customization.

All that is driven from expected return on investment.  Will there be enough uptake from Mac users to pay off the required development?  Will there be enough ongoing support to continue to support both version?

[wispoxy]

Everything worked out well after a 50min conference call. Autodesk got us quickly swapped with Maya instead, and the products should be ready for schools this fall. It was a close call, but will work out. Thanks Autodesk!

[spacefrog_]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Everything worked out well after a 50min conference call. Autodesk got us quickly swapped with Maya instead, and the products should be ready for schools this fall. It was a close call, but will work out. Thanks Autodesk!

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Sad that we ( the 3ds Max community) are loosing you to Maya 😉

But of course if you definitely want  to run on a Mac / native OSX there is no other way arround

[Anonymous]

The system requirements page will list the current minimal requirements of a given software, but give no indication of planned, pending, or beta support.

[Anonymous]

I too have been waiting years for a native mac version.  I don't want to use virtualization solutions. I don't think they would work as fast or as well as a native software.  I will keep waiting.  Maybe one day. sigh.

[Anonymous]

I don't understand yet the point of using 3d programs in Macs. They are systematically under powered compared with the PC. You can create a monster PC with the last graphic card, faster processor and large amount of ram with the same price than a Mac. Is it only because it is fancy? Mac clearly don't care for the high end specs market and they are not his source of income.

[Anonymous]

I have an imac pro. It is a very new type of mac computer - very powerful.  If I am unhappy with the top video card that I got for it, I have thunderbolt 3 ports and I could use eGPU if I find I need a nvidia card later.  If I am still unhappy there is a new mac pro being built next year.  At the moment I am perfectly happy with the imac pro (I know not everyone could afford this option but there are some people that have bought them).  My hobby is 3D computer graphic art.  I like to make comics.  I use other 3D software quite happily.  And I would buy studio if it was available for macs.  But I don't want to use virtualizations as I said. I would like max in all its native glory.  If that were possible. It might never be, but it doesn't hurt to let people know.  Maybe a programmer will see this and give it a shot.  I don't actually need max right now, but I would get it if it was there.

[samehbijo]

Also here you can find an official response from Autodesk official employee

https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/3ds-max-ideas/3ds-max-amp-autocad-architecture-for-mac/idc-p/7298721#...

THanks

[Anonymous]

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@Anonymous wrote:

I don't understand yet the point of using 3d programs in Macs. They are systematically under powered compared with the PC. You can create a monster PC with the last graphic card, faster processor and large amount of ram with the same price than a Mac. Is it only because it is fancy? Mac clearly don't care for the high end specs market and they are not his source of income.

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Everybody can agree that paying more for a Mac sucks when you're seeing newer graphics cards, cpus, faster ram, etc.. come out for pc and you're running on hardware that's two or three years behind... and yet I've had three blue screens (of death) in the last month and constant application crashes on my windows systems while my macs run smoothly without issues.  

And then there's the software's user friendliness factor.

With windows you have to go through menu and after menu to do anything.  I switched from being a windows fanatic five years ago to being more open to the idea that what I really want is the stability of mac and user friendliness of a mac with the speed (graphics and cpu) and speed of currently windows supported hardware... and at the price of a rasberry pi... lol

[jon.bell]

Hi everyone,

Just to reiterate -- although you can run 3ds Max under Windows 10 using Boot Camp on the Macintosh, Autodesk no longer offers technical support for this configuration, so any issues that may arise would have to be solved by the customer, Microsoft, AMD and Apple.

And unfortunately, we have no plans to have a native MacOS version of 3ds Max, for all the reasons listed above. Sorry for the news, but I hope this information helps.

[escobedo]

Karls reminds me so much the "2013 me" version, when I finally gave Mac a shot (a committed one). The Win-Mac thing is an endless and harsh issue on both Win & Mac sides, until you just give Mac a shot for everyday use as main system.

Yes, ever since I stayed on Mac and it didn't stop there, that decision eventually took me to the whole apple's ecosystem devices but had to keep an updated annoying "monster" JUST for 3DS Max; I never cared so much about fanciness about anything, but I've cared about quality and efficiency about everything since forever instead 😉

architect & construction entrepreneur since 1990

CAD user since 1992 (AutoCAD 10 for MS-DOS)

3Ds user since 1995 (3D Studio 3.0 for MS-DOS)