Fusion 360 Minimum System Requirements

[antonelj]

Hello AD,

I need to buy a new machine to run Fusion 360.

Will this machine (Apple Mac Book), with all factory upgrades, meet the minimum requirements?

Thank you!

[James.Youmatz · Accepted solution]

Hi @antonelj,

Welcome to the Fusion 360 Community,

For reference, here is our official minimum requirements.

Realistically this computer can run Fusion 360, but my worry is actually the graphics card. I didn't see an option in the link you provided for a dedicated graphics card - as the Intel ones are integrated cards, meaning they share RAM as opposed to having their own RAM just for the graphics. Fusion (like other CAD programs) can be graphics intensive depending on the type of geometry you are creating. I.e. the more complex or large scale your geometry is, the more draw on the graphics card Fusion will require. Without a dedicated card you "may" (it's really hard for me to comment on what is actually going to happen), run into some graphics performance issues. 

With that being said, I would try to research more into that Intel card (as the newer ones are getting better) and see if they meet our minimum requirements posted above. For reference, Fusion runs great on my Mac with the specs below:

[antonelj]

Thanks for the quick response!

As a beginner, it's unknown to me how sophisticated/large my geometry will become. I was hoping the upgraded mac book model would meet my basic needs.

I'll inquire about more advanced graphic card options with Apple. If they're available for the mac book, I'll likely go in that direction.

I'm confident a mac book pro would meet all my demands and then some, but I'm looking for a smaller, lighter option to carry around with me everywhere. In the long run, I'm sure the machine weight will overshadow the performance 😉

...While I have you here, will the iPad Pro will run Fusion 360?

Best,

antonelj

[James.Youmatz · Accepted solution]

Hi @antonelj,

Gotcha, glad I could be of some help! It's tough to recommend computers, especially in the Mac world as not too many CAD packages run on Mac to compare to.

Regarding the iPad, currently Fusion 360 cannot run on the iPad in the way you would want it. We have a Fusion 360 app, but its a viewer/mark up app, not the full CAD package. We are currently developing in-browser CAD which would enable machines that run Linux, or mobile devices such as the iPad to run Fusion, but currently it is very basic. Check out more about that here.

Thanks,

[antonelj]

Fair enough. Looking forward to using my fingers on a mac screen to manipulate the 3D environment. Someday...

Thanks for all the feedback. I'll off to learn more about graphics card options for mac books.

Have a great day!