AutoCAD and Autodesk Maya for macOS now run natively on Apple Silicon Macs

It’s been almost three years since Apple announced the transition from Intel Macs to Apple Silicon. Since then, many developers have updated their apps to take advantage of the new M1 and M2 chips, but there are still many more apps that need to be updated. This week, Autodesk updated the popular professional software AutoCAD and Autodesk Maya to run natively on Apple Silicon Macs.

AutoCAD and Autodesk Maya for Mac get M1/M2 support

The announcement was made on the Autodesk blog (via Ars Technica). With the update, AutoCAD and Maya can take full advantage of Apple Silicon chips, which offer more performance and better power efficiency. This means that the apps will run faster on Macs powered by the M1 and M2 chips, not to mention that they will use less power – which is great for MacBook users.

For those unfamiliar, AutoCAD is one of the industry’s most popular 2D and 3D modeling software. It’s widely used by architects, engineers, and other professionals. On the other hand, Autodesk Maya is used to create advanced 3D animations.

It was previously possible to use both AutoCAD and Maya on Apple Silicon Macs thanks to Rosetta, the technology that translates Intel apps to ARM architecture. However, users were frustrated since apps running through Rosetta just can’t run as fast as the native ones. Now this problem has been solved.

“AutoCAD for Mac 2024 and AutoCAD LT for Mac 2024 deliver incredible, new performance improvements with the ability to run AutoCAD natively on Apple silicon,” says Dania El Hassan, Director of Product Management for AutoCAD, Autodesk. “It’s exciting to see how customers can now take full advantage of the latest hardware and M-series chips for faster ways to work.”

Of course, users who still rely on Intel Macs will still be able to run AutoCAD and Autodesk Maya. The update with support for Apple Silicon Macs is free for current customers. You can check the prices for AutoCAD and Maya on the Autodesk website.