hi everyone im currently an engineering student in my first year looking to buy a laptop. im looking into the m3 macbook air 13 inch with 16gb memory as its the best in terms of performance and portability, at least for the air range. i want to know, whats the limit where it becomes laggy or maybe even unusable when doing AutoCAD modelling/simulations on the m3 silicone?
[Re-Titled by Moderator]
I don’t know the answer to your question, but the vendor seems to recommend 16 GB of RAM or more; 32 GB or more “for large datasets, point clouds, and 3D modeling.”
You can get 24 GB of RAM on a M3 MacBook Air; 32 GB or more on a M4-series MacBook Pro (available sizes vary with the processor chip).
One could simply enter autocad system requirements in a browser search field and get this answer. Ultimately, the RAM required could grow beyond Autocad's meager recommendation depending on the complexity of your creation. The laggy limit will be when AutoCAD uses your available RAM not already consumed by the operating system and other running processes.
Frankly, running CPU-intensive applications on a MacBook Air, regardless of the RAM, will make it overheat as it has no internal fan and the entire device is a heat sink. It's Winter and it will make a fantastic portable hand warmer.
General rule of thumb for most any app is that what ever the minimum requirement the manufacturer states is required, double it. This is especially true if you plan to have any other apps open.
How much RAM is necessary for AutoCAD on MacBook Air?
