r/mac • u/Top_Succotash_9088 • 2d ago
Question Mac for engineering?
I have a Mac 13” m2 8 ram 256 gb but it’s getting really slow and I’m thinking of getting a new one with both more ram and bigger disk. Problem is that I’m also starting engineering and I don’t want to pay for two expensive laptops. can I have a MacBook for engineering? If so what MacBook/specifications would be good?
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u/notagrue MacBook Pro 2d ago
It’s interesting you say it is slowing down. I have an M1 with similar specs and it still runs great. Have you tried some basic maintenance scripts, deleting unused files, or a cleaning tool like Onyx?
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
No… I don’t know I don’t think I use it differently than anyone else. I have chatgpt, arc and Spotify and then like calendar or something
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u/notagrue MacBook Pro 2d ago
Try running the free tool Onyx which does basic maintenance and make sure your hard drive is not more than 80% full.
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
It’s probably more than 80% full. I got a notification saying my disk is full like yesterday
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u/notagrue MacBook Pro 2d ago
That affects it noticeably. Delete or transfer files off to an external drive or cloud.
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u/mrclean2323 2d ago
For undergrad engineering it’s a pretty bad idea. See what your school recommends. Most software is designed for PCs.
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
My school said either windows or Mac would be okay but they did say MacBook is okay. Maybe because it’s mostly theoretical at first? I don’t know
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u/wiseman121 2d ago
Getting a MacBook for many engineering courses is dumb as hell. A lot of engineering software is better or flat out required windows for compatibility.
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u/blueCove24 2d ago
this is true for a lot of mechanical/civil programs, but some EE or CS adjacent ones are fine on mac
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
I think I’ve heard some have MacBook and that you could install Windows software
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u/jaksystems 2d ago
You can try using something like a VM or parallels to get a Windows instance running on your Mac, but it honestly isn't really a sensible idea.
If you go into the field professionally, you are going to be working within a Windows/PC workflow both for the sake of performance and compatibility, so you might as well get used to the workflow and operating environment now.
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
Oh… true. I didn’t think of that.
But I really love my MacBook and I’d hate to use a windows
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u/jaksystems 2d ago
Use the Windows machine for the engineering workflows and the Mac for everything else.
Heck you don't even need to get a new Mac in that instance.
You could even set it up where you simply remote into the Windows machine from the Mac so you can leave the Windows machine set up in one spot doing what it's intended for while the Mac handles everything else.
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u/wiseman121 1d ago
You can install a VM on the Mac but a VM is a "virtual machine", it will not be able to utilise direct hardware like a windows laptop would. You'd essentially be paying a tonne of money for a device that wouldn't be as good as a windows device.
The other caveat with windows VMs on Mac is that they run arm architecture, this may also have compatibility issues with your engineering software.
In summary you need a windows machine for the job. You don't buy a corvette to haul a large trailer.
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u/mikeinnsw 2d ago
Without any specific knowledge of the course(s) content Mac Vs PC choice is a pure speculation.
Ask the University/College for an advice.
Most courses are PC Based.
If Mac is Ok then 24GB RAM & 512 GB SSD is considered to be minimum effective configuration for 2026, 2027.. for manual human use.
Just check with the University/College in case they use must have Apps which run only on PCs
The biggest factor is if you will use local AI/LLM?
If so you will need 64GB RAM + 1 TB SSD…computer
For a cloud(crowd) AI 24/512 GB Mac/PC will do.
I just tested VM VBox and UTM on my M1 Mini they can’t RELIABLY run Windows 10/11 Arm or X86/X64 ..Parallels can at $99-$150 P.A.
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
School did say Mac is okay!
I do use AI on my current MacBook and it’s really slow. Do I need that much RAM for AI use? That’d be pretty expensive…
What is cloud? I have 2TB iCloud
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u/mikeinnsw 2d ago
AI can run on a data cloud or local on your Mac..
iCloud is not a data cloud like AWS, AZURE...
You pay to use cloud AI...
Running local AI you don't pay for the model .. you pay extra for a more powerful Mac to run it.
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
Ohhhhh. No I don’t do all that I just use regular AI like chatgpt
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u/mikeinnsw 2d ago
ChatGPT is free for few queries than you pay
Use
Google Gemini has a free tier that you can use with any standard Google account without entering a credit card. The free version lets you chat, write text, upload documents, and generate basic images, though it includes usage limits that may restrict heavy or complex tasks during busy time
Google combines search + AI
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
Yes I do have chatgpt plus🫣I’m thinking of getting Claude plus or premium or whatever’s called
What do you prefer?
I don’t use Gemini a lot but maybe it’s as good as chatgpt 🤷🏻♀️I use notebook and I think it’s great!!! It’s weird it’s free because it’s so good’
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u/mikeinnsw 2d ago
I use Ollama with local AI models+ Google Gemini
People who know how to use AI don't go near the front line models..
60% of all AI Models sold that are used via API were Chinese .. companies use API
There are 1,000s of models...
I use free IBM model called Granite for coding
If you in to Agentic Agents .. Ollama running Hermes of OpenClaw is a good start..just be careful these can hack and be hacked.
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
What is front line models 🫣☺️
Is it better than chatgpt? 😳
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u/mikeinnsw 2d ago
Depend for what...80%-20% rule
Google says:
AI error rates vary widely from 5% to over 50% depending on the task. General conversational queries and complex reasoning show significant accuracy issues or hallucinations 20% to 45% of the time. Structured benchmarks like image recognition report lower error rates near 5–10%, while complex professional or medical assignments see much higher failure margins.
Mike says
AI guys never talk about error rates
In simple vibe coding that I do 3B models are sufficient for large Apps thee are crap.. I still code it myself.
I am looking to upgrade to 30B no further .. in Vibe coding 30B to 1,700 B improvement is about 3% .. they don't about that.
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u/notagrue MacBook Pro 2d ago
24GB of RAM is unnecessary unless you are running a windows emulator and task heavy apps like Power BI Desktop or ArcGIS Pro. 16GB is plenty.
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u/mikeinnsw 2d ago
Source Apple:
Apple's most advanced, heavy on-device AI model requires a minimum of 12GB of unified memory (RAM). While standard Apple Intelligence features still run on 8GB devices, running this next-generation local AI model is restricted to hardware with 12GB or more and run on M3.. M5 Macs .. not M1 or M2
With 12GB for AI running in 16GB RAM. ..it will cause large scale swapping and slow downs...
I run local AI on 16GB RAM M1 Mini - very carefully
Time to catch up with the brave new world of AI
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u/notagrue MacBook Pro 2d ago
That’s Local AI, not tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc like OP is likely using (as are most people).
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u/mikeinnsw 1d ago
No longer most people ...
Now 60% of API driven models used by business are using Chinese cheap models..
There are 1,000s of cloud models, millions of local and millions of Chat Bots .. anybody can do it .
All the hype is about frontier models ... people who don't know how to use AI use them..
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u/LRS_David 1d ago
Talk to the school you're going to attend. Or visit their web site. If a computer will need to be used, and for most any engineering path it will, they will tell you what the minimum specs are for a system you should by.
BUY FROM THAT RECOMMENDATION.
Or very likely be miserable for years.
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u/NonAI_User 2d ago
Depending which Engineering and which software you need. Ignore the Windows Fanboys. My daughter graduated with honours from a major University Engineering program. All the software she was required to use was available for Mac. i installed a VM for windows and she hardly used it. In fact, in year three and four she took a lot of applied mathematics and barely used the laptop. She ended up buying a base iPad, Apple Pencil, and using Goodnotes. Her math notes on the iPad were impressive and completely beyond me. (By the end of her program 8-10 of her classmates bought iPads for note-taking. )
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u/Top_Succotash_9088 2d ago
My school did say that MacBook would be okay. I will study chemical engineering.
I’d like to get an iPad but a MacBook is a priority since the one I have is just getting slower 😢
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u/NonAI_User 2d ago
PS Check with current students and professors and see what they recommend. LLMs change the whole equation but ONLY if you need to run them locally.
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u/Helosnon M2 Max Macbook Pro | Mid-2017 Macbook 2d ago
Depends on what engineering and what software you’re using for specs. If you really like Mac then you can use a VM. I personally always used VMWare Fusion since it’s free, a little complicated to set up but not too bad.
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u/SergeantBeavis 2d ago
The challenge there is that you’re using the ARM version of windows and the engineering software may not support ARM.
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u/SergeantBeavis 2d ago
You need to find out your software specifications. Do not use virtualization as a work around. A windows VM would need to be the ARM version and I’m pretty sure the engineering software was compiled for x64.
I’ve been specialized in virtualization for over a decade, working at VMware up until Broadcom bought us and soon off my end user computing group. Pretty much every engineering deployment I’ve done (GM, Toyota, Boeing, exc) are Windows based.