Hello, is anyone sucessfully running Blender on a macbook? I am thinking of getting one as a quick solution.
I have seen plenty of shake, and final cut benchmarks for rendering but none about on-screen 3D performance i.e. Maya, Blender.
Can any macbook owners give me some real feedback?
Cheers
I’ve run both Maya and blender on my macbook. Maya requires a whole bunch of graphics power that my macbook doesn’t have so some things are a little screwy but Blender works great! I’ve had no problem with it. I just recommend getting an external USB mouse because the macbooks only have a single button.
That’s great thanks.
I advise not getting the macbook air though if you want to use blender on your laptop… it’s slower than the other macbooks by a noticeable amount.
i unzipped it onto my macbook, and it is either too sluggish or hung up… especially when i navigate through the menus, it freezes. i tried 2.46RC and 2.45 which is supposed to be stable. i even tried a compiled version someone made here in BA. always freezes.
if this is a common issue can someone tell me what to do? if not, i don’t suggest you getting a macbook if you’re planning to use blender mainly… other than that, macbooks are freaking great!
Blender is currently having issues on Leopard on machines that use integrated graphics.
If you can afford the extra, go for a refurbished Macbook Pro. They are going pretty cheap just now.
http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/wa/RSLID?nplm=FA895LL/A
That’s only $350 more than the lowest Macbook but has:
2GB Ram vs 1GB
8x DVD burner vs combo drive
128MB 8600M GT vs X3100 integrated
but still a full warranty and you can get the extended 3 year warranty up to a year from now so the machine will easily last you 3 years.
You can even play Crysis on the Macbook Pro at medium quality - the 3D performance is 5-10 times better than the Macbook. It has a bigger screen too so higher resolution for your panels and the display is non-glossy. It also has a backlit keyboard, better speakers and a more durable metal case.
For $350 (it’s not even that if you get the Macbook with a burner and 2GB Ram), I’d say it’s well worth the extra.