It is a sad day today. My 2011 MacBook Pro is telling me that it is on the way out. to pasture and my Blender 2.8 Journey is turning into a rocky road. I have a question for the community but wanted to give some context before asking it:
My context:
The Specs of my 2011 MacBook Pro are here:
I love using Mac with Blender and I am going to be purchasing a replacement Apple computer (I have invested to much into other Apple Stuff and I personally prefer it over windows). I have my eye currently on a lightly used 2017 21.5" iMac which has the following specs (disregard the "latest model" comment on that pic):
A possible road block that I don't fully understand:
I have read multiple places there is a drop of support for OpenGL from Apple and there are Blender 2.8 shortcomings that obviously result from that fact along the lines of rendering (I think?). Including possible crashes using Eevee/Etc.
My question to the community (but specifically to Current Mac Users):
Am I going to be able to work well enough to get by with this setup above as a replacement? If not, which recommended iMac/MacBook options would be better so I can be on the lookout for a good deal. I am looking for replies from users who have current experience using a recently new Mac.
My current MacBook is crashing semi-daily but it is also quite old and I know it is only using CPU for graphics rendering. I understand I may be in the same boat with this iMac I am looking at and I am willing to work without using a GPU for graphics rendering as long as it is do-able........
I have tried researching on my own to see if this will be a good option but all I hear is talk about how OpenGL is no longer supported. I'm not really sure what that means to me as the end user because I am still using blender 2.8 now and I don't seem to notice much issues even with my current Mac setup.
Are there any iMac or Newer MacBook Pro users who can help give me a sigh of relief that I can be semi-confident that my next Mac is going to get by well enough?
I am not looking for guidance to buy Windows or install linux because I like my Mac setup.
I was a Mac user for 8 years, I switched to PC because Mac's were not cutting it when it came to doing 3D. Mac's comes with very low specs and you have to pay way too much money for too little capacity. I kept running into walls with Mac, limited support for cool software that aid you in 3D work, they're all on PC and you can barely find any on Mac.
So I had to buy a PC, at first I was very resistant of course, being used to the Mac environment, but not a month went by and I got very comfortable on Windows. Last time I had used Windows it was very different than now, but it has come a long way and today it is not the big difference it used to be. In the end it is not a big deal, it's all browsing folders.
So at least for rendering and 3D work I say get a PC. Super high end specs for one quarter of the price, much more support for extra software.
I have a PC at home and work on an iMac in the office. I have Blender 2.8 installed both on my PC and Mac at work. And Blender in my office Mac is soooo unstable, it crashes a lot, not to mention that the render that take 10 minutes in my $1,500 PC, in the $4,000 Mac it takes one and a half hours.
I'm not trying to start a Mac vs PC war, Mac's are great, I love the OS software and their slick design, I use them everyday, but it's a fact that they are a disadvantage when it comes to doing 3D. I recommended to not be scared to use a PC, it is no big deal, see it as a work tool, one which you'll be benefiting a lot from.
dostovel Thanks for the reply man. My only hurdle is I have budget for one computer right now and I have a lot of Mac files and other things besides blender (that’s how they get you trapped, haha)
I guess a little more context:
I’d prefer a Mac computer just for this other stuff, and my end goal is using blende to make models that will end up in Unity and eventually on a mobile app.
I guess if I do end up getting a windows laptop what would you recommend? Is a surface pro going to be good enough for blender with the context I am hoping to use it for?
blanchsb I've had three laptops, two Asus Republic of Gamers, never used it for gaming though, and now I have an Alienware 17 R4. They have all been great. Now of course, laptops are not as powerful as a desktop computer, you can ask Kent, he has a monster of a desktop build. But the Aliwenware I have now does a great job with 3D work, she can handle very very heavy scenes.
This is the one I have:
dostovel Man, you talked me into it. I don't think my Mac journey will end but I was at Costco today and after reviewing your link I settled on a Lenovo Legion Y545 because most of the specs seemed to line up. It was on instant rebate. After coming home and logging into my MacBook it crashed twice haha, so the writing was on the wall for this guy at least.
These are the specs: Lenovo Legion Y545 at Costco for ~$1100 with instant rebate (the rebate ended tomorrow so it was now or never)
Intel Core i7-9750H (9th Gen)
16 GB DDR4 2666MHz
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti 6GB Graphics
1TB HDD + 512 SSD PCIe M.2
15.6" screen with Full Keyboard and Numpad
I still have the receipt in case this won't work or someone says to steer clear of the Lenovo. I think these specs are about the same or better than the Alienware but perhaps you can tell me if this was a good enough purchase. I almost got the Surface Pro 6 but I was afraid it just wouldn't give enough compared to what you recommended. If I was going to have regrets it would have been on the Surface just for the performance.
blanchsb Jesus christ, I... what... oh boy. First time this has happened to me, you mean stuff you do over the internet can have real life consequences? Now I feel responsible... ok , breath, breath.
I don't know what instant rebate is, first time I'v ever heard that term, but Lenovo laptops have a reputation of being a great workhorse as far as I know. I was going to go for a Lenovo when I was deciding what to buy, but they were expensive and went over my budget. Those specs you have there are better than my Alienware, except for the video card. I think you'll be fine.
Now you have got to give it time, whenever you make a big change it feels weird and out of place but it'll pass, just give it time. It wont be long before you get used to it all and get excited about having expanded you universe when it comes to technology and computer graphics.
I hope you enjoy it and ultimately feel good about the change you made.
dostovel Lol, I have been saving for a computer this year. I prepped a little in advance of asking my question so don't think I purchased this solely on your opinion (but it did sway me). I guess I am mostly looking for what has worked for people and what they are happy with.
It was a big purchase but I got a protection plan and I have a 90 day warrantee besides that to return without questions if I am unhappy with the purchase. Most complaining I have heard about this laptop is that it gets quite hot when going full tilt. I don't mind that because it will be on wood surfaces for most of it's life. I was more excited that it had a numbpad! (I know, its the little things haha).
I bought it today because there was a sale ($100 off which I just used for the protection plan) and the price seemed fair (sale ends tomorrow but I won't be in the area again).
Thanks for the thought and reply. And you are not responsible, if anything I am saying I trust a guy's opinion who has used blender and has had both Mac and Windows experience. I am plenty familiar with Win 10 so that it not going to be a problem for me to transition to it. I already have used 2.8 on it before. All of the render stuff seemed more stable compared to my Mac. I'll post an update late hopefully to state whether I felt it was a good decision. No regrets today though.
blanchsb Nice. All you have to do now is get a Blender and CG Cookie sticker and well, stick it. All laptops scream personalize me please.
ssmurfmier1985 Awesome that is also good news to hear. Thanks for the reply.
Quick results from last night I loaded the shader forge lava token and did a baseline cycles render on it using only the CPU. Total time: 3 min 40 sec using 128 cycles passes (and whatever else came standard on a regular default scene)..
Using CUDA and GPU compute settings it was not surprising to see it faster but by quite a bit. Total time: 45 sec.
blanchsb nice results! Do you know how long it took on your Mac to render this? Then you can really compare how much better it is :)
ssmurfmier1985 No no, Blanch already be like, Mac? Mac..... it don't ring any bells, sorry.
dostovel & ssmurfmier1985 haha, yeah I can't really compare an old apple to a fresh orange (pun intended) and expect a fair fight. 2011 MacBook Pro versus 2019-ish Lenovo Legion Y545.
Since I don't have a supported GPU I could only do a CPU comparison but at 3 min 40 sec this is how far it got:40/510 tiles completed.
The results speak for themselves with cycles. I know Eevee is hands down faster as well too. But Eevee was meant to be fast/real time so I am not surprised there. When Eevee works on my Mac it is decent enough that I am willing to wait for the first loading takes less than 20 sec usually on the Mac. Takes about 5 sec or less on the Lenovo.
blanchsb Ouch, sorry Mac, you were loyal but you're taking too long. Also keep in mind that to get that render down to 3 min 40 sec on CPU on a Mac, it would've had to be a $6,000 dollars iMac probably.
blanchsb seeing how far the render got on your old apple, that’s really a good upgrade, awesome! 😊👍🏻