Fusion 360 PC vs Mac

[GregLaROCHE]

I bought a printer two years ago and started designing and printing things with Tinkercad on a PC. I lost my internet for almost two months and when I got it back I was involved in other projects and never returned to 3D printing.

I want to get back to designing things and will probably buy another computer. I want to start working with the free version of Fusion 360. I used to know windows pretty well, but for the last five years, I have mostly used an iPad. I also use an iPhone. Does Fusion 360 work equally well with Apple IOS as windows? What are the minimum requirements for it to run reasonably well? I plan on getting an older lower priced laptop, that will primarily be used for Fusion 360.

All advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[flemdoug]

It won't run on iOS, iphone or iPad. I run Fusion 360 on a fairly recent Windows laptop (16gb ram) and it is barely enough. I would not recommend trying it with an older laptop. If you want to design on an iPad you might you might consider shapr3d - https://www.shapr3d.com/ - it has received a lot of positive feedback, although the free version is pretty limited.

System requirements for Autodesk Fusion 360 (https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/System-requirements-for-Autodesk-Fusion-360.html)
Operating System Apple® macOS
macOS 13 Ventura – (Version 2.0.15289 or newer)
macOS 12 Monterey

macOS 11 Big Sur

Microsoft® Windows®
Windows 11

Windows 10 (64-bit) Version 1809 or newer
Note: Fusion 360 will not launch on your device running older applications or OS version

[GWS]

You are going to have a hard time designing anything on a phone. I use a 15" laptop and a 21" desktop computer, both running Windows 10 and both have a Quadro video that's above what you get on a non-graphics or even a graphics game computer. I use Invidia Quadro cards made for cad graphics. A cheap laptop isn't going to get you far......will drive you crazy trying to get something done, if it works at all. Think very slow.

There is a free version of DesignSpark Mechanical (again for windows) that's very powerful and actually easier for a novice to learn than it was for me, a 40 year Autocad veteran.........But these are the min. computer requirements for it:

CPU - Pentium® 4 2.0 Ghz or faster 64-bit (x64) processor. Web browser – Google Chrome (v102 or higher), Mozilla Firefox (v101 or higher) and Microsoft Edge
(v102 or higher). Optional inputs - 3D Mouse (eg. 3Dconnexion SpaceMouse), Touchscreen multi-touch support via native pen-and-touch interface.

On my laptop, I get away with using my mouse pad, but it's easier with a mouse, no touch screen. Never used a 3D Mouse.....I'd most likely like it, better, but I get by. Cheap Laptop and Cad don't mix, though.....you need a Open GL graphics card like a Quadro. Mine's a MSI with that built in...probably one of the more inexpensive ones. Think this one cost 11 or 12 hundred......expensive Cad laptops are 25 hundred....plus.

One more thing to keep in mind......Windows is on version 11 now. So that's good for a couple of years. Version 12 will probably require more laptop still.....that seems to be our lot in life.....to support Apple or Windows. And the stupid laptops die sooner that desktops too. Not trying to talk you out of anything.....but you do need to know the realities to keep your sanity.

[GregLaROCHE]

Looks like I’ll be looking into a desktop PC. I can get the best for the money that way. It’s just hard to sink a lot of cash into something with only one use. Thanks for the advice.

[MSUICEMAN]

my laptop with a ryzen 7 3700, and 16GB ram, with an Nvidia radeon vega mobile Gfx (believe its shared memory) runs Fusion360 surprisingly well. ymmv though.