I use Rhino as a general workflow, no serious rendering (vray) but dip into it when needed. I use a lot of Adobe suite and have been Mac based for as long as I can remember. Currently running an iMac 5k 27 inch, 32GB late 2015 with bootcamp for Rhino and Vray.
I intend to keep at home but I do need a more flexible option for working on the road.
Is a Macbook Pro on either M3 or M4 running rhino & vray via parallels an option? or is it clunky as hell? - Is running Rhino for mac on mac silicon stable enough to use?
I’m not after amazing render speed, but for it to work to a better standard as I have now at the very least.
Value anyone making this leap from Intel macs to mac silicon with a similar work flow need.
i have a mac studio m1 ultra, and it is quite alright for rendering either using cycles for instance. i would not recommend parallels because it does not seem to run with regular windows versions, you would have to get an arm based windows that might also render rhino or anything else that is not prepared for arm under those conditions useless i assume. but i must admit i have no real experience myself only dug up info which i frequent from time to time.
running native mac rhino on an m3 m4 is surely nothing to worry about. rendering should also work quite alright depending on how many gpu cores you get of course. vray on the other side does not provide any benefits for the apple silicon environment though it works according to the listed requirements, if that is enough for you.
if you are into good and very high quality render engine on mac and are not happy with what cycles provides (here to mention that since v8 we have the newer much faster cycles x) you might want to try bella which can be integrated directly into Rhino for mac (also works as a stand alone) it has a non expiring trial that simply adds an unobtrusive watermark to the scene till you buy it of course, it has all the bells and whistles you would wish from a modern renderer leaves vray probably a bit in the dust quality wise since it is a physical renderer developed from the former developers of maxwell, maybe not as fast as vray but also not very slow.
Thanks. It does seam like my render choice (and experience) is the problem with the new mac silicon. I may have to re-educate myself on a new system to make use of a mac based set up.
sound good, but if i may ask what you do usually render? did you try the built in Cycles in Rhino? If you dont need anything fancy like dispersion, caustics its a good physical renderer.
I"m updating from iMac of the same description, thinking m4 pro mini, and needing to decide soon, looked it up and my machine goes unsupported Nov 30, while I’m not griping too much, since apple did keep the upgrades going to 9 years, — at same time, my machine works fine for all the Graphic Design work I do, and is even fine for basic rhino work (at my novice/intermediate level), however it drops to it’s knees if I click render… Hoping to see improvement there. It’s looking like with a few customizations delivery will already be around T’giving.
Folks - I am in the process of moving from a 10 core I-9 iMac to a MacMini M4 Pro with 64G of Ram. In word - wow… Ray traced rendering goes from painful to very fast based on a quick play with Rhino 8 on the mini. Based on what I’ve read, I’ve over bought the MacMini M4, but I was ready to by a Studio with an M3 Pro when this came out, and so far, pretty amazing.
Glad to hear it’s working well for you, makes me think ram upgrade may be a good idea. (mine’s at 24 now).
My Mac is here, but testing is stunted since even though the monitor is here the visa stand is not, so my few experiments on my 65" tv were promising, it’s awkward that way, 65 is too big, distance is weird… vesa stand should arrive tomorrow. so hopefully in the next few days I get a better idea.
I was waiting for studio/{unicorn} 32 inch iMac. I really like the all in one. (or the studio, but I ran out of time…)
Excited to hear of your review once the screen setup is working!
I have been debating and clinging onto my iMac (late 2015) for too long (starting to feel its age) so after hours of research, I took the plunge. Ordered my MBP.
Happy to do some honest comparisons between to two machines when it arrives.
I think the Mac / Rhino / Vray community would appreciate some well documented, honest review of the M4 series chips running these systems. I will try parallels for vray first.
Although I have been playing with Blender and reckon I could grasp it with a bit of practice and change my workflow if necessary to future proof any rendering I need to do.
" To run Windows 11 and its applications on a Mac with Apple silicon, you need to install an Arm-based image of Windows 11 that can run the majority of Intel-based Windows 11 applications by using a built-in emulator."
Like I said. I will be updating to Rhino 8 and delving into Blender for the render work I need. I am capable of relearning for my output needs.
However based on the YouTube video, I would like to see if I can get Rhino 7 for windows and vray for rhino running via parallels or wine etc. I don’t need high performance from vray, just the odd render that performs inline with my iMac now. (Which is slow) this would save some learning time.
Rhino is the most important element to all this for me and I know I have a fail safe option of running rhino 8 on m4 natively and will work well. A lot of my work is Adobe and then Rhino CAD builds. So no dramas.
My iMac is on its last legs and I need a replacement. Windows laptops are ugly, windows OS is what it is, they never last as long in the real world or if you want a powerful one they look like a child’s laptop (gaming)
Does the latest release of Windows 11 ARM 24H2 mean we’re getting closer to using Rhino 7 for windows and vray for rhino via parallels? (Performace not expected to be like native apps, just reasonably useable or on par with Intel performance.
Parallels 20 for Mac OS 15 supports OpenGL 4.1 and now Windows 11 ARM 24H2 supports better emulation through Prism which now supports, AVX2 translation.
Vray requires AVX2 Support.
Again, all theory and I’ll wait for real world testing for the small need for this for me. I apprieciate its a bigger issue for a lot more users.
Took delivery of my Macbook Pro Max - 64GB today, installed the trial of parallels 20 and successfully installed Rhino 7 & Vray for Rhino - both work well and although vray is expectantly running slower than perhaps it could on a PC it is as fast as my old iMac 27" intel late 2015.
I’m sure it would run a lot quicker still with the pro version of Parallels and dedicating more RAM to it.
If anyone was debating whether to finally upgrade to Mac silicon and running these systems I can confirm they work with Windows 11 24H2.
It just comes down to speed at which you need them to run. Rhino 7 for windows via parallels is running fast and smooth for me. Use it for sofa modelling, relatively complex meshes. Arctic and rendered view are smooth and vray online features work well (materials and models)
i am having trouble understanding why you persistently would jump through all these hoops, it sounds like a windows computer may just be the better choice for you, running parallels on any apple silicon just defies the logic of apple silicon altogether. upgrading to the highest spec state of the art just to see how slow it can be emulating an alien environment does not make sense by all means.
I hear you. I’m not your normal user. I’m a foot in both camps, that doesn’t want to lug two laptops around with me, or have a separate machine at home. I want one machine that can do everything my iMac could before the OS became slow and things like OneDrive stopped working.
85% of my work is done on adobe and cross platform work with colleagues - So 100% benefiting from Apple Silicon and a reason to switch from Intel to Apple silicon.
The rest is on Rhino / Vray (although not so much these days I do have the odd well paid jobs that require me to do this kind of work every now and then)
By having the setup I do it means I have access to that workflow, that runs efficiently when needed. Also with one eye on the future, this machine will see me good for another 10 years as my iMac has. There are rumours of Apple introducing BootCamp too which would be helpful.
If I couldn’t do this via Mac I probably would have had to have gone down the windows route. As a designer though, user experience, hardware style and Mac ecosystem is just a million times better.
Agreed if I were solely rhino and vray I would purchase a PC, but I’m not.
Anyway. I’m posting on here, not to argue with anyone or justify my choices, I’m posting to inform if there are any users like me and needed the information I also required. I did my research (so many sources) to make sure I was 90% sure things would work as they would and they do. (As I require)
Thanks, I am exactly in the same boat, thinking to get rid of my PC and 2017 Macbook at home in favor of a newer Macbook. I need occasional use of Rhino and Grasshopper at home, but nothing crazy. As long as it works well I don’t care that it could be soo much faster on a dedicated machine. Good to know at least Rhino 7 runs well in Parallels.
At work I have a dedicated PC and that works well enough there, but at home and on the road I much prefer the reliability, serviceability and quality of a Mac.
running risk that i tell you something very obvious but i certainly can guarantee that arguing helps at least somehow in rethinking understanding if the choices made are good, which then is informing everybody reading along the same not trying to belittle your own understanding but the idea to keep windows alive for its sole purpose to render in vray (rhino for mac really is not that bad) and like i wrote above some time ago there is an alternative to vray for Rhino for mac which might make you very happy. you could just leave it all behind, if there is nothing you need running on that platform exclusively otherwise.
I am going to look into Blender. Gives me a few ‘real world’ tools like sculpting etc. I knew I could always upgrade to Rhino 8, but saving myself £450 in the process by not having to yet was ideal.
Counter argument, for the little time I use vray, but how lucrative its us in part of my design work it is. I wanting to make sure I didn’t have to retrain instantly. Rather a slow and steady approach to software, rather than take on some work and instantly panic I can’t recreate what I need to complete a job.
A lot of people are in my boat. I suspect not out and out hardcore 3D CAD demanding, but need a fair amount, equally, not an out and out renderer, but have a professional need to.
i meant Bella for rendering, below some examples from people around here. it is quite swift, getting into it takes a bit but it is not completely gibberish to start with though some physical terms have to be known. quality wise its really good, personally i am still enrolled in the university and could get a low price bargain i am just not doing so much rendering generally.
at least check it out what could await you if you would skip vray and windows.
counter counter argument, i dont see your decision being very reasonable honestly, you have a computer that still does all you need or not, now just to buy a new computer to have vray running the same speed, actually not saving money but investing a lot, comon but ok i am over and out sorry if all that got (maybe) moral.
not trying to belittle your own understanding but the idea to keep windows alive for its sole purpose to render in vray 
(rhino for mac really is not that bad) and like i wrote above some time ago there is an alternative to vray for Rhino for mac which might make you very happy. you could just leave it all behind, if there is nothing you need running on that platform exclusively otherwise.
but ok i am over and out sorry if all that got (maybe) moral.