<p>I am an incoming arch freshmen and considering to buy a Mac laptop...</p>
<p>for programs like SketchUp, AutoCAD, ArchiCAD, Photoshop, 3DsMax....is a 2.16GHz Macbook with integrated graphic card enough?</p>
<p>the pro is more competent ?</p>
<p>contact your school to find out</p>
<p>Get a PC.</p>
<p>(Yes, I know. Macs can run windows nowadays. Still, get a PC.)</p>
<p>the pro is better for the software that you mentioned but you probably won't use most of them until 2nd or 3rd year. </p>
<p>if you're diehard on macs...you'll need to get bootcamp..because autocad only runs on windows</p>
<p>while macbooks can handle most softwares, the pro is a plus because it is faster (non integrated graphics card). but that also means you'll have to pay twice as much...so it's your call. the only software i'll say having a pro is a real benefit (with the programs you mentioned) is 3dmax..cause that takes a lot of computer power.</p>
<p>ultimately, the best are desktops...they have the most power and memory and in architecture, there is never enough memory. maybe consider buying a mac pro later on</p>
<p>Or a laptop with an external hard drive.</p>
<p>For CAD and 3d programs you definitely want the pro, as much for the screen size and graphics card as anything else. We did a test a few months ago with Revit and form.z comparing a Mac running bootcamp versus a Dell running native Windows. Same processor and RAM. The Mac was about 10% faster.</p>
<p>Having said that, my D who is going to study product design, did not get the pro. She wanted the smaller Mac, and assumed she would not be using CAD until her third year.</p>
<p>rick</p>