Is the MacBook Pro 14" (M5 Chip, 24GB RAM) Reliable for Professional CAD & FEA Software (e.g., SolidWorks, ANSYS)?

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Is the MacBook Pro 14" (M5 Chip, 24GB RAM) Reliable for Professional CAD & FEA Software (e.g., SolidWorks, ANSYS)?

Hello Apple Community,

I am a professional mechanical engineer considering purchasing the new 14-inch MacBook Pro with the base M5 chip and 24GB of Unified Memory as a secondary, personal computer. I have access to a dedicated Windows office PC for my primary work, but I need a personal laptop that is capable of reliably handling demanding engineering software, "if ever needed" for overflow work or remote access.

My main concern is the compatibility and performance of industry-standard mechanical engineering software on the Apple Silicon architecture (via virtualization/emulation).

Specifically, I have two main questions:

Software Compatibility via Virtualization: I understand that most professional software, like SolidWorks, Inventor, Creo, CATIA, and simulation tools such as ANSYS, requires Windows.

- For those of you running these programs on an M-series Mac using virtualization software like Parallels Desktop, how seamless is the experience?

- Have you encountered specific compatibility issues (e.g., with graphics drivers, licensing dongles, specific feature sets, or complex file imports/exports) that prevented you from completing professional work?

Performance for Demanding Tasks: I work with large, complex assemblies and occasionally run FEA (Finite Element Analysis) simulations.

- Does the M5 chip with 24GB of RAM provide adequate performance for these intensive tasks within a virtualized Windows environment, or is there a noticeable drop in speed and efficiency compared to a dedicated Windows workstation?

I am trying to determine if this MacBook is a viable "backup" engineering tool or purely a personal media consumption device. Any detailed experiences from other engineers in this community would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you.

Posted on Nov 8, 2025 8:40 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 9, 2025 8:30 AM in response to kalpak_h

kalpak_h wrote:

I am trying to determine if this MacBook is a viable "backup" engineering tool or purely a personal media consumption device.

False dichotomy. A MacBook is not "purely a personal media consumption device" – regardless of whether the software that you happen to need runs on it. Plenty of people used Mac notebooks for serious work.

Note that pure virtual machines can only run the same type of machine code as the host processor. Thus you'd need to run Windows 11 for ARM inside of a virtual machine. Windows 11 for ARM has Intel emulation code that allows it to run some Windows/Intel binaries. But now you're talking about two layers of overhead: the overhead that comes from running in emulation, and the overhead that comes from running in a virtual machine.

Microsoft Support – Options for using Windows 11 with Mac® computers with Apple® M1®, M2™, and M3™ chips

Note that Microsoft says in their Windows ARM-based PCs FAQ that "Drivers for hardware, games, and apps only work if they're designed for a Windows 11 Arm-based PC."

So if almost all of your software is Windows-only, and especially if it is Windows/Intel-only, you might find that a Windows/Intel notebook is a better fit for your particular needs.

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Answer 2

Nov 8, 2025 9:06 PM in response to kalpak_h

You can only run a silicon version of Windows on a silicon Mac and you will need a silicon compatible virtual machine. You have to check with the providers of your apps as to whether or not these apps run on a silicon version of Windows.

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