Running Arc Pro on macOS

Question

Hi Arc Community,

This is just a query about running Arc Pro on macOS. I have a MacBook Air M2 (2022) 8GB memory 256GB storage and have installed Pro on Windows 11 using Parallels  Desktop 20.0 virtual machine. It doesn't work. I've installed Pro but it is so slow it's completely inefficient to work on. I've been to ESRI Support for advice and basically I've learned that I don't have enough memory/storage on my device to run Pro. After feeling the initial annoyance and disappointment about this, I'm now ready to move on.

I realise that I need a stronger machine so my question is: does anyone here have experience running Pro on a Mac Studio M2 Max? And if so, how well does it work? I started looking at Windows laptops, but I am in the Apple "ecosystem" and I would like to keep it that way because it works really well for me with all my other work. But for some reason, Arc does not like Mac!

I would really appreciate hearing others experience on this.

Thanks.

Sarah

FrankConkling · Answer

Tracy,

As previously mentioned in my post, the appropriateness of the M3 Mac depends on your specific requirements. If you already possess an M3 Mac, I recommend testing the complimentary version of Parallels software to ascertain whether its performance meets your needs.

Good luck.

TracieHernandez · Answer

Thank you so much for answering this question publicly. I am not familiar with ArcGIS at all and have a limited technology/software understanding.

I need to run ArcGis Pro for a class I am taking and do not have the option to go out and buy another computer. I have a MacBook Pro with and M3 processor. Through a whole lot of research (wish I found this post first) I was able to figure out the general setup to run ArcGIS Pro through Parallel. However, there does not appear to be any way two fulfill two of Esri's listed system requirements:

1. I do not have dedicated video RAM.

1. I do not have OpenGL Extension ARB_Clip_Control.

From my understanding the video RAM should handle itself and there is nothing I can do about the OpenGL Extension ARB_Clip_control. Will these cause fatal errors or be majorly disruptive? are you aware of any fixes.

I would hate to be in the middle of an assignment and be unable to complete it.

Thank you in advance for any help or insight you can provide!

FrankConkling · Answer

Sarah,

I requested that the discussion be offline to avoid partisan discussions on Windows versus Mac. Social media, even a software-specific discussion forum like this, lends itself to short declarations of "I'm right, and you're wrong." which stops all meaningful discussions.

Regarding whether you can efficiently run ArcGIS Pro on a Mac, we have run our entire company on Macs for over 15 years. The decision to run ArcGIS Pro on a Mac depends upon what specific tasks you seek to run. Our company has several systems that match the configuration you provided and work flawlessly. Simple data editing and map production can be run on a minimally equipped Mac with Apple silicone hardware. If you wish to do more intensive analysis or machine learning in ArcGIS Pro, you might be better off with a PC workstation.

Efficient virtualization software is essential to the success of using ArcGIS Pro on a Mac. We use Parallels Desktop for Mac, preferring the Pro version for more intensive projects, and we run Windows 11 for ARM. We have found that the memory requirements for the virtual machine challenge the typical thinking that more memory is better. For example, my standard VM for simple work in ArcGIS Pro only has 4 CPUs and 8 GB of memory but handles most jobs easily. We even perform simplified 3D visualization with this virtual machine.

There are some limitations to this configuration. For one, There is a "bug" in the installation configuration for Microsoft SQL Server, which will not successfully install on this configuration. This issue with SQL Server is well documented on the Parallels forums, and a few workarounds are suggested, but we have never found any of them acceptable. In addition, VPN software vendors have not fully embraced Windows for ARM and currently do not write VPN software to run on Windows for ARM. Microsoft has its own VPN within Windows for ARM, but many wish to use a third party instead.

As you can see from the discussion above, it is not a simple "this" or "that"; a much deeper conversation must be undertaken before you can make a decision that is right for you. I hope this helps.

Frank Conkling