Running Arc Pro on macOS

[SarahJorgensen]

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]

Sarah,

Let's take this discussion offline. Send me a line at pandaconsulting@gmail.com, and we will provide the details.

[SarahJorgensen]

@FrankConkling,

Thanks for your message. Can we please have the discussion here, so that others can benefit from it? Not sure why you want to take it offline?

I have just gone ahead and ordered a Mac Studio with the following configuration:

• 64GB unified memory
• Apple M2 Max with 12‑core CPU, 38‑core GPU, 16‑core Neural Engine
• 1TB SSD storage

I think the extra memory and storage should make a big difference. I feel one of the main issues also might be the size of the VM, which my current MB Air just can't handle. But I could be wrong. Do you have any thoughts/experience to share on this?

Thanks,

Sarah

[FrankConkling]

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 

[MarcelSt-Germain]

Look at the trend about Pro on Mac.

Like me, the best way is to have a Pc.  Pro isn't compiled for arm processor.  So you can make it work but it's alway slower.  You do not said for what use you want Pro but, for professional use, for now, only an Intel PC is the way to do.  

For me is a Mac M3 for my daily use with Remote Desktop to an external PC,