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How to Install SolidWorks 2023 on MacOS with RealView Graphics Support!

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SolidWorks isn’t officially supported on MacBooks, but this video will teach you how to get everything working from start to finish with Major Graphics improvements!

Every step is important to making this work, so please watch through the whole video before asking any questions, because I probably already went over it.

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0:00 Intro
0:18 Parallels for Mac
0:39 Parallels Standard vs. Pro Edition
1:09 Downloading Parallels
1:55 Downloading Windows 11
2:35 Activate Parallels
3:20 IMPORTANT Disable File Sharing
4:00 Hardware Configuration
5:00 Solidworks Download File
5:50 Installing Solidworks
6:30 IMPORTANT Disable Electrical and CAM
8:20 Activate Solidworks
8:45 Testing Solidworks
9:18 OPTIONAL Graphics Improvement Mod
9:50 Registry Editor Instructions
12:07 Testing Solidworks Graphics Mod
12:33 Testing RealView Graphics
13:33 Solidworks Benchmark Before & After
14:32 OPTIONAL Coherence Mode
15:10 Open windows apps from MacOS
15:29 Outro

#SolidworksOnMac #WindowsOnMac #MacForEngineers

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23 Comments

  1. I added time stamps for convenience if you already completed some of the steps required. Check the chapters flagged IMPORTANT as those should not be skipped

    One thing I missed is that you can't use Microsoft Office 365 apps in the virtual machine or else it'll break your SolidWorks application for some reason. You can use those apps in MacOS anyways so this shouldn't matter too much.

  4. Hi, what do I do if I get a “Locate installation files for SOLIdWORKS 2023 SP02.1(insert dic 1 if you have a DVD)” pop up where it wants me to put in a location? I keep looking for the file they want but it says it’s wrong

  5. If using a older version of solid works and trying to get real view graphics mod working this helps!

    v2021 and previous: "HKEY_CURRENT_USERSOFTWARESolidworksSOLIDWORKS 20XXPerformanceGraphicsHardware>Current"

  6. Worked on my intel Mac! Changed the register as you said except for vendor cause already exist the file, I just changed the hexadecimal value to the one you said and it worked! Thank you!

  8. Thanks for a very helpful video. However, I still have an issue. After the installation process (of the Maker edition of Solidworks), the "splash screen" appears along with the text Loading registry. Then it just disappears and nothing more happens. I've looked through the logs and it seems to be looking for something in the registry that it cannot find. Any idea on what I can do to troubleshoot?
    I run it on a MacBook Pro M1 with Parallels Desktop 19 Pro and Windows 11.

  9. Been running Solidworks on my 16gb M2 Macbook air using parallels since July. It works good. Sometimes it can get laggy. but overall usable at least if you're in college. Going to try this workaround and see if it boosts performance. Thanks!

  11. Great job. You anticipated a lot of little stuff that others might gloss over. Thank you. Of course Solidworks has to be the one indispensable application that demands Windows… I guess Parallels is going to have to be added to the list of subscriptions bleeding me dry. Eventually I'll be paying a monthly fee to enable my display, I'm sure. The leeching is starting to get on my nerves.

  12. After the downloading solid works installation manager says “wrong version, disc or incomplete source locate SOLIDWORKS 2023 SPO3 but when i locate it same problem pops up any suggestions??

  18. Hi – that's very useful – thanks for sharing. As for the electrical not working I have seen a workaround on another channel for the server issue but I don't know if it applies to Windows or Macs. (I haven't tried it as I don't have a Mac yet.) Here is the link anyway https://youtu.be/GhJ7gYFKNA0