Oculus founder says no Mac is powerful enough to run the Rift

[J spot]

I remember once being disgusted with Apple, because they hadn't upgraded their Core 2 Duo Mac Pros in over two years, or maybe even more, yet they were charging the exact premium price that they did when they first introduced it. Also disgusted with the Apple fanboys defending them for charging such outrageous prices for pure junk.

But with fans like that, really why bother upgrading the line. You're end up making more by not upgrading it, and seeing it to people who don't know about the hardware and just care about the name.

 

[Skidmarksdeluxe]

"If they ever release a good computer, we will do it,"
What he was actually trying to say was that "If they ever release a good computer, it'll be a first for them and we'll be surprised enough to do it."

 

[Tuxie]

If not even a Mac with an R9 can handle it then neither can 90% of those "crappy PCs"..in which case VR is even more DOA than we originally anticipated.

I'm pretty sure that far more than 90% of the market segment that is able and willing to drop almost 1000 dollars on a VR headset also have a fast enough PC, or is willing to upgrade their current one to a fast enough one.

There is no point in counting the computers of people who wouldn't buy a VR headset at current prices anyway.

 

[Tuxie]

"If they ever release a good computer, we will do it,"
What he was actually trying to say was that "If they ever release a good computer, it'll be a first for them and we'll be surprised enough to do it."

Macs are great computers for many things and kick PCs' *** in many regards. However, when it comes to 3D graphics performance, PCs kick Mac's *** hard.

 

[yukka]

Oculus founder is an arse. Lots of Macs are "good" computers. Good for gaming? Not so much and not going to argue although my 2012 i7 15 mbp can play a good portion of my older steam catalogue output to my HDTV and I haven't fine near my desktop PC in years (I also have an Xbox one for gaming).

Going to be a while before VR is in every home. You need a second person watching you play Vive so you don't walk into walls. You need a crazy expensive graphics card for Oculus. Sorry, got kids to have and holidays to go on.

 

[SirChocula]

"If they ever release a good computer, we will do it,"
What he was actually trying to say was that "If they ever release a good computer, it'll be a first for them and we'll be surprised enough to do it."

Macs are great computers for many things and kick PCs' *** in many regards. However, when it comes to 3D graphics performance, PCs kick Mac's *** hard.

Like?

 

[Geno DCLXVI]

You can't handle *my* VR, sir knight. My VR will kill you.

 

[Dowling Hamrick]

So not even a 2012 Mac Pro with 2x6 core Xeon CPUs and 32GB of DDR3 1333 and a GTX Titan X running Windows 10 cannot be used? I'm calling bullshit.

 

[VitalyT]

The question is, does it also play them at 2160x1200 with 90 stable FPS? That is what you need for a good Vive/Oculus Rift experience.

Neither does nVidia 970, but they claimed that to be sufficient for Oculus.

 

[Adhmuz]

"no Mac is powerful enough to run the Rift"

Perhaps the Mac Pro could, it is pretty well equipped, however, it's $3500 so absolutely absurdly priced and seems to only be equipped with workstation class GPUs which would cripple performance in a gaming environment. Actually, looking at Apple's product line up, most if not all their computers have workstation class GPUs, perhaps that has something to do with the statement made by the Oculus Founder.

But, needless to say this would be such a small market to try and get your product working on smoothly, and if anyone has $3500 to drop on a Mac Pro they could almost just buy a whole new system that can run VR properly.

 

[Puiu]

Nobody cares about hackintosh. They are not going to waste time supporting 3 people that have it.

I think more than 3 people use the Mac OS...Where did you get your information? I suspect your sources are incorrect.
Might want to check here.

mac owners don't actually know how to create a hackintosh. it's still PC owners that do it. and yes, there are only 3 people that do it.

in case you don't know apple has been so lazy in the past few years with their software development too. the EL CAPITAN update broke almost everything. when both hardware and software suck then I kinda agree with what this article is saying. it's pretty clear that apple only cares about the iOS now.

 

[Peter Farkas]

If you are doing anything GPU intensive forget Apple products....
Macs are for those blokes who like to show their glowing Apple Logo on the back of their laptops while having a Latte Macchiato at Starbucks.

Peace

 

[Dalezorz]

A $6,000 Mac Pro can be had with dual AMD FirePro D700.

Pathetic excuse to save on development for Mac OS, or for political reasons.

By the way, Oculus founder may have had one good idea, which he sold to become a billionaire. So now he is stepping into Bill Gates shoes, who made many stupid statements back in the earlier days of Microsoft.

They just aren't gaming machines. Their RAM has crappy clock speeds, their CPUs downclock when they get warm, their HDDs are usually slower laptop drives compared to 3.5" desktop drives and their Logicboards are not very great either compared to a decent PC gaming motherboard. All of these factory make a huge different in performance.

 

[Dalezorz]

This is the kind of statement that show that the developer of the Rift doesn't have a clue about computer technology. You can build a hackintosh just as fast and powerful as any PC if Mac is your thing.
It makes no difference, he is cutting his own throat not the customer that can see the partnership he made with PC manufacturers for what it is.

You can create a hackintosh, yes, but how many OS X users do that? Not a lot. They like the look of a Mac. And of ALL the people who do create a beast of a hackintosh, how many game and how many of those gamers want an Oculus? Not worth them trying

 

[Dalezorz]

So not even a 2012 Mac Pro with 2x6 core Xeon CPUs and 32GB of DDR3 1333 and a GTX Titan X running Windows 10 cannot be used? I'm calling bullshit.

How many Mac owners, who are also hardcore gamers, are going to have that expensive machine? Not enough. And a hardcore gamer probably wouldn't buy that machine in any case

 

[Dalezorz]

"If they ever release a good computer, we will do it,"
What he was actually trying to say was that "If they ever release a good computer, it'll be a first for them and we'll be surprised enough to do it."

Macs are great computers for many things and kick PCs' *** in many regards. However, when it comes to 3D graphics performance, PCs kick Mac's *** hard.

What are they better at doing? Their CPUs run slower, their ram is slower, their mobos are slower, their graphics cards are mid range and their HDDs are slower.

 

[Camikazi]

So not even a 2012 Mac Pro with 2x6 core Xeon CPUs and 32GB of DDR3 1333 and a GTX Titan X running Windows 10 cannot be used? I'm calling bullshit.

How many people buy those $6,000+ machines to play games? Those systems are bought for other, work related, things and not used for gaming so those people do not really count. While it might technically work there are not enough people who have the system who will get the Rift to make it worth it. They need to take developer time and money as well as potential customers into consideration when making things.

 

[Nobina]

I think more than 3 people use the Mac OS...Where did you get your information? I suspect your sources are incorrect.
Might want to check here.

I was talking about Hackintosh specifically, might wanna re-read what I wrote and also you might wanna check before you post cause you seem clueless most of the time.

 

[Tuxie]

What are they better at doing? Their CPUs run slower, their ram is slower, their mobos are slower, their graphics cards are mid range and their HDDs are slower.

Not everything is about performance numbers.

MacOS X is a true UNIX derivative and its command line tool ecosystem (Homebrew etc) makes it a kickass platform for programmers and sysadmins managing Linux/UNIX servers. Windows is crap in that regard, unless you like being stuck inside a monolithic IDE coding Java/C# and use primitive terminal emulators.

Also, for musicians, Macs are best at running Logic Pro.

BTW, I'm writing this post on an iMac running Windows 10. I dual boot because I get about 30% better performance in the same games in Windows than in MacOS X on the same computer.

 

[Peter Farkas]

A

Not everything is about performance numbers.

MacOS X is a true UNIX derivative and its command line tool ecosystem (Homebrew etc) makes it a kickass platform for programmers and sysadmins managing Linux/UNIX servers. Windows is crap in that regard, unless you like being stuck inside a monolithic IDE coding Java/C# and use primitive terminal emulators.

Also, for musicians, Macs are best at running Logic Pro.

BTW, I'm writing this post on an iMac running Windows 10. I dual boot because I get about 30% better performance in the same games in Windows than in MacOS X on the same computer.

Nice! I agree with your points, except the one about performance numbers. The topic here is about Rift and Mac and most importantly the lack of performance in Macs for Rift.

FYI: you are not gonna be a Rift user. Whille I will be with a PC that costs half the price of your iMac.

Peace

 

[Peter Farkas]

This is the kind of statement that show that the developer of the Rift doesn't have a clue about computer technology. You can build a hackintosh just as fast and powerful as any PC if Mac is your thing.
It makes no difference, he is cutting his own throat not the customer that can see the partnership he made with PC manufacturers for what it is.

You are one angry and ignorant Mac user.

 

[Mister_K]

No ****

 

[Tuxie]

FYI: you are not gonna be a Rift user. Whille I will be with a PC that costs half the price of your iMac.

Oh yes, I will, I'm just waiting for Pascal and Polaris to arrive before building a PC for it.

 

[Puiu]

Not everything is about performance numbers.

MacOS X is a true UNIX derivative and its command line tool ecosystem (Homebrew etc) makes it a kickass platform for programmers and sysadmins managing Linux/UNIX servers. Windows is crap in that regard, unless you like being stuck inside a monolithic IDE coding Java/C# and use primitive terminal emulators.

Also, for musicians, Macs are best at running Logic Pro.

BTW, I'm writing this post on an iMac running Windows 10. I dual boot because I get about 30% better performance in the same games in Windows than in MacOS X on the same computer.

I'm sorry, but you haven't actually used a mac for development. there is no "kickass" platform there. it's just runs some software better, but that's it. people go for the mac because of the lack of know-how. you would be surprise just how many brain dead developers exist in the west. take the french and british developers for example: it takes them months to do what others can in a few days. it's the reason why big companies hire so many from the east.
for developers, the mac is the most restrictive platform you can use. what you do get is faster server/environment loading times, faster build times (for echivalent windows systems), better battery and better system stability. but you lose out on dev tools, debug tools, software compatibility, easy and fast solutions for any problems during the development and documentations for any new technology.
TL;DR you are pretty much screwed if you are stuck because of a bug or if you want to use new technologies.

 

[Tuxie]

I'm sorry, but you haven't actually used a mac for development. there is no "kickass" platform there. it's just runs some software better, but that's it. people go for the mac because of the lack of know-how. you would be surprise just how many brain dead developers exist in the west. take the french and british developers for example: it takes them months to do what others can in a few days. it's the reason why big companies hire so many from the east.
for developers, the mac is the most restrictive platform you can use. what you do get is faster server/environment loading times, faster build times (for echivalent windows systems), better battery and better system stability. but you lose out on dev tools, debug tools, software compatibility, easy and fast solutions for any problems during the development and documentations for any new technology.
TL;DR you are pretty much screwed if you are stuck because of a bug or if you want to use new technologies.

I have been programming for about 30 years, both professionally and as a hobby, on C64, Amiga, various UNIX variants, Linux and MacOS X (but very little in Windows I must admit). Let's just say that you and I seem to have a very different view of some things.