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What's new in Rhino 8

What's new in Rhino 8 — the release McNeel calls "Charging Forward" — is a big update for modeling, macOS and Grasshopper. The headline Rhino 8 features are ShrinkWrap, a native Apple Silicon Mac build with Metal display, SubD Creases, a simpler direct-modeling workflow, and Grasshopper working with real Rhino data types. It runs on Windows 10/11 and macOS, and you can try every feature free for 90 days.

Rhino 8 features at a glance

ShrinkWrap

Wrap a single watertight mesh around any geometry — ideal for 3D printing.

Built for Mac

Native Apple Silicon & Intel with Metal display — a big macOS speed boost.

SubD Creases

Add sharp, fillet-like edges to SubD objects without extra control-net complexity.

Simplified Modeling

New PushPull workflow, automatic CPlanes, improved Gumball and Inset.

Grasshopper Data Types

Grasshopper now handles native Rhino objects, attributes, annotations and blocks.

Cycles Rendering

Raytraced Cycles rendering in the viewport plus faster real-time display.

Clipping & Sections

Generate section and clipping drawings directly from your 3D model.

Customizable UI

Dockable panels, redesigned toolbars and layouts you can tailor to your workflow.

Built for Mac — Apple Silicon, Intel and Metal

Rhino 8 ships as a native application for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs, with a display pipeline built on Apple's Metal graphics API. The result is a noticeably faster, more responsive Mac experience that stays feature-aligned with the Windows build. macOS 12.4 Monterey through the latest release are supported, so recent Macs run Rhino 8 without a workaround. See the full system requirements before installing.

SubD Creases

SubD modeling combines smooth, organic shaping with editable geometry. Rhino 8 adds SubD Creases, letting you mark specific edges as sharp so you get crisp corners and fillet-like transitions without adding extra edge loops to the control net. You keep the low control-point count that makes SubD fast to edit while gaining precise, hard-edged detail where you need it.

Grasshopper Rhino data types

Grasshopper is the visual, node-based programming environment bundled with every copy of Rhino. In Rhino 8 it works directly with native Rhino data types — objects, attributes, annotations, layers and blocks — so parametric definitions can read and write real model data instead of loose geometry. That makes generative and automated workflows fit more cleanly into a normal Rhino document.

Explore Grasshopper

Rendering, drawings and a customizable UI

Rhino 8 improves how you present and document a model. Cycles raytraced rendering runs in the viewport for physically based results, and real-time display is faster. Clipping and section tools generate 2D section drawings straight from the 3D model, and the interface is more customizable — dockable panels, redesigned toolbars and saveable layouts you can shape around your own workflow.

Try the new Rhino 8

Every feature above is in the free 90-day evaluation. Download it, or buy a perpetual licence — links open the official rhino3d.com.

Download Rhino 8

Start free trial · See pricing · Official Rhino 8 news

Rhino 8 FAQ

What is the biggest new feature in Rhino 8?: ShrinkWrap and the native Apple Silicon Mac build are the headline additions, alongside SubD Creases, simplified direct modeling and Grasshopper working with native Rhino data types.
Does Rhino 8 run natively on Apple Silicon Macs?: Yes. Rhino 8 is a native app for both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs with a Metal-based display, supported on macOS 12.4 Monterey and newer. See the system requirements.
Is Grasshopper included in Rhino 8?: Yes — Grasshopper ships with every copy of Rhino 8 at no extra cost, and in this release it works directly with native Rhino data types.
How do I get Rhino 8?: Start the free 90-day trial or download it for Windows or Mac. To keep it, buy a perpetual licence on the pricing page — from $995 commercial or $195 student.