05-18-2009, 08:23 PM

I am looking at getting a new Mac Laptop. I want it primarily to run Final Cut Pro. What is the cheapest Mac laptop that will run it without any problem in your guys experience?

05-18-2009, 11:50 PM

The cheapest? Probably a refurbished (seriously, the best choice I ever made.. saved 200 bucks) MacBook 2.0GHz with 4GB of RAM. (You can get the 2x2GB sticks yourself from OWC for 60 bucks, I'll probably upgrade soon. ).


Apple's minimum listed required specs are:
Minimum Requirements to Install All Final Cut Studio Applications

A Macintosh computer with a 1.25GHz or faster PowerPC G4, PowerPC G5, Intel Core Duo, or Intel Xeon processor
1GB of RAM
An AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card (Final Cut Studio is not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors)
A display with 1024-by-768 resolution or higher
Mac OS X v10.4.11 or Mac OS X v10.5.5 or later
QuickTime 7.5.5 or later
A DVD drive for installation

but, they recommend 2GB of RAM for some things, and 4GB for others...

The following are recommended for all applications:
2GB of RAM when working with compressed HD and uncompressed SD sources
4GB of RAM when working with uncompressed HD sources

05-19-2009, 03:05 AM

So I could get this one Configure - Apple Store (U.S.)
The basic $1000 laptop and upgrade to 4gigs of ram and be ok? Has anyone tried this setup for Final Cut Pro?

05-19-2009, 09:29 AM

I was thinking the aluminum one, but yea, that would suit you fine would be my guess. I have friends who ran some pretty bad *** recording software on their older white macbooks, and this one has the new nvidia card.

05-19-2009, 10:42 AM

ya but the uni has the worlds best touch pad ! and ram is so cheap !

05-19-2009, 11:47 AM

"An AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card (Final Cut Studio is not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors)"

I don't believe Macbooks will run FCP. Although it doesn't technically have an nVidia chipset, it's still and integrated graphics chipset and not a standalone video card.

IMO, your best best would be a used/refurb MBP. Even if a Macbook did run it, it doubt it would be very fast or friendly.

05-19-2009, 12:30 PM

you can turn on quartz extreme in the terminal on a macbook with nvidia's 9400m, so I don't know. A refurbed MBP can't hurt, though going with one that only has a 128MB video card wouldn't be so great.

05-19-2009, 12:47 PM

I can't imagine how final cut would not work when it works fine on a macbook pro switched to the 9400m. You can go ask the apple reps to further educate you on what works and if there are some things that might not work. But, i would not pick the white macbook because it lacks the touchpad that makes fcp so much better to use

05-20-2009, 12:50 AM

Originally Posted by nZa

"An AGP or PCI Express Quartz Extreme graphics card (Final Cut Studio is not compatible with integrated Intel graphics processors)"

I don't believe Macbooks will run FCP. Although it doesn't technically have an nVidia chipset, it's still and integrated graphics chipset and not a standalone video card.

IMO, your best best would be a used/refurb MBP. Even if a Macbook did run it, it doubt it would be very fast or friendly.

I looked at the Apple website and the cheapest refurbished MBP was 1700. That seems like a lot, or is there another site?

05-20-2009, 01:27 AM

Might want to try this place.