Does the new MacBookPro 13" (Apr2010) run all Final Cut Studio applications?

[Robert Davis]

Does the new MacBookPro 13" (Apr2010) run all Final Cut Studio applications, and reasonably well?

I've looked at the FCS specs, CPU, RAM and hard disc minimums are more than satisfied with the MBP 13".

Now that the 13" has a discreet Nvidia (albeit sharing memory with main RAM) graphics card, that requirement is also satisfied.

The Color app needs a screen resolution of at least 1680x1050: Is this really a hard requirement?

i.e. will the Color app exit with an error message saying not supported at this resolution or will it work but with less space for items in its user interface? For example Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5 used to say minimum resolutions but I can run it on my Toshiba NB100 netbook at 1024x600 just fine. (BTW as an aside even this 200pound netbook has an eSATA port!)

Also I intend to use an external 23" 1920x1080 screen plugged into the MBP13" a lot of the time at home.

Also what about the Core 2 Duo on the 13" versus the i5 dual core hyperthreaded = 4 threads or i7 quad core = 8 threads on the new (Apr2010) 15" and 17" MBPs.

I intend to capture from solid state flash card, so dropped frames due to slow(is) internal 5400rpm non-raid hard drive capturing from real time playout of tape is not an issue.

Where would I notice the difference in speed? Where would the MBP 13" run noticeably slower compared with the new 15" and 17"?

I would expect the entry 2.4Ghz 13" Apr2010 model to run FCS/FCP reasonably well, given that people have coped with this sort of spec in the past.

As long as editing works reasonably smoothly on the 13" MPB, e.g. I can go backwards and forwards through my work, preview multiple tracks/effects (at lower resolution, if necessary - by using RTExtreme feature with ProRes422Proxy) and then leave it render to maximum high quality overnight, then I would be happy.

The smaller size of the 13" and lower cost make it more attractive to gain a more rounded cross platform skillset by entering into the Mac scene and for future opportunities requiring those skills.

The benefits buying a higher end notebook diminish against cost and increasing screen size (more to carry around), also that only the cumbersome (IMHO) 17" has ExpressCard34 for SATA input.

[Denise Wall]

I just got a 13" MBP 2.4 500GB hard drive yesterday and loaded FCS3. I haven't done any editing yet (it takes forever to load all the programs) but should be able to answer at least some of your questions soon. This will mainly be an on the road system for me.

I don't think many people will have received theirs yet. I hope to hear experiences from others soon also.

[Stephen Mick]

I've got the 13" MBP (2.53Mhz) with FCS loaded.

Color will load and run, but I wouldn't call it snappy. In fact I rarely use it on my laptop.

Where you'll likely notice the biggest lag times will be rendering in FCP, transcoding in Compressor and rendering in Color and Motion.

If you really want a laptop to run all the FCS apps, go with the new 15" Core i5 or i7 models.

[Nigel Barker]

Personally I would have thought that the 1280x800 screen resolution would be the biggest drawback to using FCS on the 13" MBP.

A good point about the new 15" MBP is that when ordering you can upgrade the standard 1440x900 display to a 1680x1050 for just $100-150.

[Robert Davis]

Originally Posted by Nigel Barker

Personally I would have thought that the 1280x800 screen resolution would be the biggest drawback to using FCS on the 13" MBP.

Sure, that's why...

Originally Posted by Rob Davis

I intend to use an external 23" 1920x1080 LCD screen plugged into the MBP13" a lot of the time at home.

...but benefit from 13" smaller size on the move.

Originally Posted by Stephen Mick

I've got the 13" MBP (2.53Mhz) with FCS loaded.

Color will load and run, but I wouldn't call it snappy.

Can you provide more detail: is it unusable? Is it jerky? sticky to work within? Does using ProRes422/ProRes422Proxy and RTExtreme and smaller preview screen, say quarter size, help improve performance?

Originally Posted by Stephen Mick

Where you'll likely notice the biggest lag times will be rendering in FCP, transcoding in Compressor and rendering in Color and Motion.

Those are probably fine to cope with, assuming they are done at the end of the project, for mastering, completing - I would just leave it running overnight. Am I correct? Or if it is during the edit stage, then could the above technologies mentioned help?

Originally Posted by Stephen Mick

If you really want a laptop to run all the FCS apps, go with the new 15" Core i5 or i7 models.

These are just going to be faster. How much faster?

If there is a higher specification available, naturally some folk are going to suggest this. But once upon a time, today's 13" specification (Apr2010) for processor etc. was the top specification of the line - so people would have been suggesting this. And when the notebook range gets refreshed again, people are going to suggest the new standard. So it's a relative thing.

Thoughts?