Specifications

19
DAVINCI RESOLVE FOR MAC - CERTIFIED CONFIGURATION GUIDE
The retina MacBook Pro 15" is suitable for on-set,
pre-grade, previewing and training. It can provide
a preview of material in HD and apply shot by shot
‘look’ grades on HD images so the project file can
be exported to other faster hardware platforms
such as the iMac or Mac Pro. Real time performance
is not guaranteed.
Some of the image processing operations like
temporal noise reduction need high GPU RAM and
so these operations might not be available on GPUs
with limited RAM such as is on the retina MacBook
Pro. You can however use the retina MacBook Pro
for Resolve Live on set grading and preview of many
camera images.
As with other Resolve configurations, the retina
MacBook Pro 15" benefits from being used with the
DaVinci Resolve Control Surface but can also be used
with any of the certified third party control panels.
A Thunderbolt disk array provides fast, high capacity
disk storage for current MacBook Pro computers
and is recommended with the retina MacBook Pro.
All compressed files, including Apple ProRes and
RED R3D, are decompressed by the CPU prior to
image processing by the GPU. If you are mainly
working with compressed files, consider using
a MacBook Pro with faster CPUs so that real time
grading is not impeded by slow CPU processors.
Setup
The Resolve interface like many premium applications
requires a high GUI resolution. To maximize usability
on the retina MacBook Pro 15" we recommend you
use the "Scaled for more space" option. For the
older MacBook Pro with a 15-inch high resolution
display (Order this option at initial purchase) the GUI
should be set to a 1680 x 1050 resolution. The older
MacBook Pro with a 17- inch display should be set to
1920x1200.
The current MacBook Pro contains two GPUs; one for
high performance graphics and the other for better
battery life. It is essential to enter the Energy Saver
preferences, in the System Preferences of Mac OS
X, and select the high performance graphics option.
Failing to do so will render Resolve unusable. On
the mid 2010 and newer models, including the new
retina display MBP, disable the “Automatic graphics
switching” checkbox.
DaVinci Resolve on MacBook Pro with Retina Display
Suitable for SD and HD
3 Suitable for on-set, pre-grade, preview and training
3 Grading monitor and external storage via Thunderbolt
™
Disable the “Automatic graphics switching” checkbox on the
certified, Mid 2010 and newer MacBook Pro models.