Laptop for Ultimate?

[sean shannon]

For those running Ultimate on a laptop, which laptop is compatible? Looking for a Windows machine.

[BScout]

Most will be.

I have Thinkpad P series laptops that run it great (one with Thunderbolt chassis with HDX and one with an RME interface.)

[sean shannon]

Nice!

[albee1952]

Originally Posted by BScout

Most will be.

I have Thinkpad P series laptops that run it great (one with Thunderbolt chassis with HDX and one with an RME interface.)

I think this should be amended to say most "better grade" laptops will work. Don't plan on going to WalMart and buying something cheap Thinkpads and probably the HP Elitebooks(I have an older HP with an i7 and it runs PT12.5HD quite well). Just putting this here because, while BScout and Sean may know what's up, lots of newbies read these posts and I want to make sure folks have realistic expectations Having said all this, and being a PC guy, a MacBook Pro is also worth considering

[Benoni]

These days most quality laptops will work if they meet the PT specs.

As albee said though, don't expect to go to Walmart and grab a $199 black Friday special and expect it to blaze through PT sessions with VIs and several plugins.

The HP Z series Laptops are comparable to the Macbook Pro.

You can spec a Zbook G8 to anything you want and it will cut through tough PT sessions like butter on a hot day.

There's also the Macbook Pro option. If you want to save some money try a used or referb unit on eBay. The Macbooks are great laptops, though the keyboard kinda sucks. But the big touch pad is nice, and the screens are second to none.

Windows is better at some things, Mac is better at some things, so I just use them both.

[sean shannon]

I like the PC, but I also saw this - Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch 3.1GHz Quad-core i7 (Retina, Mid 2017 Silver) MPTU2LL/A 1 for under $700. It's running Mojave, but can be updated to the latest OS. 16G RAM, 512 flash drive. Thoughts for running the latest Ultimate?

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by sean shannon

I like the PC, but I also saw this - Apple MacBook Pro 15-inch 3.1GHz Quad-core i7 (Retina, Mid 2017 Silver) MPTU2LL/A 1 for under $700. It's running Mojave, but can be updated to the latest OS. 16G RAM, 512 flash drive. Thoughts for running the latest Ultimate?

I'm shure it will do very well.

My previous computer was a Mac Mini Intel I7 six-core 3.2GHz. It had sufficient power for my stuff, but heated up terribly and made the fan noise unbearable. I solved it by shutting off the Intel chip Turboboost, which fixed the noise, but I lost about 20% of max processing power.

The final fix for me was to move to the M1 Mini, which is very reasonably priced and in my estimation gave me about 60% more cpu power than the I7. I'm super happy with it. And it never gets hot, so it's completely silent.

Are you shure you need a laptop? Your paying for the screen and more. If you don't plan on moving it around much, a M1 Mac Mini makes more sense IMO. It's also pretty portable, though it doesn't have a battery. If you don't have screens already, they don't have to cost much, and you can use most any keyboard/mouse on the Minis.

[sean shannon]

I'm not 100% that it has to be a laptop, I'm just looking for a portable setup to run Ultimate for when I travel and I'm cooped up somewhere for awhile. I know this is the Windows forum, but I'm open to whatever works. I will look at the mac minis too, but I'd prefer not to have to lug around a separate screen.

[Ben Jenssen]

Originally Posted by sean shannon

I'm not 100% that it has to be a laptop, I'm just looking for a portable setup to run Ultimate for when I travel and I'm cooped up somewhere for awhile. I know this is the Windows forum, but I'm open to whatever works. I will look at the mac minis too, but I'd prefer not to have to lug around a separate screen.

Why does it have to be Ultimate? Are you lugging around interfaces, mics and monitors for recording? If not, you can have a small interface just use PT Artist or Studio. AFAIK a Flex license wil work on all.

[Darryl Ramm]

What are you running now? Windows or Mac? Most folks are more comfortable in their favorite environment and supporting two different environments might be a PITA for many folks.

Apple is well into a transition from Intel to Apple Silicon. A wild guess but I expect Intel Macs to stop receiving macOS updates in ~< 2 years and maybe the same for Pro Tools updates. All why some used Intel Mac prices are crashing. And there are many many more restrictions caused by Pro Tools and macOS version compatibility, and same with driver version compatibility than there are in Windows land.