Qualified Apple Mac Systems for Media Composer 6.5 and Symphony 6.

5
Earliest
Media
MC/Sym Software MC/Sym MC/Sym
System GPU ISIS Network Notes**
Version Only Nitris DX Mojo DX
Fibre
Supported*
Mac Desktops

Mac Pro dual 6-Core

6GB or 12 GB DDR3
2.66 GHz ATI
1333 ECC (3 DIMMs
"Westmere" Radeon 5.03 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
per CPU) RAM
HD 5770
Avid Configuration
Guide

Mac Pro dual Quad 6GB or 12 GB DDR3

Core 2.66 or 2.93 GHz NVIDIA 1066 ECC (3 DIMMs
"Nehalem" GeForce 3.5 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes per CPU) RAM
GT 120 Avid Configuration
Guide

6GB or 12 GB DDR3
Mac Pro dual Quad 1066 ECC (3 DIMMs
NVIDIA
Core 2.26 GHz per CPU) RAM
GeForce 3.5 Yes No No Yes No
“Nehalem” Avid Configuration
GT 120
Guide

4GB or 8 GB DDR2
Mac Pro dual Quad
NVIDIA 800 ECC RAM
Core 3.0 or 3.2 GHz
GeForce 3.0 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Avid Configuration
"Harpertown"
8800GT Guide
GeForce 8800 GT
NVIDIA
iMac 27” 2.9GHz GeForce
Quad-core Intel i5, GTX 660M
8 GB (2x4GB) RAM
3.2Ghz Quad-core or NVIDIA 6.5 Yes No No Yes No
Intel i5, 3.4 GHz Quad GeForce 1 TB Serial ATA Drive
Core Intel i7 GTX
675MX

Rev 7 February 7, 2013 http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=422411

 Earliest
Media
MC/Sym Software MC/Sym MC/Sym
System GPU ISIS Network Notes**
Version Only Nitris DX Mojo DX
Fibre
Supported*
iMac 21.5” 2.9GHz
NVIDIA
Quad-core Intel i5, 8 GB (2x4GB) RAM
GeForce 6.5 Yes No No Yes No
3.1GHz Quad-core
650M 1 TB Serial ATA Drive
Intel i7
4 GB 1333MHz DDR3
iMac 27" display 3.4 ATI
SDRAM – 2x2GB
GHz i7 Quad core with Radeon 5.5 Yes No No Yes No
HT - Thunderbolt 6970M
iMac 21.5" display 2.8 ATI 4 GB 1333MHz DDR3
GHz i7 Quad core with Radeon 5.5 Yes No No Yes No SDRAM – 2x2GB
HT - Thunderbolt 6770M
iMac 27" display 2.93 ATI
GHz i7 Quad core with Radeon 5.03 Yes No No Yes No 4 GB RAM
HT HD 5750
4 GB RAM
iMac 21.5" display 3.6 ATI
Single stream HD
GHz i5 Dual core with Radeon 5.03 Yes No No Yes No
playback, limited AVCI
HT HD 5670
playback

iMac 27" display 2.80 ATI Yes

No 4 GB RAM
GHz i7 quad core with Radeon 4.05 Yes No No
HT 4850
NVIDIA 4 GB RAM
iMac 20" display 2.66
GeForce 3.5 Yes No No Yes No
GHz Core 2 Duo
9400M Limited HD playback
Mac mini Intel HD
5.5 Yes No No Yes No 4 GB RAM
2.0GHz quad core i7 3000

Earliest MC/Sym MC/Sym

System GPU MC Soft ISIS Notes**
Version Supported* Mojo DX
Mac Laptops

Rev 7 February 7, 2013 http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=422411

 Earliest MC/Sym MC/Sym
System GPU MC Soft ISIS Notes**
Version Supported* Mojo DX
MacBook Pro 15” Retina Intel HD
quad-core i7 2.3 Ghz or 4000 8GB DDR3 RAM
6.5 Yes No Yes
quad-core i7 2.6 Ghz or GeForce
quad-core i7 2.7 Ghz GT 650M
AMD
MacBook Pro 17"
6750M 8 GB DDR3
2.2/2.3/2.4/2.5 Ghz I7
6770M 5.5 Yes Yes Yes 1600/1333 non
quad core
Intel HD ECC
Thunderbolt
3000
AMD
MacBook Pro 15" 6490M
2.0/2.2/2.3/2.4/2.5 Ghz I7 6750M Yes
5.5 Yes No 4 GB RAM
quad core 6770M
Thunderbolt Intel HD
3000
8 GB RAM
MacBook Air 13” Intel i7 Intel HD Single stream HD
6.5 Yes No Yes
2.0 GHz dual core 4000 playback, limited
AVCI playback
4 GB DDR3
1600/1333 non
MacBook Air 13" with
ECC
thunderbolt Intel HD
5.5.3 Yes No No
1.7 Ghz I5 OR 1.8Ghz I7 3000
Single stream HD
dual core
playback, limited
AVCI playback
4 GB RAM
MacBook Pro 17" 2.66 I7
GT 330M 5.0 Yes Yes Yes Single stream HD
dual core
playback, limited
AVCI playback
4 GB RAM
MacBook Pro 15” 2.53 I5
dual core GT 330M 5.0 Yes No Yes Single stream HD
playback, limited
AVCI playback
MacBook Pro 17" 9400M 4 GB RAM
3.0 Yes Yes Yes
2.53/2.66/2.8GHz Intel 9600M

Rev 7 February 7, 2013 http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=422411

 Earliest MC/Sym MC/Sym
System GPU MC Soft ISIS Notes**
Version Supported* Mojo DX
Core 2 Duo Limited HD
Playback
4 GB RAM
MacBook Pro 15”
9400M
2.53/2.66/2.8GHz Intel 3.0 Yes No Yes
9600M Limited HD
Core 2 Duo
Playback
4 GB RAM
MacBook Pro 17" 2.5GHz
8600M 2.8 Yes Yes Yes Limited HD
Intel Core 2 Duo
Playback

4 GB RAM
MacBook Pro 15” 2.5GHz
8600M 2.8 Yes No Yes Limited HD
Intel Core 2 Duo
Playback

3rd Party Open IO Supported Hardware: Each vendor qualifies their own hardware to work with various host CPUs. For updated
lists of supported 3rd party hardware configurations visit the vendor’s website. See the Open IO Frequently Asked Questions on the
Knowledge Base for links to their websites.

Configuration Guides: http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=269631

Minimum Requirements

Mac

• OS: Mac OS X Lion (64-bit) or Mac OS X Mountain Lion (no Isis support at this time)

• Processor: Intel Quad Core 2.66 GHz Xeon processor or faster, or Intel Quad Core i7 with HT required for HD workflows

• Intel Core 2 Duo† 2.33 GHz processor or faster for Std Def workflows

• Memory: 4 GB of RAM minimum, 6+ GB of RAM recommended. 16+ GB of RAM recommended for Stereoscopic and other
high performance workflows**

Rev 7 February 7, 2013 http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=422411

 • Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce family or ATI Radeon family (as supported by Apple)

• Media Drive: Minimum 7200 rpm hard disk

*Symphony 5.5 and earlier only supported on MacPro Westmere 2.66 dual-six core, Nehalem 2.93 and 2.66 dual-quad
core, and Harpertown 3.0 and 3.2 dual quad-core systems with Nitris DX attached.

** RAM listed is what Avid tested as part of the qualification process. Adding more memory is supported as long as it
adheres to the manufacturer’s recommendations. Memory-intensive workflows such as 3D stereoscopic, DNx 444,
AVCHD AMA and H.264 QuickTime AMA will benefit from higher-performance systems with more memory. Full-frame
stereoscopic 3D requires at least 12 GB for optimal performance.

Core 2 Duo based systems do not support HD baseband capture. You may experience limited HD playback performance.

Dual core i5/i7 systems do not support HD baseband capture. They will allow for single-stream HD playback.

ISIS Support on Mountain Lion requires ISIS Client 4.2 or later

Revision Change
8/21/2012 Initial rev
9/27/2012 Added MacBook Pro 15” Retina
10/15/2012 Corrected ISIS OS support for
MacBook Pro 15” Retina
10/24/2012 Added MacBook Air 13” i7 2.0 GHz
10/26/2012 Corrections to MacBook Air, MAC OS
2/4/2013 Corrected configuration guide URLs
2/5/2013 Added iMac 27” 2.9GHz, 3.2GHz,
3.4GHz and iMac 21.5” 2.9GHz,
3.1GHz
2/7/2013 Corrected statement about ISIS
support for Mountain Lion

Rev 7 February 7, 2013 http://avid.custkb.com/avid/app/selfservice/search.jsp?DocId=422411