May 06, 2019 Spending at least $1,400 will see you with a configured laptop that surpasses the requirements to use Adobe Premiere Pro. This configuration sports an Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, 8 GB RAM, and a. For detailed requirements for the different types of head-sets, and for information on setting up an immersive environment for Premiere Pro, see Immersive video in Premiere Pro. Hardware acceleration system requirements.

• Interface
• Usability
• Features
• Speed
• Support
• Price

Like most software developers, Adobe maintains a list of Adobe Products System Requirements for all products that can be used to help ensure the hardware in your computer system will work with their multimedia software. However, most “system requirements” lists tend to cover only the basics of what hardware is needed to run the software, not what hardware will actually give the best performance. In addition, sometimes these lists can be outdated, show old hardware revisions, or simply contain sub-optimal hardware. Based on all our testing, we have our own list of recommended PC and macOS hardware for Adobe Products System Requirements.

Creative Cloud system requirements

Creative Cloud minimum specifications

The Creative Cloud website and associated websites such as the Adobe Admin Console are all designed to work optimally in the latest versions of Chrome, Safari, Firefox, and Internet Explorer. The site should degrade gracefully on older browsers; you may have trouble using certain features on those older versions. Internet Explorer 9 and earlier are not supported.

Creative Cloud Desktop applications

Creative Cloud membership provides access to all creative desktop apps for download and installation on your local computer, as well as additional apps and online services. Desktop applications included with your membership are available in both Mac OS X and Windows versions.

Creative Cloud apps have varying minimum operating system requirements. Refer to the following pages for the complete system requirements for your Creative Cloud app.

Photoshop system requirements

Your computer must meet the minimum technical specifications outlined below to run and use Photoshop.

Minimum system requirements for Adobe Photoshop

Photoshop minimum specifications for Windows

• Processor: Intel® or AMD processor with 64-bit support; 2 GHz or faster processor
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1 (64-bit), Windows 10 (Version 1709 or later)
• RAM: 2 GB or more of RAM (8 GB recommended)
• Hard disk space: 3.1 GB or more of available hard-disk space for 64-bit installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system)
• Monitor resolution: 1024 x 768 display (1280×800 recommended) with 16-bit color and 512 MB or more of dedicated VRAM; 2 GB is recommended
• Graphics processor acceleration requirements: OpenGL 2.0-capable system
• Internet: An Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.

Photoshop minimum specifications for macOS

• Processor: Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
• Operating system: macOS version 10.12 (Sierra), macOS version 10.13 (High Sierra), or macOS version 10.14 (Mojave)
• RAM: 2 GB or more of RAM (8 GB recommended)
• Hard disk space: 4 GB or more of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system)
• Monitor resolution: 1024 x 768 display (1280×800 recommended) with 16-bit color and 512 MB or more of dedicated VRAM; 2 GB is recommended
• Graphics processor acceleration requirements: OpenGL 2.0-capable system
• Internet: An Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, membership validation, and access to online services.

Adobe Premiere Pro system requirements

The recommended system specification below is the best choice for users. Your system must meet minimum specifications to run Premiere Pro.

System requirements for Adobe Premiere Pro

Premiere Pro minimum specifications for Windows

• Processor: Intel® 6^thGen or newer CPU – or AMD equivalent
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1703 or later
• RAM: 8 GB of RAM
• GPU: 2 GB of GPU VRAMFor a list of recommended graphics cards, see Recommended graphics cards for Adobe Premiere Pro.
• Hard disk space: 8 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (will not install on removable flash storage)Additional high-speed drive for media
• Monitor resolution: 1280 x 800
• Sound card: ASIO compatible or Microsoft Windows Driver Model
• Network storage connection: 1 Gigabit Ethernet (HD only)

Premiere Pro recommended specifications for Windows

• Processor: Intel® 7^thGen or newer CPU – or AMD equivalent
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit) version 1703 or later
• RAM: 16 GB of RAM for HD media32 GB for 4K media or higher
• GPU: 4 GB of GPU VRAMFor a list of recommended graphics cards, see Recommended graphics cards for Adobe Premiere Pro.
• Hard disk space: Fast internal SSD for app installation and cache. Additional high-speed drive(s) for media
• Monitor resolution: 1920 x 1080 or greater
• Sound card: ASIO compatible or Microsoft Windows Driver Model
• Network storage connection: 10 Gigabit ethernet for 4K shared network workflow

Premiere Pro minimum specifications for macOS

• Processor: Intel® 6^thGen or newer CPU
• Operating system: macOS v10.12 or later (v10.13 or later required for hardware-acceleration)
• RAM: 8 GB of RAM
• GPU: 2 GB of GPU VRAM
• Hard disk space: 8 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (will not install on a volume that uses a case sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices). Additional high-speed drive for media
• Monitor resolution: 1280 x 800
• Network storage connection: 1 Gigabit Ethernet (HD only)

Premiere Pro recommended specifications for macOS

• Processor: Intel® 6^thGen or newer CPU
• Operating system: macOS v10.13 or later
• RAM: 16 GB of RAM for HD media32 GB for 4K media or higher
• GPU: 4 GB of GPU VRAM
• Hard disk space: Fast internal SSD for app installation and cache. Additional high-speed drive(s) for media
• Monitor resolution: 1920 x 1080 or greater
• Network storage connection: 10 Gigabit ethernet for 4K shared network workflow

Illustrator system requirements

Minimum system requirements for Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator minimum specifications for Windows

• Processor: Multicore Intel processor (with 32/64-bit support) or AMD Athlon 64 processor
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 with Service Pack 1, Windows 10
• RAM: 2 GB of RAM (4 GB recommended) for 32 bit; 4 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended) for 64 bit
• Hard disk space: 2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation; SSD recommended
• Monitor resolution: 1024 x 768 display (1920 x 1080 recommended)To use Touch workspace in Illustrator, you must have a touch-screen-enabled tablet/monitor running Windows 10 (Microsoft Surface Pro 3 recommended).
• Graphics processor acceleration requirements: OpenGL 4.xOptional: To use GPU Performance: Your Windows should have a minimum of 1GB of VRAM (4 GB recommended), and your computer must support OpenGL version 4.0 or greater.
• Internet: Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.

Illustrator minimum specifications for macOS

• Processor: Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
• Operating system: macOS version 10.14 (Mojave), 10.13 (High Sierra), 10.12 (Sierra)
• RAM: 4 GB of RAM (16 GB recommended)
• Hard disk space: 2 GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation; SSD recommended
• Monitor resolution: 1024 x 768 display (1920 x 1080 recommended)
• Graphics processor acceleration requirements: Optional: To use GPU Performance: Your Mac should have a minimum of 1 GB of VRAM (2 GB recommended), and your computer must support OpenGL version 4.0 or greater.
  For eGPU, support on Mac OS 10.13.5 or above. To check for VRAM values: Choose Mac > About This Mac (Graphics information).
  To find out if your computer supports the required OpenGL version (4.0 or later).
• Internet: Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.

Lightroom system requirements

Your computer must meet the minimum technical specifications outlined below to run and use Lightroom.

Minimum system requirements for Adobe Lightroom

Lightroom minimum specifications for Windows

• Processor: Intel® or AMD processor with 64-bit support; 2 GHz or faster processor
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 with 64-bit support (Version 1709 or later)
• RAM: 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)
• Hard disk space: 2 GB of available hard-disk space for program installation
• Monitor resolution: 1024 x 768 display
• Graphics processor acceleration requirements: AMD: Radeon GPU with DirectX 12 or OpenGL 3.3 support.Intel: Skylake or newer GPU with DirectX 12 support.NVIDIA: GPU with DirectX 12 or OpenGL 3.3 support.OpenGL 3.3 and DirectX 10-capable video adapter for GPU-related functionality.1 GB Video RAM (VRAM). 2 GB of dedicated VRAM (4 GB recommended) for large, high-resolution monitors, such as 4K- and 5K-resolution monitors.
• Internet: Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.

Lightroom minimum specifications for macOS

• Processor: Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
• Operating system: macOS v10.12 (Sierra), macOS v10.13 (High Sierra), or macOS v10.14 (Mojave)
• RAM: 4 GB of RAM (8 GB recommended)
• Hard disk space: 2 GB of available hard-disk space (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices)
• Graphics processor acceleration requirements: AMD: macOS 10.12, macOS 10.13, or macOS 10.14 with Metal support.Intel: macOS 10.12, macOS 10.13, or macOS 10.14 with Metal support.NVIDIA: macOS 10.12, macOS 10.13, or macOS 10.14 with Metal support.OpenGL 3.3-capable video adapter for GPU-related functionality.1 GB Video RAM (VRAM). 2 GB of dedicated VRAM (4 GB recommended) for large, high-resolution monitors, such as 4K- and 5K-resolution monitors.OpenGL 3.3–capable video adapter for GPU-related functionality.
• Internet: An Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.

After Effects system requirements

Minimum system requirements for Adobe After Effects

After Effects minimum specifications for Windows

• Processor: Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
• Operating system: Microsoft Windows 10 (64 bit) versions 1703 (Creators Update) and later
• RAM: 16 GB minimum (32 GB recommended)
• Hard disk space: 5GB of available hard-disk space; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on removable flash storage devices)Additional disk space for disk cache (10GB recommended)
• Monitor resolution: 1280×1080 or greater display resolution
• Internet: Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.

After Effects minimum specifications for macOS

• Processor: Multicore Intel processor with 64-bit support
• Operating system: macOS versions 10.12 (Sierra), 10.13 (High Sierra), 10.14 (Mojave)
• RAM: 16 GB minimum (32 GB recommended)
• Hard disk space: 6GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation (cannot install on a volume that uses a case-sensitive file system or on removable flash storage devices)Additional disk space for disk cache (10GB recommended)
• Monitor resolution: 1440×900 or greater display resolution
• Internet: Internet connection and registration are necessary for required software activation, validation of subscriptions, and access to online services.*

Adobe Premiere Pro Cc 2020 System Requirements For Mac Os Yosemite

If you would like to learn about Adobe Photoshop CC 2020 check our article Adobe Photoshop Review.

Performance is important

At BIZON we often get many customers who want to switch from a Mac to a PC Workstation. While there are many reasons our customers want a change, it usually comes down to one major factor, performance.

Whatever you use your Mac or Workstation PC for, performance is important to help you manage your workflow, to ensure your game runs smoothly, for high-quality sound and graphics, and to edit videos efficiently.

The rise in 4K, 6K, and 8K workflows makes optimum performance a necessity for many people, so it is essential to make the right choice when considering a computer.

With performance being the most important factor when deciding between a PC or a Mac, we take a look at why a PC is a better option to use Adobe’s Premiere Pro video editing application compared to a Mac or iMac Pro 2019.

To find out whether a PC or Mac is a best video editing workstation, we took three iMac systems and a PC workstation of a similar price and tested them across performance for live playback, render in to out, and export.

If you love data we’re sure you’ll enjoy looking at our charts, which show how the systems compare, but if charts aren’t your thing you can always scroll past the data to read our conclusion.

To compare the iMac Pro and Mac Pro to our BIZON V5000 4K/6K/8K video editing workstation, we tested the following system configurations, using Premier Pro version 13.1:

Price $5700 + $520 (4K monitor) = $6220 –> ~$6200

• Processor: 14-Core 3.30 GHz Intel Core i9-9940X (up to 18 cores)
• Memory: 64 GB DDR4 3200 MHz
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11GB
  Note: With NVIDIA GPUs you get advantages of Adobe’s Mercury Playback Engine acceleration and CUDA support. AMD that comes with Mac have no CUDA.
  
• Hard Drive (Operating system): 1 TB PCI-E SSD (Up to 3500 Mb/s)
• Additional HDD (Storage): 2 TB HDD SATA
• Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
• Monitor: Dell U2718Q 27-Inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor
• Keyboard + Mouse: Logitech Wireless Mouse and Keyboard
• Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 5 Year Limited Warranty (5 Year Labor & 3 Year Part Replacement)
• Software Premiere Pro CC 2019 (ver 13.1)

• Processor: 2.7GHz 12-core Xeon
  Note: Old generation CPU (2013 Year)
  
• Memory: 64GB 1866MHz DDR3
  Note: Old DDR3 RAM
  
• Graphics Card: Dual AMD FirePro D700 GPUs 6GB
• Hard Drive: 1TB PCIe-based SSD
• Additional HDD (Storage): Not available
• Operating System: macOS 10.13.4
• Monitor: Dell U2718Q 27-Inch 4K UHD IPS Monitor
• Keyboard + Mouse: Space Gray Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad + Magic Mouse 2
• Warranty: AppleCare+ for Mac (3 yr limited warranty & telephone technical support)
• Software: Premiere Pro CC 2019 (ver 13.1)

Price $8000 + $169 (Apple Care) = $8169 –> ~8200

• Processor: 2.5GHz 14-core Intel Xeon W processor
• Memory: 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC
• Graphics Card: Radeon Pro Vega 64 16GB
• Hard Drive: 1TB PCIe SSD
• Additional HDD (Storage): Not available
• Operating System: macOS 10.13.4
• Monitor: 27-inch LED-backlit 5K display
• Keyboard + Mouse: Space Gray Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad + Magic Mouse 2
• Warranty: AppleCare+ for iMac (3 yr limited warranty & telephone technical support)
• Software: Premiere Pro CC 2019 (ver 13.1)

Adobe Premiere Pro Cc 2020 System Requirements For Mac Os Catalina

Price $7200 + $169 (Apple Care) = $7369 –> ~7400

• Processor: 3.0GHz 10-core Intel Xeon W processor
• Memory: 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 ECC
• Graphics Card: Radeon Pro Vega 64 with 16GB
• Hard Drive: 1TB PCIe SSD
• Additional HDD (Storage): Not available
• Operating System: macOS 10.13.4
• Monitor: 27-inch LED-backlit 5K display
• Keyboard + Mouse: Space Gray Magic Keyboard with Numeric Keypad + Magic Mouse 2
• Warranty: AppleCare+ for iMac (3 yr limited warranty & telephone technical support)
• Software: Premiere Pro CC 2019 (ver 13.1)

We used version 13.1 of Premiere Pro, as the latest version wasn’t released at the time of this article. We also found major performance issues with Premiere Pro CC 2019 (ver 13.1), with performance drops in ProRes footage on the PC and RED footage on the Mac when using versions 13.1 and 13.1.1.

For a fair comparison we kept the specs and pricing as similar as possible. For example, as Mac systems only support a single internal drive, we used a single 1TB PCI-E SSD drive on our BIZON Workstation PC, rather than multiple storage drives, which improve performance when generating peak files and importing media. As the iMac Pro requires a keyboard and mouse, we also bought a monitor, keyboard, and mouse for the Mac Pro and PC.

To compare the systems, we tested three different functions in Premiere Pro: live playback, export, and render in to out.

Although we didn’t cover every available codec, we covered a large number of RED clips so that we could really see how different compression levels impact performance. Our tests also used three different timelines to stimulate different types of workload.

Recording results

We recorded the export time from the moment the ‘Export’ button was clicked until completion. We also measured Live playback FPS (frames per second) based on the number of dropped frames relative to the total number of frames in the sequence. For example, by dropping 100 frames in the 4K ProRes 422 HQ 'Basic' timeline (which has 579 frames), you will render 479 frames over 24 seconds for a result of ~20 FPS.

We used Lumetri effects from the 'Lumetri Presets –> Speedlooks –> Universal' effects folder. However, if you’re using a Mac you’ll probably need to delete and re-apply the Lumetri Color effects, as sometimes they don’t translate properly from the PC to Mac.

It can be a challenge to accurately test live playback performance because performance depends on the codec and resolution of your media, as well as the playback resolution (full, half, etc.) and the effects you’ve applied.

At BIZON we often get asked about live playback performance, so we decided to test our media with three different timelines, as well as with a full and half playback resolution. We also decided to calculate the average performance of each system relative to the 10-core iMac Pro using OpenCL.

We found that using Metal with a Mac is a bad idea for playback performance and found a 20-30% drop in FPS with most of our test media, and a massive drop in FPS with RED footage when using Metal on the Mac system. For example, with 4K RED 11:1 footage the iMac Pro 14-core went from 24FPS to 6FPS without any effects being applied to the footage.

Even when using OpenCL you will get a bump in FPS with a PC. However, compared to the iMac-Pro 10-core, our PC workstation gave 25% higher FPS with ProRes media, 30% higher with DNxHR HQ/H.264/ARRIRAW, and almost 75% higher FPS with RED footage, and was 94% faster on average in our ‘Heavy Effects’ test.

In comparison, the 14-core iMac Pro did slightly better with RED footage and was about 10% faster than the 10-core iMac Pro. However, the PC workstation was the clear winner for playback performance and was 25-60% faster depending on the type of footage used; making our PC workstation a better option for FPS as well as better value for money.

8K Footage

It takes time to export on Premiere Pro and export time is often used to measure performance. Taking 4K, 6K, and 8K projects using the different codecs listed in the Test Hardware & Methodology section we measured export performance on all the systems.

With our export tests we found using Metal on a Mac, rather than OpenCL often resulted in a decent performance gain. RED footage was an exception, usually taking twice as long or longer to export with Metal. However, as our findings in the Live Playback test show, Metal was significantly worse than OpenCL, so keeping Premiere Pro in OpenCL mode will be the best option for most Mac users.

If you do decide to stick with OpenCL a PC is your best option, as our Custom workstation computer exported projects approximately 40% faster than the iMac Pro 2019 10–Core. The performance gap closed by a small amount with the 14-core iMac, but the PC still had a 30–40% performance lead. Surprisingly, the Mac Pro managed to keep up with the newer iMac Pro systems with ProRes footage, but fell behind with other types of media, making our PC workstation 40% to 60% faster, as well as saving you a whopping $2,000 on price.

If you’re willing to switch between Metal for exporting non-RED footage and OpenCL for live playback, the Mac systems do better. However, the iMac Pro systems were still around 15% slower with DNxHR, H.264, and ARRIRAW footage, although the 14-core iMac Pro was able to pull slightly ahead of our BIZON V5000 PC with ProRes footage.

8K Footage

Rendering previews are sometimes a necessity, so we tested the ability to render in to out on all the systems for 4K, 6K, and 8K projects using the different codecs listed in the Test Hardware & Methodology section.

Using Metal on the Mac caused another performance problem, with RED footage dropping to 15-20%. However, due to the lower live playback performance with Metal across the media tested, we feel OpenCL offers the most valid comparison across the PC and Mac systems.

With ProRes media, there was around a 40% performance gain with the PC compared to iMac and Mac Pro. This reduces slightly with DNxHR HQ, H.264, and ARRIRAW media, but our PC was still faster and outperformed the Mac by around 35%.

Adobe Premiere Pro Cc 2020 System Requirements For Mac High Sierra

Surprisingly, our PC had a smaller performance gain in RED media compared to the other tests, however, the PC was still around 20% faster than the 14-core iMac Pro.

Impressively, PC performance was also 30% faster than the 10-core iMac Pro and 40% faster compared to the Mac Pro.

8K Footage

Best Video Editing Workstation. Conclusion: iMac, Mac Pro, or PC?

Cost wise the BIZON V5000 Workstations is already a winner, with a $6200 price tag compared to a $8,200 iMac Pro 2019 (14-Core) or $7,500 Mac Pro system.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that we paid $420 for a 4K monitor, keyboard, and mouse, so if you already have them you would reduce the costs even more.

In terms of performance the PC Custom Workstation also comes out on top, with a 35-45% performance gain.

What was surprising was that the iMac Pro 2019 14-Core wasn’t that much faster than the 10-core version and only increased in performance by around 5%. However, live playback performance was usually twice as good on the PC, with tendering and exporting being 40-50% better.
Therefore, our BIZON V5000 video editing workstation PC is the clear winner on both cost and performance.

However, if you’re already stuck with a Mac and want to increase your performance, our findings indicate that OpenCL is a better choice for the majority of Mac users, who want better live playback performance, but Metal was faster with non-RED media for exporting and rendering.

For more information on PC performance compared to Mac systems, you can check out our other articles here.

Adobe Premiere Pro Cc 2020 System Requirements For Mac Catalina

You can also take a look at our Recommended Workstation PC for Premiere Pro and contact us if you have any questions about making the move to PC workstation.