Hardware recommendations

As a final note for this introductory chapter, it’s worth looking at your computer. Technology will continue to advance, so I’ll keep this broad, but FCP can work on anything from a low-end laptop to a fully upgraded Mac Pro or Mac Studio worth more than most cars. What do you need?

A Mac

This one is obvious since FCP doesn’t run on Windows, but what kind? There are many options, but the most obvious question is laptop or desktop? — and the answer is simple. Laptop if you need portability, or desktop for easier expansion. A large second display is always helpful.

An important factor for video editing is the graphics power on offer, and while almost any Mac can deal with almost any job, the higher the resolution you want to work with, and the more effects that you want to be able to add, the more money you should spend. At this stage, I’d go for an Apple Silicon Mac, and at the time of writing, the Max and Ultra versions...