Upgrade

Hello,
I use DaVinci Resolve 17 to make family and holiday movies.
I just saw that version 19 is available. Can I upgrade directly from version 17 to version 19? Or do I need to install version 18 first, and if so, how do I download it since it doesn't appear on the website?
Also, what are the technical requirements for a Mac to install version 18 or 19?
My Mac's specifications:
macOS Catalina
Version 10.15.7
iMac (27 pouces, fin 2013)
Processor 3,2 GHz Intel Core i5 quatre coeurs
Mémoire 16 Go 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphisme NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 Go
Thank you for your help

Stay on Resolve 17 (or get a newer computer), your old 2013 iMac is not sufficient for newer versions of Resolve.

Resolve 18 Minimum system requirements for Mac OS include macOS 11 Big Sur and a GPU with at least 2 GB of VRAM. Your 2103 iMac has only 1 GB of VRAM and does not support macOS 11 Big Sur.

Needless to say, Resolve 19 and Resolve 20 requirements are higher.

Hello,
I use DaVinci Resolve 17 to make family and holiday movies.
I just saw that version 19 is available. Can I upgrade directly from version 17 to version 19? Or do I need to install version 18 first, and if so, how do I download it since it doesn't appear on the website?
Also, what are the technical requirements for a Mac to install version 18 or 19?
My Mac's specifications:
macOS Catalina
Version 10.15.7
iMac (27 pouces, fin 2013)
Processor 3,2 GHz Intel Core i5 quatre coeurs
Mémoire 16 Go 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphisme NVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1 Go
Thank you for your help

Yes you can directly upgrade to any Studio version from any free version. For example, if you are using Resolve v10, you can buy the Studio license and use it on any version of of the Studio such as v11, v12, v13, v14 and so on upto the Beta version of v20.

However and as alreday motioned above, you Mac dose not meet the minimum system requirement for v18. For v19 and above, you need a Mac with Apple silicon.

Thank you for your replies.
It's true that my Mac is old, and the calculations for certain effects or transitions are bringing it to its knees.
Could you tell me the technical requirements for an MC that would support version 20?

Thank you for your replies.
It's true that my Mac is old, and the calculations for certain effects or transitions are bringing it to its knees.
Could you please tell me the technical requirements for an MC that would support version 19?
Thanks in advance.

Minimum system requirements for Mac OS
• Apple Silicon based computer or GPU which supports Metal.
• 8 GB of system memory or 16 GB when using Fusion.
• for Resolve 19, MacOS 13 Ventura or later.
• for Resolve 20, macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
• For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.

Minimum system requirements for Mac OS
• Apple Silicon based computer or GPU which supports Metal.
• 8 GB of system memory or 16 GB when using Fusion.
• for Resolve 19, MacOS 13 Ventura or later.
• for Resolve 20, macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
• For monitoring, Blackmagic Design Desktop Video 12.9 or later.

My advice is to never go with the minimum system requirements, unless you have no other choice.
I always prefer to double the specifiactions for a smooth Resolve operation.

The upgrades of Resolve are not true upgrades . . . they are the complete app.

So you simply run the uninstaller that's bundled with your old app (and drag Resolve to the trash) and then install the new app.

Actually if you changed the name of the original to "Resolve 17" you could simply install the new version and have it sitting alongside the old. This works for Mac but I don't know about Windows.

If you have the money it is well worth getting the base model of the M4 Mac mini.

It's incredibly powerful . . . only downside is the tiny SSD but you can buy external SSDs very cheaply.

The upgrades of Resolve are not true upgrades . . . they are the complete app.

So you simply run the uninstaller that's bundled with your old app (and drag Resolve to the trash) and then install the new app.

Actually if you changed the name of the original to "Resolve 17" you could simply install the new version and have it sitting alongside the old. This works for Mac but I don't know about Windows.

If you have the money it is well worth getting the base model of the M4 Mac mini.

It's incredibly powerful . . . only downside is the tiny SSD but you can buy external SSDs very cheaply.

By the way, although Mac's storage is not officially upgradable, you can still upgrade it. Many users managed to do it. It is not straight forward like in a PC, and you need to have some technical knowledge.

What's the point in upgrading the internal storage when an external Thunderbolt NVMe will be faster and a quarter the price (of Apple's) and poses no risks?

Plus if you ever sell your Mac or it breaks down you can keep the drive intact and ready for the next machine.

There is definitely more flexibility with external storage.

I boot my M4 from a 2TB NVMe and my M2 from a 1TB NVMe and the only downside is that I can't use Apple Pay or Apple Intelligence which is no problem as I don't wish to use them.

If I did I would simply boot into the internal drive which would only take around 30 seconds.

What's the point in upgrading the internal storage when an external Thunderbolt NVMe will be faster?

No matter how fast an external Thunderbolt NVMe SSDs, it will never reach the speed of internal PCIe NVMe SSDs of the same generation.

It's faster than the base M4 mini.

Hello,
I use DaVinci Resolve 17 to make family and holiday movies.

Bearing in mind what others have said about the spec of your computer, do you really need to upgrade?
If V17 does what you need, why change?

I am still using Adobe CS6 because it can (still) do more than I can. Also, I can't justify Adobe subscriptions.
If you are not earning money from Resolve there is no need to upgrade.

It's faster than the base M4 mini.

If both are of the same generation, it is impossible that an external SSD is faster, or even close to the speed of internal SSD.

External NVMe SSDs with Thunderbolt 4 (Theoretical 5 GB/s) has a real-world speed of approximately 2,800 MB/s and 3,000 MB/s in rare cases. However internal NVMe SSDs Gen 4 (PCIe 4 Theoretical 32 GB/s) has a real-world speed of approximately 7,000 MB/s and 8,000 MB/s in ideal conditions.

External NVMe SSDs with Thunderbolt 5 (Theoretical 10 GB/s) has a real-world speed ranging between 5,000 and 6,000 MB/s however internal NVMe SSDs Gen 5 (PCIe 5 Theoretical 64 GB/s) has a real-world speed of upto 14,500 MB/s.

Internal NVMe SSDs Gen 6 (PCIe 6 Theoretical 128 GB/s) reached a speed of 27,000 MB/s. And future PCIe 7 has a crazy bandwidth of 256 GB/s.

With external SSDs, the bottlenecks is always the interface (Thunderbolt, USB, etc) however with internal PCIe SSDs, the bottlenecks is always the SSD itself

That is why PCIe will always be much faster than Thunderbolt.

The M4 mini SSD is only around 2700MB/s

My advice is to never go with the minimum system requirements, unless you have no other choice. I always prefer to double the specifiactions for a smooth Resolve operation.

I think that's good advice. Realistically, I think you can get even better performance with much more RAM, especially on Apple Silicon Macs (where the RAM is used for both CPU and GPU operations).

I've often said, "there's no such thing as too much hardware for Resolve. 128GB is great, 256GB can work, too." Fast SSDs are important as well, particularly for large Raw files.

Of course, a modest Mac Mini M4 Pro can work for very simple projects, but I wouldn't try to run with less than 16GB (preferably 32GB).

The M4 mini SSD is only around 2700MB/s

How is that even possible?!
That is even slower than the 11 years old NVMe SSD Gen 3.0 (3,000 MB/s to 3,500 MB/s)

Something is definitely wrong becouse the latest Mac Mini should support at least PCIe 4 if not PCIe 5.

Nothing wrong.

That is how it is made and is normal for the base model.

All out speed is not everything . . . a bit like in the 1990s when everyone (mis) judged computers on the speed of their processors or around 2000 when everyone wanted the highest number of megapixels on their cameras.

The M4 mini SSD is only around 2700MB/s

You are right .. I found this speed test for the M4 Mini in Youtube:
https://youtube.com/shorts/IxJP8zvpezs?si=5csm0WefsvFIZCj4

But it still doesn't make sense to me!

I found this video for SSD speed test in M4 Mini Pro:
https://youtube.com/shorts/lGT3601AsyM?si=jLrgQz9PgfvVHraK

And its reached above 5,000 MB/s which is acceptable for Gen 4. Yet I did not understand why it is so slow in the non Pro M4 Mini!

So, I checked Apple website but as expected from Apple, they do not publish important technical details such as the PCIe bus generation.

After I searched other websites, apparently all M4 Mini support:
1- PCIe 4 bus
2- Thunderbolt 4

And M4 Mini Pro:
1- PCIe 4 bus
2- Thunderbolt 5

This means any internal SSD Gen 4 should easily reach a speed of 5,000 MB/s or more just like in M4 Mini Pro. Unless there are some technical differences, my guess is that Apple is intentionally throttling the speed of the internal SSDs in M4 Mini to push people toward buying the more expensive Mac Mini Pro.

However the worst part is that Apple charging customers $800 for an upgrade of 1.7 TB while you can buy a faster 2TB NVMe Gen 4.0 SSD for less than $120

If that is not a rip off, what is it then?

That's why I boot it from a Thunderbolt 2TB NVMe.

The base M4 is a bargain but once you start adding things it becomes yet another expensive Mac.

That's why I boot it from a Thunderbolt 2TB NVMe.

The base M4 is a bargain but once you start adding things it becomes yet another expensive Mac.

It seems now you have the option to directly replace the internal SSD for fraction of the cost:

There's no point.

It's not worth it as you will probably ruin your Mac and definitely lose the warranty and an external Thunderbolt will to all intents and purposes be the same but with the added flexibility that you can keep it if you ever sold the computer.

There's no point.

It's not worth it as you will probably ruin your Mac and definitely lose the warranty and an external Thunderbolt will to all intents and purposes be the same but with the added flexibility that you can keep it if you ever sold the computer.

Why it would ruin your Mac? It is a direct replacement without any modifications, so it should not also affect the warranty!

As for why, its cheaper and faster than external SSD, at least in the M4 Mini Pro and M4 Studio.

It's rather fiddly getting into the machine and there are a lot of things that need moving carefully.Only someone with skill should try it. I have seen experts crack the base cover trying to remove it.

It's not like a Windows computer where you just undo a couple of screws and slot something in.

That's the one drawback with Apple products . . . they are not user modifiable unless you have a death wish.

The moment you open an Apple computer the warranty is void and Apple would know because there would be a non-standard SSD as evidence.

Hardware Requirements: Hello everyone,
I'm a little unsure about the DR 19 or 20 requirements.
I've only been playing around with the program for a couple of weeks now, so I'm very new to the whole thing, but for making videos of our family trips and other sports videos with my cycling club, once I've read and watched the first tutorials, I'm already able to use the app to those minimum requirements.
I've currently installed the beta version on my current computer, a 2019 iMac with an i5 and 8GB of RAM, and a 4GB Radeon 570x card, and I haven't had any issues (at least for video and audio editing, and the color module).
I'm in the process of purchasing a new computer, a MacBook Air with an M4 chip and 24GB of RAM. Will this be enough equipment to work smoothly with these simple projects, with no more than eight tracks between video and audio, titles, and some common effects and transitions, using the current stable version, DR 19?
Thank you very much…

Alex
Google Tralate

Your iMac should be able to cope with your workflow.

Unless you wish to spend unnecessary amounts of cash the basic £599 M4 mini will blow the iMac out of the water with at least 3 times the performance (speed).

You will of course need a cheap 1TB (£60) external SSD.

Your iMac should be able to cope with your workflow.

Unless you wish to spend unnecessary amounts of cash the basic £599 M4 mini will blow the iMac out of the water with at least 3 times the performance (speed).

You will of course need a cheap 1TB (£60) external SSD.

For other reasons and use cases, i've selected the 15" MacBook with 24GB and 512GB of SSD.
I already have a drive to share projects from the 2TB iMac (Crucial X9), which reads/writes at almost 1Gb/s...
I want to give my videos a touch of quality with DR, both travel and sports, although I don't need quality beyond 4K, since my recording equipment is also modest and these videos will ultimately be uploaded to YT.

Thanks for your response, Ian.

What do you mean by "quality"?

Many people mean aspects like the sharpness of the image. If that is the case DR will not give any improvement over iMovie or any other NLE app.

The only way DR will improve your movies is by giving you more precise control of the effects you want to achieve . . . which will probably be wasted on 99% of your viewers.

Amongst the general public there is the misconception that more expensive editing apps will somehow give sharper images just as they believed more expensive DVD and BD players would improve the visual experience.

What do you mean by "quality"?

Many people mean aspects like the sharpness of the image. If that is the case DR will not give any improvement over iMovie or any other NLE app.

The only way DR will improve your movies is by giving you more precise control of the effects you want to achieve . . . which will probably be wasted on 99% of your viewers.

Amongst the general public there is the misconception that more expensive editing apps will somehow give sharper images just as they believed more expensive DVD and BD players would improve the visual experience.

You're absolutely right. By quality, I mean being able to add more precise, smooth, and customized effects than those typically included in other applications such as "iMovies", "Capcut" or similar. Additionally, after rendering with these applications (I've tried several of these), artifacts often appear, and each processed video seems to lose some "sharpness" (I don't know how to put it exactly), and the result isn't as smooth or clean as the original video, aside from the mandatory color corrections for sports action shots where it's difficult for an unprocessed original video to be completely accurate in terms of exposure, contrast, etc.).
I'd like to think, since I'm just starting out with DR, that by applying color corrections and some effects to give a personal touch and more consistency to the final video, DR will better resolve the final rendering. I also agree with you that my "followers" (who are my family and a relatively small group of loyal friends, ha ha ha!) won't be able to appreciate the intrinsic quality of the video in 99% of cases, but I hope that the editing and effects applied don't detract from the video's true quality and that it's more enjoyable to watch.
At the moment, my content is only based on a modest 4K action camera with a maximum speed of 30 fps, so I'm not starting from any professional quality, even from a good amateur, but little by little I'll acquire higher-performance equipment.
Of the basic applications I've tried, e.g., iMovie, Insta360, Capcut, etc., and even DR level applications like Premiere or Final Cut, these are just as versatile, and not as cheap, since you have to purchase other applications within their framework, and that's not worth it... The one I liked the most is Capcut, due to its ease of use and very useful pre-programmed tools. However, if I want to access its full potential (the free version is increasingly restricted), I'll end up paying the price of a lifetime DR license in a year's subscription. Add in the fact that I can edit photos with precision and have a spectacular audio studio, which, even if I don't use it to its full potential, is always available...

I'm still learning...

Thank you very much.

If you haven't bought Resolve Studio yet don't get it.

Use the free version at least to learn on. It has everything except for the Magic Mask and Voice Isolation which you may never need.

You are limited to exporting nothing higher than 4K at 60fps but I don't think that will apply to you either.

If you later discover that you need these extra features you can get the Studio version.

One last thing . . . iMovie is a much more capable app than many people realise until they really get to grips with its features and I don't fully understand what you are saying about deteriorating image quality.

The Apple Support Communities iMovie forum has experts willing to help with any problems.

https://discussions.apple.com/community ... ces/imovie