Isadora 3 will run on almost any contemporary Mac or Windows computer, however, your system requirements may vary based on the scope of your project. 

Supported Operating Systems and Processors

Isadora 3 is supported on macOS 10.14 (Mojave) through macOS 13 (Ventura) with a 64-bit Intel or Apple silicon (ARM/M-series) processor, and on a 64-bit version of Windows 10 through 11 with an Intel or AMD processor.

  • Window 11 is supported with Isadora 3.1.1 and later.
  • macOS 13 (Ventura) is supported with Isadora 3.2.6 and later.
  • macOS 12.x (Monterey) is supported with Isadora 3.1 and later.
  • macOS 11.x (Big Sur) is supported with Isadora 3.0.8 and later.
  • macOS 10.15.x (Catalina) is supported with Isadora 3.0.6 and later.

Apple Silicon (ARM/M-series) Processors

  • Running Isadora natively on an Apple silicon (ARM/M-series) computer is supported with Isadora 3.1 or later.
  • On Apple silicon (ARM/M-series) computers, Isadora 3.0.8 and earlier can be run by enabling Intel emulation (Rosetta) mode for the Isadora application.
  • If you encounter any difficulties related to Isadora, please contact our tech support team.

Minimum System Requirements

These baseline specifications will provide reliable performance with video playback, video effects, live video capture, and output to one or two displays.

For HD video playback:

  • Intel, AMD, Apple silicon (ARM/M-series) 64-bit processor, or dual-core 2.0 GHz i5 Intel processor or equivalent
  • 4 GB RAM

Recommended Specifications for eight or more channels of HD video playback, 4K video playback, or outputting to multiple displays:

  • Intel, AMD, Apple silicon (ARM/M-series) 64-bit processor, or quad-core i7 Intel processor or equivalent
  • 16 GB RAM or greater
  • Dedicated AMD or NVidia graphics card
  • Solid-state storage drive with a 1500 mbps transfer rate or higher

We recommend you carefully research computer equipment to find the best option for your project needs and budget. If you’re looking for help finding the right computer, feel free to post on the TroikaTronix community forum to ask for suggestions. Many Isadora designers and artists have found success using a wide range of computer hardware and are eager to share their knowledge.

Unsupported Hardware Platforms

Isadora is not supported on:

  • Computers with multiple discrete GPUs that have not been properly configured
  • Computers with external graphics cards (eGPUs)
  • Some tablet devices such as the older versions of the Microsoft Surface Pro
  • Computers that run macOS on non-Apple hardware
  • Windows computers with ARM processors
  • Windows computers running in S Mode or Tablet Mode
  • Virtual machines (including cloud-based processing)
  • Linux machines

Running Isadora on machines utilizing unsupported hardware configurations may have unexpected and undesirable results in terms of performance and usability.