best version of premiere pro to run?

[Guest]

hi, I'm currently using a 2009 Macbook Pro (MacBookPro5,5), and I'm curious which version of Premiere would be optimal for this computer. it only has 4 GB RAM and 10.11.6 on it. I know this computer is obsolete, but, it is going to be replaced this year (I'm just not sure what to replace it with yet.) Thanks

[Peru Bob]

Premiere Elements or Premiere Pro CS4.

[Ann Bens]

Even the latest Elements needs a descent computer.

[Ann Bens]

Its not so much the program but the footage used.

[Guest]

I have given up trying to run anything that hardware intensive on my MacBook Pro. I've been trying to use the iMacs (21.5-inch, Late 2013) that we have on campus, but, even those machines have had issues running Premiere Pro 12.1.1 under Mojave. I could always just use these PCs we have, but the lab isn't open that much anymore.

[RjL190365]

That's a wise decision. That MacBook Pro 5.5 is only a low-speed dual-core Core 2 Duo with no hyperthreading whatsoever CPU-based system with only a 13" 1280x800 display and only a GeForce GT 9400M with only 256 MB of VRAM. As such, it cannot use MPE hardware acceleration at all in any version of Premiere Pro - not even the first version of Premiere Pro that supported it, CS5 (which still required at least 765 MB of free, unused VRAM in order to even enable that feature at all). And officially, the latest version of OSX it supports is El Capitan (10.11.x). So, technically if only the OS is considered, the latest version of Premiere Pro that you could install would have been CC 2018 (12.1.x) - but that version would have required a minimum of 8 GB of system RAM installed. This practically makes the latest version of Premiere Pro that you can install with your current hardware and software configuration to be the first (2013) version of Premiere Pro CC (as there are no versions available any longer between 2013 and 2017 due to the Dolby licensing dispute).

But even with all that, Premiere Pro will still run like a car with its wheels stuck in the mud.