General TourPro Computer and iPad Requirements by Type

TourPro supports a variety of systems and below is a guide of system requirements. For the sake of simplicity lets classify your users/needs into one of the four categories below

INTEL MACS 2019 and Earlier

At this time these Macs are no longer supported by Apple and are not supported by TourPro 2025 and later. Please replace them with M1 or greater laptops. iPads CANNOT be used for video/critique recording as they lack input capabilities.

Android Support

At this time, Android devices are not supported for running competition, Judge screens, etc. They can however be used to connect to the TourPro Web admin screens for general registration management/editing via a web browser. There are no immediate plans to support this platform.

Windows PC Support

TourPro supports Windows 10 and 11 systems for all general purpose administrative uses. We do NOT support them for ANY media role – this includes Critique recording, HD Recording or Photo management. Due to general platform stability issues media frameworks, Windows itself and a significant variety of hardware configurations and compatibility issues our Media systems are Mac based. You could use PCs in your own workflows but those will have to be managed outside of TourPro and cannot be guaranteed by us.

Supported OSes and When to Upgrade your OS

As companies like Apple tend to release OS upgrades every year in September/October that can contain MAJOR changes underneath it is not recommended or supported to upgrade any production system that runs your events at that time. We get the final OS release the same time as the public and need to test our software to help certify its compatibility, stability and support. This also depends on third party software/hardware (Video capture devices, audio interfaces etc) being updated to support the OS.

Our general advice (and we will be letting everyone know) is to hold off on major OS upgrades until the Thanksgiving/December breaks in order to make sure TourPro and 3rd party vendors get their bugs worked out before upgrading to that major OS. Running on the latest version of last years OS release until then is likely going to be the safest route.

What should I choose…MacBook Pro or MacBook Air?

MacBook Pros and MacBook Airs are very similar with a few notable exceptions. MacBook Pros by nature come with larger screen sizes and more ports than their MacBook Air counterparts. Because of this, more intense positions like Tabulation (where seeing multiple windows at one time) is easier on a larger screen. In addition to the larger screen, the additional ports built into the MacBook Pro reduce the need for additional and even expensive adapters or docks (in most cases) reducing the chance of something going wrong due to a part failure or disconnect.

Here is what we typically recommend based on use:

Office/Admin – MacBook Air / MacBook Pro / Windows PC / iPad
Tabulation – MacBook Pro 16″
Critique/HD Video Systems – MacBook Air for common or MacBook Pro if leveraging for a larger Production
Photo Capture Systems – MacBook Air
Judge Systems – iPad or MacBook Air

How Much RAM do I Need?

For any basic administration/judging systems 8GB of RAM is the minimum. In ANY OS It will work for running a couple applications, email, web browsing and running TourPro itself either in the App version or the Web version. In regards to web browsers, the more tabs you have open the more RAM that will be consumed. It is highly recommended you have 16GB for the majority of your systems and any additional RAM will only help to improve performance of your systems overall.

Video Recording (Critique OR HD Sale videos) 16GB is a minimum requirement and 32GB is highly recommended.

How Much Hard Drive Space do I Need?

Typically speaking, the more the merrier however there are some basics. In all cases for best performance we recommend the use of an SSD storage system vs the old spinning disks. Any new system purchased now will likely come with an SSD as default. For external hard drives we also recommend you use an external SSD for moving files around as they are multiple times faster than standard and cheap USB-C/Thunderbolt hard drives. For your user types and their computers heres what we recommend:

Office/Admin System – 512GB
Tabulation System – 1TB
Critique/Photo/HD Recording System – 1TB
Judge System – 512GB Minimum 1TB Recommended

Since office systems typically deal with smaller data (email, documents, PDFs etc) we we would recommend 512GB as you are likely to not fill that role, unless they like to download and work with a lot of photos and videos.

For the other systems – Tabulation, Judging, Critiques, Photos etc we recommend 1TB in order to have enough space to store multiple events data on it (Photo and Video related) without the need to delete anything.

What are the iPad Requirements

iPads are great as judge screens and secondary monitors to your laptops. We recommend iPads that are no older than 4 years. They do not need to have cellular service (unless you want to work on an iPad while on the road). Below are the base requirements for iPads for use with TourPro. As the iPads for judging are simply used to connect to your Tabulator (where all the data is stored) the requirements are pretty minimal and the base model iPad is more than sufficient in this case.

• Runs iOS 17 or Later with the Latest iOS recommended

• 32GB Storage

• WiFi only models are minimum required, cellular isn’t a requirement but can be used outside of the event.

The typical configuration is for iPads to act as the judge input screens however many users opt to have TourPro installed locally to their iPad for remote compatibility. In this case, you may opt for a Wi-Fi and Cellular model that way there is no dependency on a physical WiFi network.

TourPro Tabulation Standard Equipment Recommendation Overview

In addition to the basic computer/iPad requirements above – there are other hardware pieces needed for tabulation. The requirements for a TourPro Tabulator are pretty simple with all items available via Amazon, B&H or Full Compass:

1. Wireless Router – We recommend Netgear Nighthawk Series for smaller events and Netgear Orbi Mesh systems for larger events.
2. Ethernet Cables for the Tabulator and each Judge System (iPad or Mac/PC)
3. Macbook Pro with the specs in the above table for “Tabulation Systems”
4. BlackMagic Ultrastudio Recorder 3G for Video Recording
5. Thunderbolt Cables (Not USB-C) for the BlackMagic Ultrastudio Recorder
6. USB-C to Ethernet Adapters
7. Recommend: USB-C Docks that have Ethernet built in to allow more devices to connect
8. If you’re using iPads as Judge systems – USB-C to Ethernet adapters (with power) or or Lighting to Ethernet Adapters for older iPad models.
9. Focusrite 18i16 USB-C Audio Interface (4 microphone inputs).
10. XLR Cables that can run the length from where your judges are all the way to where the Focusrite audio interface will record them.
11. HD Video Camera with SDI recommended – but you can use an HDMI to SDI Splitter for longer distances.
12. Blackmagic SDI Distribution – splits your
13. Multiple SDI cables of various lengths depending upon your setup.
14. XLR Microphones for judges to talk with – Shure SM57 or SM58 are common
15. USB-C Cables
16. USB-C External Hard Drives for backup of Media/Critiques

TourPro Syncing App vs TourPro Web App

TourPro supports both an App that is installed on your computer as well as a web version that can be accessible by any web browser. The web version and app version are near identical with the App version providing offline access to your data (during events) and the web version lacks certain pro features like media recording and management.

The TourPro app version requires at minimum a device with the specs above.

The TourPro web app can work on any device, iOS, Android, Android Tablets, iPad, Mac or PC.