Running Ninja Trader 8 on a MacBook Pro 2015, Will it work?

[Marz408]

I have been trading the ES Futures market now for 3 years while working from home due to the pandemic and finally making progress in staying in the green. Have now been asked to return to the office at a minimum (3) days per week right but want to continue making progress. My goal is to build a trading station in my work office in attempt to continue to move forward with becoming a successful trader. For the past (4) months I have managed to stay in the green (via simulator).

So my question is, I have an old MacBook Pro 2015 (specs listed below) and was curious to know if anyone is currently trading from a MacBook Pro 2015 and will it work for Ninja Trader 8? I will not be running multiple charts or any fancy indicators. I will only have Ninja Trader and possibly Rithmic Trader Pro up.

Per the Ninja Trader website my MacBooks specs should work for what Ninja Trader recommends. What I am most worried about is my processor is only (2) core and I believe trading platforms benefit most from at least a QUAD core processor.

My MacBook is running flawlessly with no issues whatsoever.

MacBook Pro Retina 13.3-inch (2015) - Core i7 (3.1 GHz) - 16GB - SSD 512GB

• Processor : Core i7-5557U
• Processor speed : 3.1 GHz
• Processor Core : 2
• Screen size (inches) : 13.3 (Will be running 34" LG external monitor)
• Resolution : 2560 x 1600
• Storage : 512 GB
• Memory : 16 GB
• Storage Type : SSD
• Graphic Card Type : Intel Iris Graphics 6100
• MacBook architecture : 64-bits
• Turbo Boost : 3.4
• Maximum OS supported : macOS Monterey (12)

Thanks in advance, any help is greatly appreciated.

[QuantKey_Bruce]

I believe it should function via Boot Camp or similar. For years and years, I worked with a trader who used Interactive Brokers on a MacBook running Boot Camp. It was not great, but it was alright. You should try it and see if there's a bottleneck since you already own it.

[NinjaTrader_Clayton]

Hello Marz408,

Thank you for the message.

For Mac users, the easiest thing would be to use the NinjaTrader Web platform.

• To do this simply go to the NinjaTrader Account Dashboard, login, and click "Trade" on the left-hand panel.

Something to remember when using a Mac set up for one of the systems below is that it is rarely able to utilize the computer's full specifications when split.

• You will be splitting the available resources between the Windows and Mac side of the computers so the digital "Windows" computer that is created could be even less powerful than the specs you have listed.
• As well, only having a dual-core CPU could become a limitation depending on how many process the PC has to run alongside the calculations for NinjaTrader

Unfortunately, NinjaTader Desktop is a Windows application that relies on the .NET Framework to operate. The .NET Framework is only available on Windows Operating System and does not run on the Mac Operating System.

While we do not officially support running NinjaTrader Desktop on a Mac; we have had many clients run NinjaTrader on Mac hardware.

We have specific installation instructions for Parallels and VMWare Fusion, allowing you to run NinjaTrader on your Mac. Below you will find instructions specific to the available options of running NinjaTrader on a Mac computer with the virtualization tools. Please note that Windows is sold separately from Parallels and VMWare.

Mac Installation - Configuring NinjaTrader for Parallels

When installing NinjaTrader on a Mac using Parallels users will need to ensure that the following steps have been taken prior to the installation of NinjaTrader.

1. Start Parallels and select your virtual machine
2. Press the "Configure" button on the top
3. Under "Options", select "Sharing"
4. Uncheck "Share Mac" under "Share Mac User Folders with Windows"
5. Press "OK" and start the virtual machine

Mac Installation - Configuring NinjaTrader for VMWare Fusion:

When configuring NinjaTrader on a Mac running VMWare, users will need to ensure that the following steps have been taken prior to the installation of NinjaTrader.

1. Start VMWare and select your virtual machine
2. Press the "Settings" button on the bottom
3. Under "System Settings", select "Sharing"
4. Uncheck "Documents" from the "Mirrored Folders" list
5. Close the "Settings" window and start the virtual machine

Please let us know if we may be of further assistance.