Best Mac For Music Production 2015
After some careful considerations, I bought the Macbook Pro 2015 instead of the Macbook Pro 2016 to record, mix and produce music. Let me tell you why.
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Before this, I was mainly making music on an Asus GL552VW gaming laptop, which itself packed a heck of a performance at a fairly decent price.
Why did I make the change? Icorner radius 1 4 download free. It’s all down to personal preference, but I finally had enough with the issues I was facing on my Windows laptop. Of the many frustrations I had, the two major pain points were because of blue screens I was facing (my laptop came with a faulty graphics card) & the fact that I always had to use an audio interface to make music, even if I’m not recording.
Part of why I made the switch is also because I was leaning back to using Logic Pro X.
But with that said, there’s nothing wrong producing facetime music on a PC vs a facetime mac.
Even composers like Hans Zimmer, compose with Cubase on a PC system:
So this post isn’t about Mac systems being better than PCs. In fact, they’re pretty much the same and down to your preference.
Bust the myth of the elitism that unless it’s a Apple computer you can’t play music on it. If it’s a laptop, you can make music on it.
Why The Macbook Pro 2015 over the Macbook Pro 2016?
The new Macbook Pro 2016 looked honestly good. But it’s also very expensive.
I won’t talk about the design and the graphic the newer model has over, the older model since we’re mainly talking about functionality for music production. So first, let’s talk about the performance.
Performance
Undoubtedly the newer model has better performance with a newer processor. However, according to CultOfMac, the performance of the newer model is just a slight bit faster.
The SSD in the newer model is much faster than, the older version, with faster write & read speeds. This means starting up programs, and streaming tracks in your DAW would be snappier on the new Macbook Pro.
The small performance increment here wasn’t something that is worth paying more. That’s why on performance alone, I chose to buy the Macbook Pro 2015 model.
Ports
No running away from USB-C hubs with the Macbook Pro 2016The number of available ports on the Macbook Pro is important for most music producers. Even on the Macbook Pro 2015 15″, I find myself running out of ports to use, given the many devices in the studio – from midi controllers, audio interfaces, hard disk drives, etc.
Buying the newer Macbook Pro model means I’ve to get a few sets of USB-C hubs to support all the devices that I need connected to the Macbook Pro.
You might call me silly, but I’ll guarantee you, there will be a time when you will forget to bring your USB hubs to a live performance or recording session. Not to mention, hubs can easily break too.
Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to focus on the music and less on the nit-picky-ness of USB hubs.
Touch Bar
I’ll be honest with you. I tried the touch bar in an Apple Store, and it felt great. I like how you could use it to quickly move around your DAW arrangement and tweak automation or filter knobs.
However, I don’t think that it’s a huge win that will make me consider throwing more money down for it.
It’s nice to have, but not something you’ll need.
Besides, I find that if you prefer controlling your DAW physically, consider buying some hardware controllers. They’ll give you more musical inspiration, and I guarantee you that they’ll work better for music producers like us.
Here are some recommended DAW controllers:
Icon Pro Audio Platform
A control surface with motorized faders to control your DAW & plugins. Set up fast with quick auto-mapping features with major DAWs, such as Logic Pro X, Cubase, Pro Tools & more.
Price: $349
Korg nanoKontrol 2
An inexpensive and compact DAW controller that provides you with 8-tracks to control major DAW software. The slim designed nanoKontrol makes it easy for placement even in front your laptop.
Price: $59.99
Behringer X-Touch Compact
Featuring 9 touch-sensitive motorized faders to control your DAW, instruments and plugins. It connects to your Mac or PC, while also working as a MIDI interface, should you need to plug in any MIDI devices.
Price: $399.99
The Macbook Pro 2016 Keyboard
The lack of key travel on the new MacBook Pro 2016, is a huge disappointment. Other than making music on the computer, I also write a lot.
Having tried the new butterfly keys, I immediately felt that I needed an external keyboard. I don’t see myself writing a lot with the butterfly keyboard. It felt like tapping on a solid touchscreen and was very hard to get used to. Optitex free mac.
Mini Mac For Music Production
Not to mention, typing on the butterfly keys are also much noisier. Perhaps it’s time to disturb your co-producers in the studio with your loud typing.
I felt the keyboard on the earlier model was much more functional & so I’m staying more productive with it.
Price
When Apple launched the new MacBook Pro 2016, they dropped the price of the 2015 model.
This seemed like a no-brainer to get the 2015 model at a price drop, given that performance impact in the new one was not too significant, and when producing music, you’d definitely need more ports.
Acorn 6 3 3 quart. You get as much as $300 savings on the MacBook Pro 2015 that does near the exact same thing as the newer model, so in my case, I see why not.
Conclusion
I intendedly missed out on many details that could make the Macbook Pro 2016 more appealing to you, such as the smaller size, touch ID & Apple Pay and the bigger storage.
However, the reason I left them out was that I felt they don’t make any significant difference to how you would record & make music.
It’s probably a bad time to buy a MacBook Pro currently & it has been advised that you should wait for the next MacBook Pro if you can wait. As for myself, I needed a new laptop, so I took the jump and went for the 2015 model.
Which MacBook Pro model are you using to make muic now? Would you have bought the 2015 or 2016 model if you were in my shoes? Let me know by commenting below.
The Best Apple Computer For Music Production In 2019
It’s not easy to buy a new mac for music production. Many models are just too expensive and many of them are too slow because Apple is still using dual-core CPUs on some of their models.
If you want to produce music without any compromise I would really recommend you at least a mac with a 6 core CPU in 2019. We had 4 core CPUs for the last 6 or 7 years and I think it’s time to step it up. If you analyze Apple’s recent lineup there is a clear winner in terms of price/performance ratio but let’s save that one for later
Let’s start with Apple’s Laptops:
The first model we’re going to look at is the Macbook 12 inch.
If you analyze the specs it offers either a 1.2 GHz dual-core Intel Core m3 or a 1.3 GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 with only 8GB Ram and a 256GB or 512GB SSD. While this laptop could be a great portable office machine it just won’t be able to keep up with modern DAWs and Plugins. The biggest bottleneck is the dual-core CPU followed by only 8 GB of RAM.
Now let’s look at the MacBook Air
You pretty much have the same problem with the “Air” models because they only have a dual-core CPU and only 8 GB of RAM. I wouldn’t recommend those for music production.
Let’s move on to the MacBook Pro
Here you need to differentiate between the three different 13-inch models and the two 15 inch models:
The MacBook Pro 13 inch starts with a 2.3 GHz Dual Core model and offers a 2.3 GHz Quad-Core at the top configuration that even can be upgraded to 2.7 GHz which will increase the price to up to $2099. But if you can afford to spend 2k on a laptop I would strongly advise you to get the 15-inch MacBook Pro with the Touch Bar. For only $300 more you get a strong 6 Core CPU, 16GB Of Ram and a 256GB SSD.
Conclusion:
If you want to get yourself an Apple laptop and you want to make music you either can get the MacBook Pro 13 inch with a Quadcore for $1799 or the MacBook Pro 15 Inch with a 6-Core for $2399. I really wouldn’t recommend you to get the MacBook Air or the Macbook 12 Inch. While they’re great and portable machines, they can’t give you the power that you need for music production.
What about the iMacs?
If you want a desktop solution Apple offers their iMac line that combines the processing unit and the display in one single device. My decision is pretty easy here:
The first 21.5 inch model with the dual core is slow. Forget about it. The next model with a 3.6 GHz Quadcore is decent but it costs $1299 while the 6 core iMac starts at $1499. Trust me, invest $200 more for the 6-Core CPU and thank me later. If you decide to get a 27 model, choose any model because they’re all great with 6-Cores. The only upgrade I would recommend is increasing RAM from 8GB to 16GB, especially if you use large Kontakt libraries or plugins like Spectrasonics Omnisphere
iMac Pro:
There is not really much to say about the iMac Pro. Great machine that has its price starting at $4999. You can even configure it with 18 cores. If you have that money you probably don’t need to read my guide here and don’t need my help
Mac Pro:
The Mac Pro is pretty much outdated in 2019 and will be soon replaced with a new model in 2020 (If I believe the rumors) so no need to spend so much money on an outdated model.
Edit: June 22rd, 2019, Apple announced the new Mac Pro starting at $6000. Just like with the iMac Pro if you can afford that machine go for it!
Mac Mini:
This is the most interesting Apple computer for music producers? Why? Because of its great price-performance ratio which makes it the Best Apple Computer For Music Production. For only $799 you already get a Quad-Core 3.6 GHz processor. Add another $300 and you have a 6-Core. You can even upgrade the RAM yourself if you’re careful as Apple uses SO-DIMM sockets in their recent Mac Minis. Another advantage compared to the iMac is that you pretty much get the same computing unit but can pair it up with any monitor you want. Want to connect a 34 inch widescreen Monitor? No Problem! Want to take your Mac Mini with you when traveling to make music in a hotel room? No Problem. Now imagine having an iMac and not being able to take it with you on a trip or to your friend’s music studio. There are even small portable screens available for people who want to be as mobile as possible.
Music producer @theonlydanja is using such a setup that consists of two portable Asus Zenscreens, one Mac Mini, and a UAD Arrow audio interface
A post shared by DANJA (@theonlydanja) on
And that’s why I think the Mac Mini is the Best Apple Computer For Music Production in terms of performance, price, and mobility.
Drey Andersson
Music Producer & Founder Of TheMusicProducersBlog
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