The MacBook Pro vs. MacBook Air for Music Production debate came up lately on an apple discussion. It has Thunderbolt 3 ports, a Retina display, a new trackpad and keyboard, and a modern Intel processor. Apple has maintained the 12 hours battery life, which is great for music production while traveling. Check Price on Amazon. A tech news video about the new 2020 MacBook Pro 13'. Is it good for music production? Well, my answer would be 'yes' if you don't rely on certain plugin (li. MacBook Air – Mac laptop for Music Production Under $1000 Another great option for Apple product enthusiasts who don’t wish to spend that much money is the MacBook Air. Offering only a 13 inches display, the MacBook Air lacks in usable screen area, but compensates in overall mobility and portability, making it one of the best laptops for. MacBook Air and MacBook Air Retina are both great options; however, MacBook Pro models are overall the very best Mac devices for music production. When it comes to MacBook Pros, there are, again, all fantastic options, regardless of the year or size.
- Macbook Air For Music Production
- Macbook Pro Music Production Best
- Macbook Pro 13 Music Production
- Macbook Pro Or Air For Music Production Software
- Macbook Air
For the music producer, Apple’s new Macbook Pro 2016, requires quite a bit of upfront investment.
The first thing I wondered when I saw the Macbook Pro being introduced is how am I going to plug in my Cubase dongle? Let alone the many other audio hardware a typical music producer owns – from audio interfaces, MIDI controllers to drum pads & DJ controllers.
The Macbook Pro has been stripped off all traditional USB ports USB-C ports instead.
Well to use the latest Macbook Pro for music production, you’ll have to invest in about $250 of dongles & special cables.
The New Macbook Pro For Music Production
The new MacBook Pro 2016How will the new MacBook pro do for music production? It’s lighter, thinner and it comes with a nice new ‘touch bar’. The MagSafe power connector is gone, which is a shame really as it was a useful safety feature, so your Macbook does not fly off the stage if someone happens to trip over the power cable.
You can still use traditional USB2.0 & USB3.0 devices with USB-C
I don’t know what type of musician or producer you are, but you’re bound to have some controller or audio device that connects to your computer via USB. How to connect your USB devices like audio interfaces and controllers to the Macbook Pro then?
The good news is you can buy a USB-C to USB 3.0 cable, which would work with USB2.0 devices as well. But this means changing all the cables you have in your studio, which can get pretty costly.
Another alternative is to buy a dongle like the USB-C Hub to USB-A, for all your connection needs.
It does not end there. Those dongles are needed to connect your audio devices. What if you take pictures as well or have an audio recorder like the Zoom H6 that uses SD cards? Well, another SD card USB-C card reader dongle for you.
You plan to connect your Macbook Pro to an external monitor in your studio? Yup, another USB-C to VGA adapter for you unless you’re waiting for the said new LG monitors that will be built with Macbook Pros in mind.
This might not be a deal breaker for many music producers, but I don’t like the idea of carrying so many different dongles. They get broken quickly and worse, you’re bound to forget a dongle and mistakenly leave it behind when you travel.
What about the new “Touch Bar” for music production?
Since Apple developed Logic Pro X, we would think some kind of Touch Bar feature will be built for it. But it seems like while every creative app, like Final Cut X, Numbers & Pages got updated with Touchbar support, Logic Pro X did not.
I must say, the Touchbar feature looks amazing and cool. There are so many features that I could think off, would be really cool on the Touchbar. For example, imagine using the Touchbar as a transport bar, MIDI controller or a mixing control surface to mute/solo or perhaps tweak some pan pots.
Touchbar seems like a nice feature for the music producer, but do you really need it? I figured using a touch screen to control the knobs and faders on a DAW would be much more intuitive than trying to fiddle on a thin Touchbar strip.
The new Macbook Pro can only have max 16GB RAM
Only max of 16GB RAM on the new MacBook Pro 2016. Good enough for music production?As a music producer, producing with lots of VSTs and effects through the years, you probably know how important RAM is for your setup.
Before you throw hate on Apple, understand that the Macbook Pro is a laptop. It is designed to be small and portable. If you’re looking for super serious production work, it’s best to get a desktop unit or something like the iMac 27.
The reason why the Macbook Pro only limits up to max 16GB of RAM is possibly to make up for its higher battery life. Some users also noted that the MacBook Pro is using an LPDDR3 RAM which uses more power as compared to DDR4, in which surprisingly Apple did not put in.
However that being said, it’s still possible to do serious production work on a Macbook Pro. The SSD speeds on the MacBook Pro will aid with any heavy audio recording or processing in the studio or on the roads.
It also has a bumped up battery life to 10 hours between charges, so producing music on the road will be a breeze.
Isn’t the MacBook Pro a little expensive?
MacBook Pro are expensive for starters in music productionThe standard 13-inch MacBook Pro (without the Touchbar) starts at $1499 instead of the previous pricing of $1299. And this model is without the TouchBar, which in my opinion, kind of defeats the purpose of upgrading to the new MacBook Pro. Besides, the entry Macbook Pro also comes with only 2 USB-C ports which is quite a deal breaker for music producers.
I used to recommend fellow music producers who wanted a Macbook Pro, to go for the base 15-inch model as it comes with higher disk space and also with a maxed out 16GB RAM. It wouldn’t be worth the price difference if you were to get the 13-inch model and upgrade the disk space and RAM.
However, the new MacBook Pro 15-inch model now starts at $2300 and even higher for people in Europe at €2799 (which is reported to be a 50% increase in price from the last pricing).
Macbook Air For Music Production
Even though Apple is a company that prides on their higher priced products, the price increase this round has caused lots of grumbles. Many users are talking about going back to run on a refurbished 2015 unit instead of getting the new Macbook Pro 2016.
Macbook Pro Music Production Best
Switch To Windows For Music Production?
Mac used to be the computer you want to get if you are into music production. But that isn’t the case anymore these days. There is no reason why you can’t produce great music on a Windows based computer system.
In fact, I’m using both the Mac and Windows for music production. The ONLY complaint I probably have for a Windows machine is the absence of a robust audio driver like CoreAudio on a Mac.
There is also a few great reasons why you would consider the switch to a Windows machine. Again, I’m not biased and this is not a Windows to Mac debate, but it’s cheaper to start off your music production journey on a Windows machine. You get more power for the price you pay for in most Windows based machine.
Some MacBook Pro alternatives for music production
Here are some great laptops you can consider if you’re in for the switch to Windows. The laptops recommended here are near the Macbook Pro in terms of portability and battery life.
1 – Dell XPS 13″ (Kaby Lake)
Coming with a new 7th generation processor, this is one of the best MacBook Pro alternatives you can find for music production. The Dell XPS is super portable, and it also comes with an excellent battery life, said to last up to 14 hours on web browsing – better than a Macbook Pro.
The laptop also comes with touch display, which can be used to control your DAW. For $1399, the highest model, you get an i7 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD and a beautiful 3200 x 1800 touch display.
2 – Microsoft Surface Book i7
If you’re into full portability, consider the Surface Book i7. The Surface is easily mistaken as a tablet PC with touch display but is in fact pretty powerful for music production.
The Surface more towards a mid-range to a high-end computer but you get lots of performance while it being extremely portable as well with 12 hours of battery life. At $2699, you get an i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and also a NVIDIA graphic card.
The Surface wouldn’t be a great choice if you’re into high graphic work, but for music production, the touch display and the performance it comes pack with are superb.
3 – ASUS GL552VW
This laptop packs lots of power at the expense of having less battery life. It’s a gaming laptop but a good choice for music production as well.
It comes packed with an i7 processor and RAM upgradable up to 32GB, and this laptop is a powerhouse when it comes to processing and recording audio. Another thing to note is that it comes with an SSD and also a 1TB mechanical hard disk. This means you can put your system files on the SSD and your samples on the mechanical hard disk.
The cons to the ASUS GL552VW ROG is sadly that ASUS shipped many laptops that had graphic driver issues. I suspect it’s a hardware issue, but there is no solid answer. Just make sure you test the laptop thoroughly to check for any fault when you receive it.
4 – Microsoft Surface Studio
Not a portable computer but it definitely caught the eye of many creative professionals. It looks near to an iMac, but it’s more than just a regular computer.
The Surface comes with 28″ touch display, giving you lots of display screen real estate. The 4500 x 3000 Pixelsense display also gives you true colors, which would be amazing for design – showing you the actual colors. Upgradable up to 32GB RAM and has plenty of ports of all your audio hardware, it also comes pack with lots of CPU power with a
What really makes the Surface studio shine, is the Surface dial. It’s a new accessory that works with the Surface studio by just placing it on the display.
Imagine the things you could do with the Surface dial, from drawing in automations, using it as a fader and more. We don’t know the possibilities that it can do for now, but pretty sure more support for it will be launched soon.
Your Turn – Thoughts For The New MacBook Pro for Music Production?
What do you think about the new MacBook Pro and how will it fit into your studio?
Let us know in the comment section below. Will you stick to Apple and buy the MacBook Pro or is it time to look for an alternative?
What is Audiobus? — Audiobus isan award-winning music app for iPhone and iPad which lets you useyour other music apps together. Chain effects on your favouritesynth, run the output of apps or Audio Units into an app likeGarageBand or Loopy, or select a different audio interface outputfor each app. Route MIDI between apps — drive asynth from a MIDI sequencer, or add an arpeggiator to your MIDIkeyboard — or sync with your external MIDI gear.And control your entire setup from a MIDI controller.
Macbook Pro 13 Music Production
Download on the App StoreAudiobus is the app that makes the rest of your setup better.
edited November 2013 in General App Discussion
Hi guys, I have some question not really related to Audiobus. It is regarding the Macbook Pro.
I plan to change from Windows to Mac end of this year for some reason:
-Current laptop is old, already 7 years
-I don't own any audio interface or sound card, so for windows it need ASIO driver to let the DAW sound, and this ASIO freaking me up recently.
-My apogee Jam didn't work with windows.
So, I plan to choose the cheapest Macbook Pro (without retina) with 8GB ram, I want to ask that if this sufficient for music production? I might be using Logic Pro. Normally I am making Rock Instrumental music.
I choose the Macbook Pro without retina because it is cheapest among other Macbook Pro and it gives 500 GB Hardisk, although SSD for retina is fast, but it is very expensive to get the same capacity.
Macbook Pro Or Air For Music Production Software
Anyone can have some advice?
Macbook Air
Comments
- You should probably add an SSD to it, no matter what. It just makes the whole machine SO much faster. Then use an external connector via Thunderbolt to add storage space.Also there's probably no reason to get a Macbook Pro - the current Macbook Air is fast enough and a bit cheaper and more portable.
- This is the spec that I would like to choose13.3-inch without retina display
2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor (Turbo Boost up to 3.1GHz)
8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 memory
500GB 5400-rpm hard drive - edited November 2013Thanks for fast respond, it is because this old Macbook Pro are able to upgrade to SSD later (if I am not mistaken), so I plan to get the SSD after it become cheaper, is it worth to think about?
- You could do that. The non-retina macbooks are the only ones that can still be upgraded like that.
- A MBP will be more than fast enough for music production, I use one here in the studio for mastering and mixdowns, works great. SSD is a huge improvement if you can afford it, MUCH faster than even a 7200 RPM drive.
- You could also get any recentish (~2 years) MacBook Pro used and after 7 years of that other laptop your face will fall off when you use it!The one you have specified will amaze you. Plenty. SSD is really nice but can totally be skipped.
- If you plan to use Reason at all in the future, you might want to consider the $150 upgrade to the 2.9 Ghz i7 processor or a used or refurbished model with a faster processor. I was using a 2010 2.4 Ghz i5 Macbook Pro with 8 GB ram, and I used to run into some overload problems whenever I had lots of tracks and effects, but since I upgraded to a 2013 Macbook Pro with the 2.9 Ghz i7 processor and 8 GB ram, I haven't had any overload issues. I haven't used Logic Pro, so I'm not sure if you'd run into issues with it. I'm guessing since it's made by Apple, it would be pretty optimized to run well on any of their computers, but if you plan to have more than a few tracks or lots of effects having a slightly faster processor would probably be worth the extra $150. Another thing to keep in my is the screen size..my old computer was a 15' and the new one is 13' and I did feel the difference. So when I'm doing music stuff, I plug into an external monitor a lot more than I used to. The 13' is nice for portability though.
- Thanks for the advice, definitely, I will upgrade to SSD in the future when it become cheaper@chelster , the overload issue is not because of the RAM? Seems like you have the same RAM capacity in both MBP.Yes, I already consider to get an External Monitor because I am used to 15 inch, so 13 inch will be a different for me.
- Hi everyone!I am thinking about getting a MacBook air for music production. I found some offers online for refurbished ones for around 700$.Does anyone have experience with refurbished macbooks for apps like Ableton, Cubase?Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciatedThanks
- I'm looking for a getting a light weight sound card as well. Suggestions for that will be great as well!
- @solea said:
Hi everyone!I am thinking about getting a MacBook air for music production. I found some offers online for refurbished ones for around 700$.Does anyone have experience with refurbished macbooks for apps like Ableton, Cubase?Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciatedThanksIf it doesn’t have 8GB of ram installed then it’s not worth it. You can’t change the ram on the MacBook Airs either. And I’m not 100% on this but I think it utilizes 1 processor instead of 2-4 found in the Pro models. I feel like it could work but you may feel limited after a while - Why, get an iPad Pro, Auria with all plug-ins (or AUM if your intention is to play live) and an Apogee One. Done, you're ready.
- The MacBooks and MacBook Airs are really week, regardless of RAM. If you cannot get the real deal (MacBook Pro), and since you have around $700 to expend, I'd rather get an iPad 2017, an Apogee One and invest the rest of the money (if any) on Auria and some Fab Filters.
- @theconnactic said:
The MacBooks and MacBook Airs are really week, regardless of RAM. If you cannot get the real deal (MacBook Pro), and since you have around $700 to expend, I'd rather get an iPad 2017, an Apogee One and invest the rest of the money (if any) on Auria and some Fab Filters.I agree with this honestly. It just depends on your workflow but I haven’t produced on my MacBook Pro since I started creating on my iPad. You can definitely start and finish on the iPad. Sure there’s a learning curve but the tools are there and they’re cheaper as well. I actually use the focusrite scarlet interface with my iPad and it works just fine. But that’s my take on iPad Pros for music production - @solea said:
Hi everyone!I am thinking about getting a MacBook air for music production. I found some offers online for refurbished ones for around 700$.Does anyone have experience with refurbished macbooks for apps like Ableton, Cubase?Any suggestions or recommendations would be appreciatedThanksBefore someone recommend you his/her workflow you should say more about what kind of workflow you want and what music/sound you will achieve.
So depending on what resources you need and how mobility is a factor it could be everything from an iPad to a macbook pro. - i run logic pro x on my MacBook pro (not the latest model, the one before that) and it works like a charm and i love it.
- Imac pro to come in december.
A lot of things to discover!!
Love that!! - @RulesOfBlazon said:
i run logic pro x on my MacBook pro (not the latest model, the one before that) and it works like a charm and i love it.Same with my MacBook Pro 2012 but it’s showing it’s age for sure. But for $700 it would be hard to get a MacBook Pro that’s comparable to yours or any of those retina models - The question is also what tools are needed. While iOS is great it lacks big part in high quality FX and sample libraries.
Record some synths, guitar and stuff, all is fine.
Orchestrial things..no way in iOS yet.
If you happy with what iOS offers, great. If you want to replace a macbook/notebook with all bells and whistles and REALLY use it..no way for an iPad Pro to replace that.
Many people says it´s cheap. Yes and no. While some similar or the same apps are cheaper, some others are more expensive or cost the same and having less content.
You get what you pay for - @YZJustDatGuy said:@RulesOfBlazon said:
i run logic pro x on my MacBook pro (not the latest model, the one before that) and it works like a charm and i love it.Same with my MacBook Pro 2012 but it’s showing it’s age for sure. But for $700 it would be hard to get a MacBook Pro that’s comparable to yours or any of those retina modelsI saw used ones for this price..but yeah, it´s always a risk to buy used old stuff. - @flo26 said:
Imac pro to come in december.
A lot of things to discover!!
Love that!!Lol..starts at 5k or so. And will still be underpowered and throttle like hell.. - edited November 2017@Cib, Indeed you’re right about orchestral work needs not being met yet by iOS: it’s currently one of the only things I still have Logic X for (the other being flex pitch for vocals when needed).P.S.: and it’s a shame, because Lyra played has shown that with the lightning fast SSDs used in current iPads, we can disk stream large libraries with ease.
- @theconnactic said:
@Cib, Indeed you’re right about orchestral work needs not being met yet by iOS: it’s currently one of the only things I still have Logic X for (the other being flex pitch for vocals when needed).P.S.: and it’s a shame, because Lyra played has shown that with the lightning fast SSDs used in current iPads, we can disk stream large libraries with ease.For me there is also a lot more but we anyway can´t recommend stuff if no one knows what´s the goal
IPhone and macbook works still best for me yet. But i looked at the new iPhones today and don´t think that my next phone will be an iOS anymore too. I really don´t like them. What is gimp software used for. The iPads are great indeed but i just fail always to get in love with it really. Maybe one day again. - While a MacBook Air might be good enough for a lot of music tasks, I have a feeling that in use it might not be a huge change from your 2012 MBP depending on the specs.
- I had a similar situation 1 year ago, wanting to jump ships from Windows to Mac.
I did a test with GarageBand by adding more and more tracks of synths, most of them Alchemy, all of them playing an 8 bar pattern in a loop.
MacBook Air 13' got me 17 tracks before starting with CPU overload messages.
MacBook Pro 13' Retina got me 27 tracks.
MacBook Pro 15' Retina got me 70 tracks.
I used the smallest, cheapest version of each of these. - I wouldn’t ever buy a Air.
Actually I wouldn’t buy any newer model but go for a far more connected(USB ports eg) old-ish MBP. - @mschenkel.it said:
I wouldn’t ever buy a Air.
Actually I wouldn’t buy any newer model but go for a far more connected(USB ports eg) old-ish MBP.The MacBook Pro Model may 2015 is a good choice. Look for Apple refurbished on Apples website. These models also still have a slot for SD cards, cards with 256GB are available out there. Probably already with 512? - @mschenkel.it said:
I wouldn’t ever buy a Air.
Actually I wouldn’t buy any newer model but go for a far more connected(USB ports eg) old-ish MBP.I’ve been mixing quite a few projects lately on a 2011 Air with 4gb ram, working great and very portable. I do have to be careful with using waves abbey road plates and ir1 at the same time, but it is working. Not huge track counts by any means (look up Gospel According to Broadway on YouTube if you want to hear it) but the portability and speed of the Air is working well for me.I don’t use logic pro but my understanding is that it wouldn’t have a prayer on this machine. However, reaper runs great as does Harrison Mixbus, which are my programs of choice.As always, YMMV!