Apple goes to ARM

The Lounge Other Gear
1877

It’s a bit of a wait and see but yeah, I can see myself priced out of the MBPs for sure. My one gripe with the current Airs is the screen. I picked up one of the new iPhone Pro’s and the difference in screen is very noticeable to me. Once you’ve experienced the top displays it’s tough to go back! My 2018 MBP display is probably comparable enough (maybe worse?) than the newest MBA displays but having tried a new MBP in person - oh boy, they are great to sit in front of.

I’m ranting a bit and I don’t even have a need for a new Mac yet. This thing I’m typing away on still works great. There’s been no issues with what I chuck it in Live or with the (limited) gaming type stuff I do on it from time to time. So, no rush - maybe I should start saving now actually ha!

One thing that is worth pointing out though is that Apple’s service, from experience, has been stellar. They fixed my MBP’s battery issues earlier in the year when it was out of warranty for no charge at all, for example. With how they fix the batteries these days, I got a lower case that was actually in better condition than when I handed it in (it had a very small nick in the frame).

Agreed on the iPad thing though. I don’t like the optics of revising prices of stuff already out though. 20% hikes on the iPad mini is pretty poor IMO when there will no doubt be a revision in a few months time anyway.

1878

My one gripe with the current Airs is the screen. I picked up one of the new iPhone Pro’s and the difference in screen is very noticeable to me. Once you’ve experienced the top displays it’s tough to go back! My 2018 MBP display is probably comparable enough (maybe worse?) than the newest MBA displays but having tried a new MBP in person - oh boy, they are great to sit in front of.

I have a MBA M1 for personal use/hobbies (photo + music) while working with a MBP M1 Max, and yes, the screens are different with ProMotion and everything but I personally don’t consider such a massive difference that annoys me on the MBA M1. And I use the MBP 8 hours/day.

I know this is very personal but sometimes I feel like these screens are already so fucking good anyway that you should really consider if you’ll feel that much of a difference after using them for a while. I personally don’t feel any difference anymore, it’s like my brain has adapted and see both screens as pretty great in their own contexts.

Just my 2 cents so you don’t price yourself out of the MBA due to a feature that wouldn’t be that valuable over the years.

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1879

Good to know!

You’re right that I’d just get used to it. Apple know what they’re doing when putting them side by side in their shops though - the bastards!

Another thing that surprised my quite a bit was the weight difference between the Air and the new MBPs. I know the clue is in the title with “Air” but when playing about with that for a bit and trying closing the lid and lifting and all that kicking the tyre jazz we all do and moving over to the Pro it is super noticeable. Again, like you say, something you would get used to either way but it makes my 16 inch MBP feel super heavy now which is ridiculous considering some of the crazy laptops I’ve had over the years.

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1880

Another thing that surprised my quite a bit was the weight difference between the Air and the new MBPs.

This is exactly what made me pick the MBA!! Before I had only owned MBPs (3 of them since 2010) and after a few years without a personal computer I was waiting for maybe an iPad M1 with a DAW (perhaps Bitwig could do it at some point?) or perhaps the new MBP M1 to launch until… I checked out a friend’s Air and it was basically all I wanted: ultra-portable as an iPad but with the ergonomics of a normal computer, with the bonus that I could use every software I’m already used to.

It was the first time in my life that portability was a consideration and I think it’s the best computer I’ve ever owned, in general. Powerful enough for all my hobbies needs, portable to move around the house, to the studio, traveling, etc., the battery lasts forever.

Not trying to make an ad for it, hahah, I’m genuinely impressed how much I’ve liked the machine so far, had it for a little more than a year and don’t see much need to upgrade to something else for the foreseeable future (M1 16GB RAM and 512GB of storage, have an external SSD for additional storage).

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1881

Yeah, the new Pros are too chunk for me. The 16” is massive. I’m hoping they do a 15” air in a year or two. That might be the upgrade for me.

I’m not a fan of the vent slits on the side of the new MBP’s either, it’s super gnarly and sharp to me. When I’ve been tyre kicking in store also I find that a put off. The Air is much more pleasant to grab and pick up from the side and without that sharp metal vent factor.

1882

I believe it’s just a chip change with no chassis alterations. Obviously Apple can suprise in that department but the suggestion is it will be exactly as per the M1 design.

Yup, a lot of the reviews say that even the entry level MBP is to some extent overkill for music production. That seems in part due to the way the initial M1 machines surprised everyone by coming in as faster than most pre2019 Macbook Pros and even some full blown Mac Pro.

I see exactly what you mean though. I keep looking at that MBP and the iMac and think, Apple is signalling to me that the iMac (my usual workhorse for music and when I used to work in design) is no longer a pro machine, and the MBP is what the iMac used to be. Yet all the test results suggest the new consumer machines are plenty good enough for music and a fair few daily design tasks. Yes the MBP is faster. But if you’re not using the machine for work, (in that it puts food on your table), then you might not need the pro. As others have found, the MBA is actually pretty good and perfectly capable of running music software.

I’m assuming you mean M1 vs M2, and it’s true. I tried looking for benchmarks and it looks like it’s a moderate difference in performance, and that’s including the ability to spec the machine up to 24GB RAM vs the 16 limit on M1.

I might be wrong, but the way I read it, M1 was a massive upgrade in CPU power across the board, which has big implications for music production. But the updated M2 chips are leaps forward in GPU capability, with moderate speed increases for music production. And given the coming price increases, that makes M1 a potentially nice bang for buck in terms of price & features.

This is probably the most important point. Personally I have a budget and I stick to it, and while Apple products are costly, they also last. I feel the temptation to get a Mac Studio, but that takes me far, far over what is in my budget for a machine, and the reality is as a hobbyist, that level of power and financial investment is tricky to justify. I am interested to see how Apple plays the next few years. Historically, personal experience shows me that Apple desktops lave lasted 8-10 years and laptops 5-6. This is also similar to what I see on forums. Lots of folks are upgrading early 2010’s desktops, and late 2010’s laptops at the moment. We know the M1’s are fast, but will they last? Any less longevity makes the up front investment in a machine that will go the distance harder to justify.

1883

The Mac Studio is probably the best bang for buck going for the raw performance. You can stay within that previous 15” price range and get a killer machine, but of course you’ll need a screen and all that. Then just have an Air for the cruising around stuff. That’s the way I’m thinking of going but again, no rush.

1884

Ventura is out today. Anyone take the plunge yet?

I haven’t been following the beta, but there’s usually a rough consensus on how compatibility-breaking a new version of MacOS is, especially on the audio side. Any sense of what the verdict is this year?

1885

Ive just had a quick nose around the web but not seen any mention of Ableton / Bitwig etc experiences. Of course the Audio Interface also often a pain so usual waiting game

1886

I bought an M1 a few weeks ago.
Never had a Mac before ang got a bit tired after 10 years on Linux to have to troubleshoot quite often.
Somehow i got lured and intrigued by the M1 and thought « Mac is famous for being a close circuit so no hassle in exchange for less freedom ». I was wrong.
Many apps are closing unexpectingly, i had great troubles compared to Linux to find basic and functional apps (like just a music player!?!) and cherry on the cake i ran out of memory after loading just a few plugins in a DAW (i have a 16GB RAM model).
Turns it’s nit what i was dreaming if for a honeymoon, maybe i was used to too much freedom on Linux.

1887

Sounds more like you have a machine that has some sort of hardware fault…

I have an M1 that runs pretty much 24/7 and crashed once in the course of the last year…
pre-installed Music (itunes) is a built in basic music player…
I can load tens (even hundreds) of plugins in bitwig/logic/Ableton with only 8GB of RAM…

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1888

Do you know how to figure that out?

Does it depend on the kind of plugin? Like Izotope 10 seems to be demanding a lot of resources for instance.

1889

My M1 Mac Mini is crashing and rebooting on shutdown again. :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

1890

Definitely doesn’t sound right.

What DAW? what version? Are all plugins up to date? Are you running Silicon Native plugins or X64? Running in Rosetta 2 mode or native?

1891

Either Logic Pro or Ableton Live 11.

As for plugins, I mainly use Izotope 10 suite and FabFilters. AFAIK they are both M1 compatible so they are run in native mode.

1892

https://www.sweetwater.com/insync/what-does-macos-13-ventura-mean-for-musicians/

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1893

Lots of info here regarding Ventura…

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1894

Do you get the “send report to apple” screen?
If so, what does it say in the crash logs

1895

I’ll try to check it out next time the overload happens (which means next time i use a DAW…) unless i can find the folder where the crash logs are located.

1896

MacintoshHD/Applications/Utilities/Console.app

Look under diagnostic reports.

1 Like