I can report I bought the exact same one and had no issues either, though I still want the official one to go with everything else Elektron that I own 
I used an Air for music production back in 2010, with the SSD and a C2D chip, and while I didn’t use it with Overbridge or lots of plugins, my setup then was Maschine MKI and that was it, but I used a lot of tracks at once, and even did quite a bit of video editing and such and everything was fine. The SSD made so much of a difference. I say good RAM, an SSD, and a modern processor should suit you well, as long as you dont’ worry about the ports like everyone else is saying. I do a lot on a 2013 MBP 2.7 GHz Intel Core i7 w/ 16gb of ram and it has handled everything quite well, even though I’ve beat it up a bit haha.
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I’m keeping an eye on this new MacBook air. I have a windows desktop, and a mbp from 2011, and in contrast to OP I would actually like to move completely over to windows. But the thought of having to do without that sweet, sweet trackpad freaks me out a bit. And core audio is pretty nice also 
The thing that worries me about these machines is the low base clock speed, and the turbo functionality. Anyone have any issues with the throttling on the CPU?
This ^
That is exactly my concern, and the limited testing I’ve done on my daughters 2019 MBA shows that it’s very stable (which is a good sign). The test I’ve done is to install the Bitwig demo, and play the project called “cycles”, and watch the cpu tracker. In this case it hovers at about 33%.
I think the real average cpu clock speed is higher than 1.1 GHz, as boost is 3.5 GHz. Also I’ve heard that the T2 chip may help with audio processing but need to confirm that- if true it could explain why it punches above its weight for DSP.
That sounds promising Looking forward to hearing about your findings when you get it
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All Apple’s current laptops only have USB C (actually Thunderbolt 3), so it’s not really an issue with the Air as such. I just have my USB stuff plugged into my Arturia Audiofuse, and a USB Micro to USB C cable to connect it to my MacBook Pro. A USB C hub also easily solves the problem - it doesn’t have to be a more expensive Thunderbolt 3 hub, unless you’re planning on moving serious data around (4k video files, etc). MIDI and Audio don’t need that kind of bandwidth. I wouldn’t let it put anyone off using a Mac laptop for music.
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FWIW - This is what the BitWig Studio demo playing the “In Cycles” project looks like on a 2019 MBA using core audio. To be clear this is NOT the 2020 MBA, as I have not received it yet
Standard OOTB settings (256 samples, 44.1Khz)
I typically use 128 samples and 48Khz, so here is what that looks like:
I ran at 48Khz over lunch in a loop (45min), and the notebook was cool, and there were no audio glitches. While the DSP graph is pretty full, this project is more demanding than my typical projects.
I just received the USB-C cable, so I’ll test this with the DT as sound card to see what impact that has.
If any one else wants to try this to see how their system compares, just download the Bitwig studio demo, configure the audio, load the project called “In Cycles”, hit play, and open the DSP tracker.
Edit: I hooked up the DT to the 2019 MBA with Overbridge and it works. I did have to reinstall OB because it wasn’t seeing the DT at first. I ran the same test with the “In Cycles” sample project. On the same 128/48K settings it does use more CPU, but it did handle it without audio glitches.
Best regards,
Gino
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For example Ableton Live after being launched takes almost a minute before I can use it.
Also the overall system is slow…
I think it mainly happened when I moved from Mountain Lion to High Sierra…
My 2011 i7 MBP is still working. I have 16G RAM and a 500G SSD installed and it starts up Ableton in a few seconds. It can handle plenty of tracks and plugins. I’m on Sierra.
Do you have a SSD installed in your iMac? That will speed you up a lot if you don’t already.
A clean install of your OS should also help.
Definitely worth trying before shelling out for a new machine.
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thank you, no SSD, 1tb hard disk.
Ableton launches immediately, it takes 1-2 min to be operative.
I’ll try to clean and to reinstall OS and Ableton
SSD is a ‘no brainer’ before buying a new machine. Also High Sierra has the newer filing system so after getting a new SSD HD, if its still not performing, you could trying going back to Sierra, which is what I’m running on my MacBook. I take it you have also played with your latency settings trying higher buffer settings and running at either say 48KHZ/24 Bit or 44.1KHZ/24 Bit etc?
Hey man. I’m sorry to tell you this but I ordered 2020 MBair i7 with 16gb of ram. Man when I would fire up my uad Apollo and Ableton the fans would just kick on full speed. I like to use Omnisphere and it just chokes up after 2 instances are loaded. I have a 2017 dual-core i5 mbpro that outperforms this thing. Sadly I just sent it back to Apple. The new keyboard is great, definitely going to miss that.
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Ouch, that’s a bummer, but thank you so much for being honest! Sometimes the truth hurts And I just watched a video that made me think this was going to be a success.
Since I already ordered it, I’ll let it arrive an give it a shot. Same spec as you, i7 with 16Gb RAM and 512Gb SSD. No ship date yet, the order is still “processing”.
Edit: I cancelled my MBA order, and opted for the 2020 13” MBP.
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Give it a try. I’m reading some folks are having issues with the recent UAD drivers and Catalina. Very well could be that causing me issues on the new machine. Curious to see how it performs for you. Fingers crossed things go better for you.
It’s looking very likely that a new 13” MacBook Pro will land in June/July.
The pro will cost significantly more than the Air, but could last longer as an investment.
Using the current pricing it’s about $1000 USD more, and damn that’s a LOT of money for a notebook!
I made some performance predictions for the Air, and if it works it will be slightly faster than my current Windows system, which would be amazing considering the size and portability.
The major concern is that not only do we have 1 Elektronaut sending a 2020 MBA back due to thermals, but sustained workloads for music software will be higher in the future (future proofing). It’s very rare that new versions use less cpu, and that is the designed limitation of the Air line to make the Pro line viable.
Theres some hope that Apple optimizes MacOS further to manage thermals, but if they are moving away from intel chips in 2021, most of their R&D will be focused on migration to ARM.
Good grief, I’ve just convinced myself that this could be one of the worst times to invest in a Mac, but I still really want one
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I’m running Elektronauts on my 2019 Macbook Air right now, plus I have Reverb.com open on another tab. No issues so far.
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Yeah, but did you catch where he said he ran two instances of Omnisphere? There have been several discussions over the years how much of a CPU hog it is - and they’re talking about just one instance!
Are you really planning to run something just as CPU hungry?
I’m going to install Omnisphere on my daughters 2019 MBA to get a better idea of how heavy it will be on processing.
Bitwig, and Overbridge run very well on a 2019 MBA, but I need to test Omni.
@Meriphew - You’ll need a pro to open a 3rd tab for Gearslutz
Edit: Wellllllll… on a 2019 MBA Omnisphere smashed the DSP graph, and I had to go up to 256 samples, and even then 2 parts/instances had it struggling and clipping:
I know the 2020 MBA is faster, but this is looking a bit dire even before I get mine. I’m now thinking seriously about a Dell XPS, as I’m fine with some fan noise.
Edit: Or maybe a 2020 13” MBP (which I ordered today!)
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Not surprised to hear that all.
I never got on with desktop softsynths myself
New MacBook Pro 13 from Apple today
I would not get the Air to be honest
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