Which Mac!! HELP

[jebroad]

I’ve made the mistake of wanting some sort of apple computer. Oops. I’m really indecisive and cannot choose what would suit me best. I come seeking help to the wisdom of basschat. My budget is around a grand but I would like to set 300 aside for software (probably ableton). 

So far I’ve seen;

plenty of referb 2011-12 MacBook pros

some Mac mini’s of a high spec. 

And a few iMacs of a good spec 

I don’t know if I should get something windows though, as the 2011-2012 Macs will not be updated by apple in the next 2 years. 

Looking forward to hearing your opinions

cheers

[bertbass]

There's no doubt, imho, that Apple is the way to go.  If your not going anywhere with your computer and you've got a spare monitor sitting around the the Mac Mini is a very fine machine, just get the highest spec you can afford.  No monitor, then get an iMac, again the highest spec you can afford.  They both come with Garage Band for free and Logic would cost you £199.99p, https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/logic-pro-x/id634148309?mt=12 and Logic is about as good as you can get.  Opinions will vary of course.

[itsmedunc]

Bear in mind that newer Mac's aren't hardware upgradeable (not sure if that is 100% true for the whole range but suspect it is). You would need to be sure that what you can afford will do exactly what you want it to do as, there's little scope to add later. I'm not really one for buying Mac's new and so I'd look for the last model in your chosen format that is still upgradeable. I've had an iMac and a mini and now running a Macbook Pro. All are great machines but moved to Macbook for the portability. The more ram the merrier really. Logic is a great piece of kit as is Mainstage. 2 screens is a good idea too.

[Marvin]

I run a Mac Mini. Nice piece of kit. I've upgraded the hard drive to an SSD and it would be very straightforward to upgrade the memory. It's a flexible way of getting a Mac as you can buy whatever peripherals you want really. 

[Bigwan]

Until recently I had a 2012 mac mini 2.3Ghz that I upgraded to 16gb RAM and an SSD. It was pretty sedate before, but it was BLISTERINGLY quick with the upgrades

The only thing to be aware of is what age of hardware the operating system supports. With each osx update another "generation" of macs is lopped off. Even as fast as it was, the mac mini I had probably wouldn't survive another update after Mojave... Not the end of the world, but software upgrades will eventually squeeze you. 

[itsmedunc]

9 minutes ago, Bigwan said:

Until recently I had a 2012 mac mini 2.3Ghz that I upgraded to 16gb RAM and an SSD. It was pretty sedate before, but it was BLISTERINGLY quick with the upgrades

The only thing to be aware of is what age of hardware the operating system supports. With each osx update another "generation" of macs is lopped off. Even as fast as it was, the mac mini I had probably wouldn't survive another update after Mojave... Not the end of the world, but software upgrades will eventually squeeze you. 

Quite right in what you say. My Macbook is a similar spec (need the 16gb upgrade soon though) and it's great. I often wonder how long an older Mac without support would last most of us for Logic, if we used it to it's full potential? I'm no pro and using Logic 10.4. I couldn't operate Logic 8 to it's potential before I moved to 9 etc etc. If I thought of my Macbook as a tool to use Logic for a specific task, mostly, I think I could probably get away with a 2009 unibody, core 2 duo with 4 gig ram. Most recording I do is basic and lets face it, many a good old tune was knocked up on an old Atari!

I suppose it all depends on how intensive the machine is to be used.

 

[Frank Blank]

MacBook Pro, all the way.

[ambient]

I've got a MacBook Pro, late 2012 model that I've had from new. It was fitted with a new SSD early last year. I use it for Logic Pro X for hours each day, it copes fine. If anything happened to it I would certainly buy another. I use iCloud as a backup, it also means I can access my files from any device anywhere which is brilliant. I've only got the standard 4gb of RAM and have never really had a problem, it depends I guess what you're going to be doing with it, I run some quite processor-hungry plugins in Logic sometimes without a problem.

[Biggles]

Windows pc or laptops suck.

Macbooks are great but costly.

Our iMac simply works, is fast and it does everything, the drawback being it was quite expensive.

There was an Apple Keynote the other day and the Mini and MacBook Air are both being upgraded.

£1000 is not going to get you anything new from Apple!

A Mini with 16G  and 512 SSD wil be £1400

Macbook Pro with 16Gb and 512 SSD is over £1800

The cheapest is a MacBook Air 8Gb and 256Gb SSD at £1150

I would suggest that 16Gb of RAM is the minimum you should ideally include and 256Gb SSD being the smallest hard drive.

As for software Logic Pro at £200 is all you need,

Additionally budget for another external USB hard drive to Backup the Computer Operating system and to Backup personal files

 

Edited November 2, 2018 by Biggles

[ambient]

Do you know someone who’s a student?

Apple offer great student discounts, I think I got 40% off mine.

[Guest McBass]

Don't buy a retina screen because of the de-lamination issues that weren't solved. I'm on my 3rd screen.

[pineweasel]

17 minutes ago, McBass said:

Don't buy a retina screen because of the de-lamination issues that weren't solved. I'm on my 3rd screen.

Not heard of this one. At work we all use Retina MacBook Pro’s, now 5 years old with no screen problems. 

The keyboards on the latest models are another story though....

[bubinga5]

Second Hand Mac Pro. Update to OS Mojave. I have a 2014 MBP and it is so quick. 

[project_c]

I still have a 2012 imac, running Logic and Adobe CC without issues. I’ve maxed out the RAM on it, and it’s been fine. The only slowness happens when I use AfterEffects for really big projects but for audio it’s been great. I’ll get a new iMac when it dies.

The new laptops: I have a brand new Macbook Pro which I got given at work, curious what people dislike about the keyboards? I hate the keyboard on that laptop but I can’t figure out what I hate about it. I know that I mistype stuff on it all the time and that trackpad along the top is incredibly annoying. The features on it are great, but as you type your fingers invariably touch it by accident and you end up deleting stuff by accident etc. So I would avoid the trackpad personally, it’s a poorly implemented addition.

The computer itself seems fine though. Latest Adobe stuff is buggy as hell but that’s another story.

[Leonard Smalls]

9 hours ago, Biggles said:

Windows pc or laptops suck.

Somebody's got to bite!

Windows based computers are just as fast and easy to use as Apple are, just a lot cheaper for the same spec.

After all they often use the same processors! But it appears that getting used to one OS or the other makes you rabidly defensive of it. But at the end of the day, both can be equally annoying...

So if you're of a techy mindset and would be happy with Logic, get an old HP server with octacore Xeon chipset and 96Gb RAM and run Linux on it. Ableton won't work... Or you could just run Windows and Ableton.

If you're keen on Apple get a refurb old editing/graphics machine, same chipset and RAM and run whatever latest Mac OS it'll support plus Ableton.

Both these options would be £5-800. And 96Gb RAm!!!

Alternatively, you could do what i did and buy a made-to-spec laptop from PC Specialist. I got i7 with 16Gb RAM, 256Gb ssd and 1 Tb HD 17" one for £700. I run Ableton... Admittedly the motherboard failed after 4 years - £160 - but that was unusual! 

But add all that to a large touchscreen monitor for mixing, plus controller midi keys, Scarlett interface and a pair of Adam f5 monitors and you've got an instant studio for less than a similar spec Macbook...

[Guest McBass]

11 hours ago, pineweasel said:

Not heard of this one. At work we all use Retina MacBook Pro’s, now 5 years old with no screen problems. 

The keyboards on the latest models are another story though....

https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/apple-staingate-macbook-pro-replacement-program-extended/

[jebroad]

I’ve just been offered a mid 2012 MacBook Pro retina. 2.6Ghz i7 16gb RAM and 512 GB ssd. He’s made me and offer of 600 for it. Thoughts?

[jebroad]

Or, I’ve been offered a grand for a 2015 MacBook Pro retina, same ram and storage but with a 2gb r9 gpu. 

[EMG456]

7 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

Somebody's got to bite!

Windows based computers are just as fast and easy to use as Apple are, just a lot cheaper for the same spec.

After all they often use the same processors! But it appears that getting used to one OS or the other makes you rabidly defensive of it. But at the end of the day, both can be equally annoying...

So if you're of a techy mindset and would be happy with Logic, get an old HP server with octacore Xeon chipset and 96Gb RAM and run Linux on it. Ableton won't work... Or you could just run Windows and Ableton.

If you're keen on Apple get a refurb old editing/graphics machine, same chipset and RAM and run whatever latest Mac OS it'll support plus Ableton.

Both these options would be £5-800. And 96Gb RAm!!!

Alternatively, you could do what i did and buy a made-to-spec laptop from PC Specialist. I got i7 with 16Gb RAM, 256Gb ssd and 1 Tb HD 17" one for £700. I run Ableton... Admittedly the motherboard failed after 4 years - £160 - but that was unusual! 

But add all that to a large touchscreen monitor for mixing, plus controller midi keys, Scarlett interface and a pair of Adam f5 monitors and you've got an instant studio for less than a similar spec Macbook...

You beat me to it there. It’s funny how the Mac myth persists especially when they’ve all been built for years now with similar architecture. Yes, design does count and for years Apple had that aspect sewn up but there are now many premium Windows based machines available which look and feel every bit as good.

You will almost certainly get more for your money if you go Windows but what OS you buy is really just down to personal preference.

[Leonard Smalls]

8 minutes ago, EMG456 said:

Mac myth

And they don't get viruses...

And they make you more attractive to the opposite sex...

😁

[Owen]

11 hours ago, Leonard Smalls said:

So if you're of a techy mindset and would be happy with Logic, get an old HP server with octacore Xeon chipset and 96Gb RAM and run Linux on it.

I am SO not of a techy mindset. The hours of my life that I wasted trying to configure soundcards on PCs still make me sad. I have only had to configure stuff on Macs a couple of times - but their prices are INSANE. I could honestly do all I need on a computer on a £249 netbook - apart from Logic. Talk me through Logic on Linux?

[Leonard Smalls]

12 hours ago, owen said:

Talk me through Logic on Linux?

I'm afraid I was having a senior moment - instead of typing "Ardour" my ancient fingers wrote "Logic"... 

However, Ardour is a decent DAW , and it's open source.

[Owen]

28 minutes ago, Leonard Smalls said:

I'm afraid I was having a senior moment - instead of typing "Ardour" my ancient fingers wrote "Logic"... 

However, Ardour is a decent DAW , and it's open source.

Ah well, it was exciting while it lasted

[Biggles]

Windows still sucks.

Yes a Windows laptop is far cheaper than an Apple Macbook but plug anything MIDI related and it may or may not work, the soundcard is likely to need tweaking to be a able to get the controller to work, the list goes on.

Mac’s just work.

[Owen]

Macs do just work. But they should for that kind of money.