Which Mac Silicon chip and how much memory to run Komplete Ultimate?

David S
David S Member Posts: 3 Newcomer
edited August 6 in Tech Talks

I use Logic Pro, and have Komplete 14 Ultimate on my current MacBook Pro, a 4 year old 2019 with 2.3 GHz 8-Core Intel Core i9 and 16GB of unified memory with all the NI instruments on an external hard drive. I spend too much time trying to call up instruments - it's slow and frustrating. It's time for me to upgrade to a more powerful MacBook Pro. I'm considering either a refurbished MacBook Pro with an M1 chip or a new Mac with an M2 Pro or M2 Max and 32G to 96GB of unified memory with and a 4TB internal SSD (I travel so don't want to use an external hard drive). Unfortunately, the amount of Unified Memory one needs dictates which chip one has to purchase. (for example, the entry M2 limits one to 16GB of unified memory while the most powerful chip allows you to get 96GB). So I guess the first question is how much Unified Memory. I'm not a power user or producer. I use Logic to sketch out songs so use 12 to 32 tracks. Can any of you MacBook Pro users suggest a configuration that will run my projects fast and smooth? Thank you!!

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  • Rico010
    Rico010 Member Posts: 80 Helper

    Hello :) I assume you mean 16 GB of RAM, not MB, is it?

    I’ve got a 2020 13 inch MacBook Pro with M1 cpu, 16 GB ram, 512gb ssd + 2TB wester digital my passport ssd (nvme I guess). I am a hobbyist producer myself, not a professional. Usually my track count reaches 20-30 or so as well (but I use Ableton). And it works good. Sometimes I use Freeze-Tracks (Ableton Live) with NI/Izotope stuff to lower CPU usage.

    If you can get M2 Pro with 32GB ram and 4 TB ssd, is should be a killer laptop ;)

  • David S
    David S Member Posts: 3 Newcomer

    Thanks for your input. Yes, I meant GB.

  • JesterMgee
    JesterMgee Member Posts: 2,099 Expert
    edited August 6

    Well first before selling your kidneys for a new machine, it would be ideal to find what is the cause of your issue.

    If you have your content on an Ext HDD (not an SSD) that is likely the main cause for loading delays and a simple SSD external drive would fix your issue. Of course a whole new machine with enough internal SSD would also fix the issue but why spend $2k+ when maybe $100 can solve the problem you have?

    Without knowing what you load and how much memory your projects take (something you can easily check in the memory manager of macOS) it is impossible to say what you would need for memory but I would think 32GB would be sufficient since anyone creating anything that needs any more than that would know they need more.

  • David S
    David S Member Posts: 3 Newcomer

    thanks for the help. I didn't mention that my external drive is SSD.

    Best ,David

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