Planning to buy a new computer

This Asus is superb so far. No issues, either.

Hi,

Lots of answers already but I think I will jump in (and do my first post on the new forum!). I studies and work in IT (web dev now), have tons of friends that are working in design (photoshop, DaVinci, 3D stuff, ...) and the same amount that are working seriously (not like me) with music (Live, Logic and Cubase). All that switched to the new Apple Silicon have mostly no issue with them. So I'm not a hardware guy, but I know some and use Windows, Linux, and Mac.

First, I see some peoples on the thread taking gaming computers. I believe this is a bad ideas except if you doing other stuff that music. You are paying a lot for crazy video card that you are not going to use for music.

Now, short answer: Buy a Mac, try it, if you don't like it or have unsolvable problems -> return it before 2 weeks.

Long answer: Macs are very good laptop for music => 

For years now my main computer is a Mac, mostly MacBook Pro and Air. I switch to the MacBook Air M1 with 8 Gb in Jun last year. I have to use Logic Pro with Rosetta has most native plugin are not Apple Silicon compatible yet.

=> I had no issue related to the M1 (one issue related to Logic Pro complete Kontrol MIDI mapping, but that was fixed by the Native Support)

=> M1 main goal (except increasing shareholder value) was to reduce energy usage -> thermal is much better than with old intel Mac.

=> Roseta is incredible. They translate the software the first run, so first launch may bit a bit slower. Then it's faster than any intel Mac I used. One of the key reasons why Rosetta 2 provides such high level of translation efficiency is the support of x86-64 memory ordering in Apple M1 SOC.

=> The Apple chips are ARM-based system on a chip (SoC) (so all stuff are on the same chips, which make communication between memory, or graphic and CPU very fast). They use some new stuff like big.LITTLE where you have a different core working depending of the task intensity. They are also extremely well integrated with the system (for example security chips).

=> Yet, for music, it's mostly useless to compare CPUs. For example, intel new CPU will also have a big.LITTLE architecture. They are mostly neck to neck if you compare just the CPU without the full package. I believe we are entering a new "era" of CPUs (like when intel released the core duo 2), but I'm confident intel will be part of this. M1 is simply one of the first.

=> Now MacBooks are vastly superior on a lot of other stuff. You may find another PC that is better at one thing, but not on the full hardware package and hardware integration with the OS. And the one that comes close will be the same price.

=> If you got for Mac you have fewer choices and spend less time choosing the right computer... 

=> Onboard audio is very good. Fast (for onboard) and very good output level even for 80 ohm headphone.

=> What about drivers? Today a lot of things are standard devices, especially audio cards. You still may need a driver or software that helps you control a device (Focusrite is a good example, no need for drivers but their "Focusrite Control" is still cool to have). The truth is that you may have some issue (and on Windows too), so try, and eventually return it. It's not only M1 but also MacOS new security policies (drivers cannot access the kernel directly, this is a good thing, but constructor need to rewrite their stuff). Yet most device providers propose workarounds (that are actually working), for example https://help.uaudio.com/hc/en-us/articles/360057137692-Apple-Silicon-M1-Compatibility-Info

=> Screen for example is impressive.

=> Keyboard is very good and touchpads are simply the best

=> You can connect an iPad and use it as a controller (Logic Pro and Live have an app) or as a "standard" secondary touch screen. Connected the iPad is detected like an audio sound card, you can record for example synth you may have on your iPad.

What about the price? Yeah, it's expensive. But you have to take into consideration two things. First, they do last about 1-2 years longer (sorry, I don't find the stats again, you have to trust me...). Second, they have a much better resell value, even broken. So except if you lose it (and their "find my Mac" may help you find it back haha), the total amount of money you spend on 10 years for computers should not be very different from that on the PC.

=> regarding native plugins, everything works (I have Komplete and two Komplete Kontrol keyboard) but you have to have you DAW running on rosetta at the moment. I believe things may finally change as NI recently release Kontakt that run natively on Apple Silicon.

In 35 years using Macs, I had:

• 0 Mac electronic fails
• 1 Mac casing failure (the hinges of the titanium PowerBook G4, which had a design flaw)
• 2 hard disk fails (one portable, one in a PowerBook I moved daily)
• 2 RAM fails, one probably because I changed it without proper care and the other because it wasn't properly seated in the socket when replaced by me.

My last Mac was a MacBook Pro from 2013 which I used until December of 2021 and replaced it because it came to its processing limits with Cubase 11 and because the last supported macOS is 10.15.

I don't think they break often.

I don't think they need to be replaced after 3 years because the RAM and CPU are insufficient.

Therefore:

• I replaced my MacBook Pro with a used full spec Intel Mac mini 2018 (because I need to stay on a legacy macOS for music because of the Virus TI driver)
• I most probably will stay on macOS computers because of the whole eco-system.

But:

• I hate Apple's planned obsolescence policy.
• I would not recommend a Windows user to change platform just based on hardware performance aspects alone.

Wonder if there is a "wear-off" stat for basis of opinions...

How small is small?

I just checked the Apple Store: The smallest configuration for the 14" MacBook Pro is 16GB with upgrade options for 32GB or 64GB. That „small“ 16GB is what I’ve been using for the last 9 years. No problems with that amount at all.

What is this about? Are you referring to virtual memory and swapping? How do you think virtual memory is handled on macOS X (or any UNIX)?

Well, it mostly depends on purpose you want to use it for. And also which generation of i7. And also whether you speak of notebook or desktop.