Something old, something new. Which Mac (for now)?

Hi Tony & Jojo - thanks for answering.

Perhaps this is a question with no definitive answer. Tony has confidence that this will all work, and Jojo less so, which is absolutely in-line with the mixed reports I'd heard elsewhere. I have heard stories like Tony's where things do work OK - although as JoJo says, you're on your own in terms of support at this point. I definitley wouldn't upgrade my sotware if I had a recent-ish Mac model that was running smoothly.

The hardware question is a tad trickier. I've come to a point where I would like to upgrade, but these sticking points are making me think more than twice about it. The comment below from NI essentially says that there will likely be issues - specifically with regards to the Macbook Pro models. It sounds like standard M1 chips are (maybe?) less problematic compared to the chips in the Macbook Pro. If anyone has any additional views I'd be really interested to hear.

Thanks Kubrak - I was about to edit my post to say exactly that. And I appreciate your thought that you should always look for full compatibility with the specs of the machine. So that's the can of worms fully opened!

As of today, I'm seeing these options:

• Intel Mac (old/new or otherwise). Pro: Stable performance with NI for the near future. Con: Potentially a shorter shelf life of the machine, as Apple will want users on their M1 architecture ASAP.
• M1 Mac (Mac Mini/iMac): Pro: Some users reporting that this specification will run NI & other software just fine in Rosetta. Con: Still not fully compatible, and could be limited in the long run.
• M1 Pro Mac (Macbook Pro etc). Pro: Best for future proofing your machine. Con: Literally might not work at all with NI and other software.

I just noticed that Apple is actually still selling it's Intel Mac Mini. In fact, it's positioned as the expensive option vs its own M1 Mac Mini's. It looks like can be maxxed out with some pretty tasy specs and it has loads of ports and the kind of hardware a producer needs.

That said, the way the system requirements shows up in the Maschine Mikro specs, this reads like M1 is OK, which would suggest that an M1 standard chip could work. Some say that 16gb of RAM in the iMac is way faster that 16gb in an Intel machine would ever have been. That route looks good but still has a few unanswered questions about how viable it is in the long term.

Hi @Jojo123 - thanks - I thought I was overthinking it hah! I'm completely with you that an Intel Mac is likely not the best way to spend at this point.

I've noticed some prominent Youtubers use NI stuff. A lot of these people have also said the Mac Mini is a viable option for M1. But I also notice a lot of them talking about now having the confidence to get the Macbook Pro, partly because of the RAM point from @Kubrak

I'd never get an 8GB machine, and my original intention (before I heard about all the M1 stuff) was 32GB Macbook Pro for a bit of future proofing. And to be honest, that's still the ideal solution, whether that be in the MBP or another Mac. I also hear there's an update to the Mac Mini coming (possibly even in the announcement from Apple tomorrow.)

Meantime, I am minded to just hold off on the purchase of both the Mac and the NI stuff for at least a few months - even though I'm chomping at the bit to get into the NI fun. I got my old (now unsupported) iMac out of the box yesterday and although the specs are a bit low by modern standards of SSD's and Unified RAM, they're not terrible either (16GB RAM, i7 processor, 1TB storage - Fusion Drive). I may hang back for a few more months, and then if there's little to no movement, I might start using that with the MM and M32, even if it's slow. At least I can use it to try the software and play around before moving up to something more modrn. Hopefully by then, we'll know more about which machines play nice with the NI hw/sw.