M1 MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and Mac Mini

[Lady Gaia]

I'm squirming for Apple to release an iMac, knowing I'll be lucky to even hear them announce a 2022 release by Christmas. The positive aspect: forced patience! By then, any gremlins in the M1 world will have come to light to a great degree, or so I am hoping.

 

I'm afraid to be the bearer of bad (?) news, but it's quite likely we'll see an Apple Silicon iMac this year, and fairly soon if the usual leak vectors are reliable. If forced to guess, I'd put an announcement somewhere between April and June and shipping within a matter of weeks. If anything in the lineup waits until 2022 it'll be the Mac Pro replacement IMHO.

[David Emm]

I'm squirming for Apple to release an iMac, knowing I'll be lucky to even hear them announce a 2022 release by Christmas. The positive aspect: forced patience! By then, any gremlins in the M1 world will have come to light to a great degree, or so I am hoping.

 

I'm afraid to be the bearer of bad (?) news, but it's quite likely we'll see an Apple Silicon iMac this year, and fairly soon if the usual leak vectors are reliable. If forced to guess, I'd put an announcement somewhere between April and June and shipping within a matter of weeks. If anything in the lineup waits until 2022 it'll be the Mac Pro replacement IMHO.

 

Thank you! I had not seen anything definitive from that arena, as the news slowed a bit after the laptops and Minis came along. Despite normal first-gen concerns, that will help my general timetable. I'm considering a serious sea change because of the huge leap ahead the Silicon Macs represent. I've joked about marrying Omnisphere, but if there was ever a time for it...

[johnchop]

Help...I'm dense. Is Mainstage silicon native now or just compatible via Rosetta?

[Lady Gaia]

Help...I'm dense. Is Mainstage silicon native now or just compatible via Rosetta?

 

The current MainStage release is indeed Apple Silicon native. Basically anything Apple makes that is actively supported was updated with native support by the time M1 hardware started shipping to customers.

[johnchop]

Thanks! I mean, I assumed as much but appreciate the reassurance.

 

My past experience with MS was that it was a CPU hog, and particular plugins like Alchemy and the organ sim just brought my admittedly ancient MacBook Pro to its knees (compared to third-party AUs). if they"ve sorted that with the M1, then it is quite the little sound module/FX rack.

 

I suppose I can run out the headphone jack until Waves Soundgrid drivers are updated.

 

Tempting!

[ElmerJFudd]

Rumor and leak mill is suggesting Mac laptop with M2 processor. Possibly an Air offered in the multi colors the current M1 iMacs are sporting.

 

My guess is M2 chip will have beefed up integrated graphics for the 4K video editors. And a MacBook Pro hopefully will come in 32gb of RAM. Standard? Maybe not, they may cheap out and offer a base model in 16gb, but that"s typical Apple.

 

[Reezekeys]

"Typical Apple" is complaining about something that hasn't been released, only speculated on. I'm no Apple fanboy but they do seem to get a lot of this. Not pointing at anybody here, just a general observation of the tech culture.

 

I'm happily running multiple virtual instruments at a 128 buffer on an 8-year-old MacBook Pro with 8GB of ram, but... come on Apple!! Step up, you cheapskates and give me 32GB of ram to go along with the processor that's already 10x faster than what's in my hunk 'o junk! I need all that power to play Jump and Sweet Caroline at the corner bar, or get my bitchen youtube videos produced!

[analogika]

Why on earth would they standardise a base model with more RAM than most people in the market will ever need?

 

My late 2016 15" machine is starting to puff heavily under production load, with some tracks overloading the CPU, but the 16 GB RAM are by no means the bottleneck here.

[ElmerJFudd]

"Typical Apple" is complaining about something that hasn't been released, only speculated on. I'm no Apple fanboy but they do seem to get a lot of this. Not pointing at anybody here, just a general observation of the tech culture.

 

I'm happily running multiple virtual instruments at a 128 buffer on an 8-year-old MacBook Pro with 8GB of ram, but... come on Apple!! Step up, you cheapskates and give me 32GB of ram to go along with the processor that's already 10x faster than what's in my hunk 'o junk! I need all that power to play Jump and Sweet Caroline at the corner bar, or get my bitchen youtube videos produced!

 

I"ve been using Macs since Apple IIe, (lots of others too from Commodore to PC builds of my own), and as someone who is totally invested in Apple products and especially their Pro software I have to say they are stingy as all heck on RAM and storage on every product - mac and mobile devices. In fact it"s part of their business plan - designed to maximize cost for those that require more RAM and storage. They are also designed to keep users out of the innards and make it as hard as possible for users to upgrade themselves. I currently have a Mac Book Pro circa 2009, 8gb of RAM. I yanked the internal hard drive because it was too small to hold the OS, Pro Apps and content. It runs Logic/MainStage adequately for my needs. It"s specs don"t cut it for Final Cut Pro X. Black Magic and a few others found a hole in Apple"s ship when they came up with running an external GPU enclosure over Thunderbolt 2 (better over 3). Which Apple has quickly closed by not supporting such cards on the M1 Mac Mimi, so if you need to go Mac Pro to do 4K video decently. I suspect the M2 will have better graphics performance making such enclosures unnecessary.

 

It is what it is. For the pro apps, for the very stable OS and ease of use I stay with them. They make great stuff.

[EscapeRocks]

All I know is my test bed M1 Mini with 16gb is stable and loves running Mainstage, Gig Performer, Arturia and Keyscape (even tho those 3rd parties say not fully tested on M1, but compatible with Big Sur.

 

Basically I set up my rig with the M1 Mini identically to my late 2018 Mini. For the price, I have a great backup on stage

[Reezekeys]

I"ve been using Macs since Apple IIe, (lots of others too from Commodore to PC builds of my own), and as someone who is totally invested in Apple products and especially their Pro software I have to say they are stingy as all heck on RAM and storage on every product - mac and mobile devices. In fact it"s part of their business plan - designed to maximize cost for those that require more RAM and storage. They are also designed to keep users out of the innards and make it as hard as possible for users to upgrade themselves.

Of course; this has been known for decades. So why belabor the point? The legions of complaints haven't seemed to change anything. Actually I think the "apple tax" has gotten a little less severe the past decade or so. If you amortize the cost of extra ram over the lifetime of the computer, it's probably not that bad - since Apples generally last longer than other brands. My 2013 guy is doing just fine â I'm feeling no pressure to upgrade, based on what I need to do right now.

 

I started with a Duo 210 in the mid 1990s, went to a Power Mac 9500 tower w/604e, then upgraded it with a G3 card, then got my first of four laptops in 2001. I'm no stranger to opening up my computers (ever install ram in a 9500? You have to take out the motherboard!). I think soldering ram and SSDs to logic boards in the interests of "slimmer" and "lighter" is overkill if that's the only reason for doing it â but I also realise that the number of people that care enough to not buy a Mac based on these complaints is a drop in the bucket of their total sales. In general, I'm able to produce the music I want, either live on stage or working in a DAW. When the time comes I feel the need to move to a new computer, I'll likely stick with Apple knowing I'll have to roll with whatever hardware design they offer. Or maybe I'll get a used, older model. Whatever works for me at that time.

[ElmerJFudd]

All I know is my test bed M1 Mini with 16gb is stable and loves running Mainstage, Gig Performer, Arturia and Keyscape (even tho those 3rd parties say not fully tested on M1, but compatible with Big Sur.

 

Basically I set up my rig with the M1 Mini identically to my late 2018 Mini. For the price, I have a great backup on stage

 

The performance on the M1 is impressive. Even the integrated graphics performs better than dedicated graphics cards from a few years back. In many cases even software that is running in Rosetta is performing near as well as native apps. Apple had done processor swapping enough times - I doubt any company could do it more smoothly.

[analogika]

I might as well ask here, even if it is off-topic:

 

Has anybody tried to see whether Logic 10.4.8 still runs on the M1/Big Sur?

 

I maintain some stage production machines that I"m not at Liberty to update, so I need to run an older version of Logic to prepare sessions for said machines.

 

I currently have both 10.6.2 and 10.4.8 installed concurrently and switch between them as needed.

[zephonic]

I'm happily running multiple virtual instruments at a 128 buffer on an 8-year-old MacBook Pro with 8GB of ram, but... come on Apple!! Step up, you cheapskates and give me 32GB of ram to go along with the processor that's already 10x faster than what's in my hunk 'o junk! I need all that power to play Jump and Sweet Caroline at the corner bar, or get my bitchen youtube videos produced!

 

What VI's do you use? If you're running Kontakt piano/ep/clav/organ, sure, no prob. I have a 2015 13"MBP and it runs most stuff just fine, but some of the newer Keyscape/Omnisphere 2 patches will bring it to its knees. I find this is generally the case with newer VI's coming out.

 

I'm looking to replace both my laptop and desktop, that's the reason I'm waiting for higher-spec MBP's.

[Reezekeys]

You are correct, I have little in the way of CPU-sucking VIs; they're mostly sample players. I was being a little tongue-in-cheek there. As time goes on, software devs come out with better products, but more power & features usually mean they'll run worse on older hardware. That's when you make the call to upgrade. I'm not there myself. It does seem like the M1 Macs will help folks who need that extra juice. They appear to be priced similarly to their predecessors while offering better performance with longer battery life and cooler operation. I think I could put aside any complaints about them, was all I was saying. At least until I see one!

[RABid]

So far I am really happy with my M1 MacBook Air. Glad I got the upgraded size on the internal drive (512), but using velcro to attach an external 1TB SSD to the back of the monitor worked out really well. Still waiting for NI to resolve issues with the M1 for their entire collection. The small screen has not bothered me since I am used to an iPad Pro. What I do miss is touch screen.

[EscapeRocks]

When I feel like sitting back and relaxing while working on setups on the Mini, I attach my iPad with Duet

 

I then use Apple Pencil to do all my connection drawing in GigPerformer or track setups in Mainstage

[ElmerJFudd]

" Mark Gurman has apparently learned that there will be two new processors for the Mac Pro. Codenamed Jade 2C-Die and Jade 4C-Die, they"re equipped with 40 cores (32 high performance and eight efficiency). Graphics options include either 64 or 128 cores. That smells like a lot of power. The design of the computer is said to resemble the AirPort Extreme hardware. However, the upcoming Mac Pro is not due to be released until 2022."

 

"Apple MacBook Pro 14â³ and 16â³ coming later this year.... adding more Thunderbolt 4 ports as well as an HDMI output â the latter input looks very interesting for videocasting â and an SD card slot. The new 10-core processors are codenamed Jade C-Chop and Jade-C Die (eight cores for high performance and two for efficiency). There are also new graphics options with 16 and 32 cores. The leaker thinks that the upcoming Mac mini will get an upgrade, too: The CPUs will manage 64 gigabytes of RAM and a larger number of external connected Thunderbolt devices, he says.

 

Bloomberg also believes that a more powerful Mac Mini is in the offing, codenamed J374, with the same chip as the next MacBook Pro."

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-05-18/apple-readies-macbook-pro-macbook-air-revamps-with-faster-chips

[Stokely]

Holy moley, that mac pro sounds pretty cool.

 

So does a "more powerful Mac Mini". My biggest decision would be, do I really need a portable screen....I normally keep my MBP closed, so it takes up space unnecessarily; that said, it may be rare but I have taken it places and done some mixing or editing on it. I'll still have that MBP so I guess having both is the answer!

[RABid]

For the first time ever I look at the specs and ask myself "Do I need that much power?"

[ElmerJFudd]

Holy moley, that mac pro sounds pretty cool.

 

So does a "more powerful Mac Mini". My biggest decision would be, do I really need a portable screen....I normally keep my MBP closed, so it takes up space unnecessarily; that said, it may be rare but I have taken it places and done some mixing or editing on it. I'll still have that MBP so I guess having both is the answer!

 

I think with the Mini you can use an iPad to control Mainstage/Logic once it's fired up. Which I guess you would put in your startup items.

 

I've often thought about using a Mini with a little screen. Something like the videographers do...

 

[David Emm]

For the first time ever I look at the specs and ask myself "Do I need that much power?"

 

Same "problem" here. Aside from the vastly better speed, I could give a rat's about the rest. I could use my current Mac & Logic rig for years yet. I may run the two Macs in parallel, but that could be mentally unhealthy.

 

I'm already shopping the Mini. I don't care to drop that much for an iMac with the ports I want. My use of Logic is anything but a system-strainer, so a 16 GB Mini with an SSD base will probably feel blazing. I'm a bit wary of the 1st-gen nature of the M1 line, but the reviews just keep getting better, sooo... It seems timely.

 

I've begun to shut up internally about Omnisphere. With 14K sounds, just reviewing it would push aside time I need for Memorymoon's 'CS-80,' a small Spitfire orchestra and Pianoteq. I don't feel quite like a candidate for MPE. I seem to be going more organic than synth-wise. It won't be asking much of a Mac that zippy.

[nursers]

Yep sorta the same here though if the M1 is as fast as claimed it might push me over the edge to get Omnisphere...

[ElmerJFudd]

Ableton Live 11.1 adds native support for Apple"s M1 Silicon Macs, and you can try it right nowâ¦

 

https://www.gearnews.com/ableton-live-11-1-update-apple-silicon-m1/

[ElmerJFudd]

AVID Pro Tools 2021.10 update: Apple Silicon support and other new features.