Ableton Forum

Hi

I am going to buy a new MacBook Pro (just had my white macbook stolen) but I'm totally confused as to which one will be the best for me.
So far it's a toss between regular 13", a possible 13" retina in october, the regular 15" (but the top end one) or the base level retina model.

I will use the laptop for audio production mainly but also 3d gaming.

My first question would be does the retina display or the software have any impact on abletons performance or anything audio related?

Retina Pros

Screen, SSD, more portable, less glare from screen, quieter, better laptop speakers

Retina Cons

Screen actually a hindrance at the moment in most cases particularly for gaming. A native resolution of 1440 x900 would be much better for gaming on the regular macbook pro than downscaling on the retina. A workaround could obviously be to output to an external display with a native resolution more appropriate for a 30-60fps gameplay experience.

The screen again, applications and websites need time to take advantage of the display. Until that happens it's essentally a beta that is slower and lower res than the regular macbooks.

Lack of screen glass means it is much more fragile and harder to clean.

Lastly the 13" books are obviously no good for gaming (i could live with that) but how powerfull are they by todays standards of audio production?

Any advice, benchmarks or recommendations would be appreciated.

as I've seen other people mention on other forums - the new Pros are uncharted waters and depending on your audio interface, it may be uncertain how things will work out. Though there are adapters for firewire to thunderbolt.

maybe look into getting an old (2011) Pro?

get a pc
hehe

i couldnt tell ya...the 2 macbook pros ive had all died within 3 years.. never again

from what ive read... non retina is a safer option- or the last gen ones..
man these things are $$$

depends on your interface and software, i personnally wouldnt get the retina cause there is no firewire and the resolution has no use for my music needs, plus i want a hard drive

hello, i bought a new MBP last week

I decided not to buy the retina model. the main reason being I am not convinced the extra resolution will add very much to my experience - some third party apps might even look worse until the developers get around to updating them.

Secondly, whilst i liked the fact that it was thin, i wanted firewire so i could keep running my duet.

So, in the end, i bought the high end non-retina version, which is the best performing machine in the MBP range, while being significantly cheaper than the retina. it hasn't arrived yet, but i'm looking forward to it!

Hi

One thing to think about, the new retina display macbook pro is that it is truly not upgradable. The new batteries are glued inside the body and the ram is soldered to the motherboard. So if you want more RAM you need to pay Apple price for it when you buy it. The one thing about the "old" Macbook Pro is that it is quite upgradable. You can change batteries, RAM and harddrive. The same is not true for the retina one.

kennsore wrote:Hi

One thing to think about the new retina display macbook pro is that it is truly not upgradable. The new batteries are glued inside the body and the ram is soldered to the motherboard. So if you want more RAM you need to pay Apple price for it when you buy it. The one thing about the "old" Macbook Pro is that it is quite upgradable. You can change batteries, RAM and harddrive. The same is not true for the retina one.

Do you know if this is true of the new non-retina model? I am guessing probably not

For 32-bit ableton users, 8GB is more than enough (at the moment!... hopefully it might change soon...)

Hi

I've got an early 2011 Pro, and the first thing I did was to update to more RAM (got the smallest amount of RAM when I bought it from Apple ). I think the HD can be upgraded as well, but this could mean a little bit more trouble due to heat issues, or so I've read. If the casing on the new non-retina Pro is the same as the old ones (probably is) some upgrades are possible. Here is a link to a teardown of the new Retina Display version, done by computer world.

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/ ... ays_iFixit

LOL I'm definitely getting a mac my friend, I leave the PC stuff to desktops.

Yeah I am leaning towards non-retina version simply because it is actually a better machine (faster clock speed, more HD space). The retina is the first of it's kind and too much of a gamble at that sort of price.

To the person whos macbook died 3 times: did you play games alot? I am concerned heavy duty task like playing a game will reduce its lifespan or increase chance of complications because of the stress it comes under.

A bit off topic.. I certainly hope that Apple keeps building the MacBooks pro like they have in the past, making it possible for the owner to do repairs and upgrades to the hardware. I guess it depends on how big a success the retina version is.

Muzik 4 Machines wrote:depends on your interface and software, i personnally wouldnt get the retina cause there is no firewire and the resolution has no use for my music needs, plus i want a hard drive

I have read that the new USB ports that are dual USB 2.0 and 3.0 may not work right with existing USB 2 devices. I would want to see others with my same interface (if USB) with a retina model and no issues before I'd go that route.

I think i will go with a new MBP but no the retina model. But then again the fact you can hook up 3 displays at once off the retina one is pretty hot.

Also worth pointing out that the new MacBook Pro laptops do not include an ethernet port.
That means DJs must have a dongle to connect to CDJ-2000s.

subterFUSE wrote:Also worth pointing out that the new MacBook Pro laptops do not include an ethernet port.
That means DJs must have a dongle to connect to CDJ-2000s.

This is just the retina model that doesn't have ethernet. the non-retina model still has ethernet. Although i have yet to meet one single person who actually runs their setup this way.

Only the hardest of the hardcore fanboys will be buying the retina model (i hope). There's no real point in owning one. The screen resolution on the standard pros is already high enough as it is.

strode420 wrote:

subterFUSE wrote:Also worth pointing out that the new MacBook Pro laptops do not include an ethernet port.
That means DJs must have a dongle to connect to CDJ-2000s.

This is just the retina model that doesn't have ethernet. the non-retina model still has ethernet. Although i have yet to meet one single person who actually runs their setup this way.

Only the hardest of the hardcore fanboys will be buying the retina model (i hope). There's no real point in owning one. The screen resolution on the standard pros is already high enough as it is.

There are still many countries where wifi isn't prevalent. Also many hotels where the connection is wired if you travel a lot. At least internationally. There's an adapter though Apple sells to add the ethernet port that fixes that problem. Takes up an open port though.

strode420 wrote:

subterFUSE wrote:Also worth pointing out that the new MacBook Pro laptops do not include an ethernet port.
That means DJs must have a dongle to connect to CDJ-2000s.

This is just the retina model that doesn't have ethernet. the non-retina model still has ethernet. Although i have yet to meet one single person who actually runs their setup this way.

Only the hardest of the hardcore fanboys will be buying the retina model (i hope). There's no real point in owning one. The screen resolution on the standard pros is already high enough as it is.

Why would you be a fanboy for going for the retina version? It's the same price as the high end 15" non-retina.