Ableton Forum

Hi.

I've been considering getting a Macbook pro. Seeing I'll be traveling soon, I thought that I may as well save a little money buying tax free at Singapore airport.
Unfortunately, Intrnet surfing has raised a few questions on which model. Should I wait? Flash drive or standard hard drive? ..etc....
I would prefer a 13 inch model 2.9 Ghz. But i've been reading about retina displays and that they may be included with the next 13 inch models rumored to be out in October.
There is no sense of urgency in buying a new machine. I'm still quite happy with my 3 year old Sony Viao, but on the other hand I can afford a new machine and since jumping on the Apple bandwagon with my iPad 2 and iPhone 4s, I am an Apple convert.
In essence, my doubts centre around:

a) should I wait? b) 13 or 15 inch [is there a significant difference in performance between dual core or quad]? Flash or standard drive? d) retina or not?

Should I splurge out and get the current 15 inch model that includes all the latest bells and whistles and be a bit more future proof? The price though could buy me two 13 inch models. I am more reluctant, but will pay the hefty amount as I tend to stick with my machines for 5 or 6 years before updating to a newer one.

Loads of questions. I will appreciate any input.

Thanks

Definitely wait. I heard they are working on an update to the current model that has better specs than is currently offered.

i decided against the retina model, as the a sharper display on some apps is not a price worth paying (around 300 extra) and performance hit.

I got the top-spec non retina 15 model, and am very happy so far.

jellycaster wrote:i decided against the retina model, as the a sharper display on some apps is not a price worth paying (around 300 extra) and performance hit.

I got the top-spec non retina 15 model, and am very happy so far.

Same. Lots of people focus on the screen but think about what you need the machine for. 256gb of storage is absolutely tiny nowadays, especially if you want to dual boot (windows 7 is about 30gb). People buying to "future proof" will be devastated paying£500 for 256gb, and who on earth would want to rely on an external hard drive for all their data? Might aswell just get a desktop if you aren't moving around alot.

NEVER future proof in the tech world, buy what you need in the here and now.

Some -ves. The battery is quite poor on the model I have and the heat is incredibly hot under stress. So if heat and battery life are big factors, the retina is probably better for that. But for same price you get masses more storage, a more powerful machine and better current performance due to a lower res screen.

I've got a MBA 11" 4GB RAM hooked up to a monitor through Thunderbolt and a 1TB External Hard Drive for whatever else I want. In truth all Macs work fine for music producing, its just about personal preference. If I were you I would get a 13". A retina display is not really needed, and right now a lot of apps are not updated for it. Don't buy right away though, Apple will probably update the MBP with a thinner design, flash storage, a retina screen, and a lack of an optical drive (just like the MBP 15"). So just wait, I guess. It'll probably come around after the launch of the new iPhone or rumored iPad mini. I would say from November through Feburary timeline.

Forgot to mention that flash drives are faster and smaller than regular hard drives, if you didn't know...

Whoops. Double post

Hi

Thanks for the input. Regarding buying a MacBook Pro, I'll follow the advice to wait a bit. My initial plan was to buy something tax free while in Singapore [strategic shopping]. But as I said, there is no urgency to buy. I can wait. I kind of promised myself the next machine I get would have a flash drive.

I realise that you can never really future proof with computers , but as a general rule, I tend to buy high spec machines to get as much life out of them as possible. So I update every five years or so.

However, 434Live has put an idea in my head. Is a MacBook Air a viable option? The newest models have just come out. I would go for a 13 inch 2ghz i7 . The pro may be a 2.9 Ghz, but if a flash drive is faster, wouldn't 't that compensate for the difference? A flash drive appeals to me more than a standard one , heat wouldn't be a problem, less prone to failures [ I think] ....etc....

The only thing that puts me off the Air is USB 3. I like my Novation X station and I love my Axon Ax 50 midi guitar controller.

Once again, any input would be much appreciated.

Thanks

always look at ifixit.com .. the mbp retina has the battery glued in, the ram is soldered to the mainboard ,the screen is incorporated with the lid so if it breaks out of warranty the repair costs are even more astronomical than usual .... and cannot be upgraded at all ... same with the air .. i'd personally stay with the unibody mbp..

my wife has a 13" mba and do you really think 2 usb ports are sufficient?

hps909 wrote:my wife has a 13" mba and do you really think 2 usb ports are sufficient?

My wife has a first-gen MacBook Air and it has only one USB port....ouch.

doghouse wrote:

hps909 wrote:my wife has a 13" mba and do you really think 2 usb ports are sufficient?

My wife has a first-gen MacBook Air and it has only one USB port....ouch.

FYI all Apple laptops and most if not all Windows laptops use only one 'bus' for all the peripherals. So essentially the laptops with 'three' USB ports aren't any better performance wise than a single USB port Air etc.

For my own needs I decided to go with a Mac pro tower and eventually get an Air for live performance etc. The Macbook Pro I use right now is about half as powerful as the current Airs and it's just run into CPU issues with what I want to do with it in the last six months or so..

I love my 13" MBP. It has never crashed. Its ridiculously reliable.

I guess for me, the screen looks really good on the current 13" ones, which I have. I have seen a retnia in person, and It was really nice, but looking at mine, I dont feel that its like a must have thing yet. Plus most programs still look the same on it because they are still using a normal res. compared to the retnia res.

I love my 13", I would never get a 15". I have an iPad as well, so the combo is very nice.

I just recently bought my 15 inch quad core MBP. I needed a new one and really didn't want to wait. I'm totally happy w/ it. I really don't give a shit about retina display since my main focus is audio. And yes there's definitely a performance increase from dual to quad core. I like the size and feel of the 13 inch also but the trade off being dual/quad, I had to go for the 15 inch.
There are tons of rumors about new thinner, SSD, etc. I guess if something ridiculously awesome was released in th very near future I'd be little bit pissed but I'd get over it. I absolutely love my Macbook so if that happened I'd probably just remove the Disk drive and install an SSD to ease my pain.
My last macbook was the white 2008 model and I remember right after I bought it they released the aluminum ones. I was severely pissed but I got over it.
Seems Apple loves to do shit like that. Now I'm hearing that my iPhone and iPod 30-pin dock connector will soon be obsolete. Thats awesome!!
Also, fucking Mountain Lion!! I just go all my VSt's and other random programs working w/ Lion and these fucks release a new OS. JeeeEEz

Best thing about the nn retina is you can install a second gap hard drive, so you can say have SSD as boot 512gb and a 1Tb in the DVD drive for samples and live sets etc.

Also the retina is wasted on Ableton at the moment

Theo Void wrote:I just recently bought my 15 inch quad core MBP. I needed a new one and really didn't want to wait. I'm totally happy w/ it. I really don't give a shit about retina display since my main focus is audio. And yes there's definitely a performance increase from dual to quad core. I like the size and feel of the 13 inch also but the trade off being dual/quad, I had to go for the 15 inch.
There are tons of rumors about new thinner, SSD, etc. I guess if something ridiculously awesome was released in th very near future I'd be little bit pissed but I'd get over it. I absolutely love my Macbook so if that happened I'd probably just remove the Disk drive and install an SSD to ease my pain.
My last macbook was the white 2008 model and I remember right after I bought it they released the aluminum ones. I was severely pissed but I got over it.
Seems Apple loves to do shit like that. Now I'm hearing that my iPhone and iPod 30-pin dock connector will soon be obsolete. Thats awesome!!
Also, fucking Mountain Lion!! I just go all my VSt's and other random programs working w/ Lion and these fucks release a new OS. JeeeEEz

This! Mountain Lion doesn't work with virus software AT ALL-avaoid for a while if at all possible.