How well do these software work on a mac?
How well do these software work on a mac?
I want to get a macbook but im only 15 with a very small income, so i was considering simply getting a 13 " mac book pro, but idk if a software such as Native instruments Massive would even fit on a screen that size? And how well does ableton run on a macbook compared to a windows PC?
My latest bootleg - http://soundcloud.com/theofficialstratos/hywwip
My latest bootleg - http://soundcloud.com/theofficialstratos/hywwip
-
- Posts: 2846
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 6:37 am
- Location: Chicago, IL
- Contact:
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
Massive and Live both run great on the latest 13" MBPs. You won't be disappointed.
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
i had an hp pavillion that ran ableton like a champ, then got a macbook pro 15" 2 ghz quad core. it runs ableton pretty well for the most part, but has some cpu overload issues. i used ableton on the pc for 2 or 3 years and it only crashed a total of 3 times... on the mac ableton crashed 3 times in the first week. other than that i love this machine.
i would recommend saving your money with a 13" over the 15 or 17. unless you already own a desktop or you are ALWAYS traveling, you're going to want to get an external monitor to hook it up to no matter what size notebook you get. a couple of weeks after i bought it and got my own place i bought a 42" flatscreen for my studio on cl for $150... i kno its crazy.
if you do get a mac i would advise 2.5ghz or higher, quadcore.(im not sure if there's a noticable difference between i5 and i7... but thats something to look into). and i would NEVER buy a computer 2nd hand.
i would recommend saving your money with a 13" over the 15 or 17. unless you already own a desktop or you are ALWAYS traveling, you're going to want to get an external monitor to hook it up to no matter what size notebook you get. a couple of weeks after i bought it and got my own place i bought a 42" flatscreen for my studio on cl for $150... i kno its crazy.
if you do get a mac i would advise 2.5ghz or higher, quadcore.(im not sure if there's a noticable difference between i5 and i7... but thats something to look into). and i would NEVER buy a computer 2nd hand.
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
Im definitely gonna get the 13", i7 core, 8gb of RAM (to be safe) and a terrabyte HDD if i do get the 13", specs will go down dramatically if i get the 15 or 17 so i think im gonna stick with the 13". I do have a desktop, 4 GB Ram, Dual Core Pentium, not the best of specs but ableton runs beautifully, along with several instances of Massive. i really appreciate the response! Thanks guysRabidC wrote:i had an hp pavillion that ran ableton like a champ, then got a macbook pro 15" 2 ghz quad core. it runs ableton pretty well for the most part, but has some cpu overload issues. i used ableton on the pc for 2 or 3 years and it only crashed a total of 3 times... on the mac ableton crashed 3 times in the first week. other than that i love this machine.
i would recommend saving your money with a 13" over the 15 or 17. unless you already own a desktop or you are ALWAYS traveling, you're going to want to get an external monitor to hook it up to no matter what size notebook you get. a couple of weeks after i bought it and got my own place i bought a 42" flatscreen for my studio on cl for $150... i kno its crazy.
if you do get a mac i would advise 2.5ghz or higher, quadcore.(im not sure if there's a noticable difference between i5 and i7... but thats something to look into). and i would NEVER buy a computer 2nd hand.
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
If you don't have the money for a high end Mac, going all the way, get the Samsung Gamer. 1 trilobyte hard drive and 16 gig RAM goes a long way and a superbrite large screen.
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
13" macs are a nice size and weight to carry around if you're on the move. I do most stuff on the train during my enormous commute (well writing, not mixing).
15" seem a lot more inconvenient for a bit more screen space. Either way, plugins fit nicely on the screen as long as you don't want to see anything else at the same time. Grr
15" seem a lot more inconvenient for a bit more screen space. Either way, plugins fit nicely on the screen as long as you don't want to see anything else at the same time. Grr
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
oh but you see so much more with the extra space on the 15"! it's like a billion more tracks are visible... i love itandydes wrote:13" macs are a nice size and weight to carry around if you're on the move. I do most stuff on the train during my enormous commute (well writing, not mixing).
15" seem a lot more inconvenient for a bit more screen space. Either way, plugins fit nicely on the screen as long as you don't want to see anything else at the same time. Grr
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
I've been running on a 13" MBP since 2009. The GUIs for all my third party VSTs fit fine on the screen.
Spend your money on a faster CPU and more RAM (do NOT buy it from Apple) rather than a larger screen.
Good luck!
Spend your money on a faster CPU and more RAM (do NOT buy it from Apple) rather than a larger screen.
Good luck!
-
- Posts: 11421
- Joined: Wed Jun 23, 2004 9:30 pm
- Location: Seattle
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
First off, Geekbench is your friend:
http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
The dual 2ghz i7 11" Macbook Air is faster than the dual i5 2.5ghz and $50 more in price.
Though you would want to get a USB CD/DVD drive for it I would guess if you're using Massive.
Both of the machines are faster than my 2007 macbook pro and I run Massive with little issues, other than that I can't run many instances.
Anyway take a look around Geekbench if you're worried about CPU bottlenecks it's the best indicator. To failure tests on my Macs are very accurate compared to Geekbench's charts.
http://browser.primatelabs.com/mac-benchmarks
The dual 2ghz i7 11" Macbook Air is faster than the dual i5 2.5ghz and $50 more in price.
Though you would want to get a USB CD/DVD drive for it I would guess if you're using Massive.
Both of the machines are faster than my 2007 macbook pro and I run Massive with little issues, other than that I can't run many instances.
Anyway take a look around Geekbench if you're worried about CPU bottlenecks it's the best indicator. To failure tests on my Macs are very accurate compared to Geekbench's charts.
Re: How well do these software work on a mac?
Hey I was 15 also when I bought my first mac. I got the cheapest one (MBA 11" 4GB RAM) and it works fine. I got a 21" monitor with it also just because I wanted a bigger screen for my home environment. BTW all macs should work fine with Ableton. I have Massive and there seems to be no problems with it as well. It really depends on what system you compare it to for the Windows thing, but I dualbooted my Dad's MBP running Windows 7 and the CPU would jump a little higher on it. Its not really a big difference though. I just prefer Mac OS X. It all eventually comes down to what you want.Stratos wrote:I want to get a macbook but im only 15 with a very small income, so i was considering simply getting a 13 " mac book pro, but idk if a software such as Native instruments Massive would even fit on a screen that size? And how well does ableton run on a macbook compared to a windows PC?
My latest bootleg - http://soundcloud.com/theofficialstratos/hywwip
Anyone know any clubs you can get into when you're 15?