Let's talk about the new 12-inch Macbook

[Tarekith]

Erik, what brought you to Luxembourg? That's quite a transition.

Where'd you live in Seattle? I just went to up there for the first time a few weeks ago. It reminds me of a bigger, busier Denver. Awash in tech money. And goddamn I had the best Korean food ever at a place downtown. Jaw-droppingly good bibimbop and kimchee.

Kent // seven7hwave

My wife always wanted to live in Europe, and she had a chance to transfer to her company's European headquarters for two years so we took it.

I was on the far north side of Seattle, just barely in city limits which was fine with me as we got to skip a lot of traffic. Soooo many good places to eat in Seattle. It was something we never expected before moving there and I think one of the things my wife and miss the most compared to Luxembourg. Good food here too, you just have to pay 3-4 times more for that level of taste.

[Treshell]

What I think is BS is that they slapped a retina display in this thing but not the refreshed MBAs. This is a calculated move to force people to make tough decisions and more likely to go with the more expensive option.

They did the same thing with the refreshed Mac Minis which could be workhorses for all but the most high of high end audio and video. They lowered the price but also watered down the specs so you’d end up buying the more expensive model which is only slightly better than the previous generation base model.

It's so obvious, and yet their customers will still fall for it.

"I can buy a dualcore laptop with 128GB for 1600€ instead of one with a Core M CPU? What a bargain!!!"

[5blackcats]

I figured out a solution for all of you. It was very hard and took a lot of effort, but here it is - don't buy it.

[BoddAH]

same horse... different jockey

but it did alert me to the 480p webcam... WTFF??

I was wondering about this as well. For a laptop that's obviously targeted at soccer moms and vapid teenagers browsing Facebook at Starbucks all day (i.e. people using Skype, Facetime and PhotoBooth all the time), including a 480p in 2015 doesn't make ANY sense at all.

[re:dream]

I figured out a solution for all of you. It was very hard and took a lot of effort, but here it is - don't buy it.

As long as we don' have to give up our opportunity for sarcastic comment.

[Machinesworking]

Are people forgetting that the macbook has always been the most underpowered entry level thing Apple produced??
I'm fucking broke most of the time but I've never even considered the Macbook. This thing is absolutely the worst possible choice in their line for music production, that's all there is to it.

Seriously if you don't have the money for a macbook pro, save up for it or buy a Windows laptop, (after investigating the models out etc.), 8 isn't that bad.

Personally I think one of the reasons people get bent about Apple is they use their entry level garbage to produce on, then make the assumption that Windows machines are better etc.

[beats me]

Are people forgetting that the macbook has always been the most underpowered entry level thing Apple produced??

You are forgetting "affordable". This thing is not.

They are tacking on a premium price for the privilege of testing their unproven new tech. Next version will include “improved” to this now tested new tech.

[locojohn]

Are people forgetting that the macbook has always been the most underpowered entry level thing Apple produced??
I'm fucking broke most of the time but I've never even considered the Macbook. This thing is absolutely the worst possible choice in their line for music production, that's all there is to it.

I have made a bunch of wonderful tracks on my black 2008 MacBook back in the day. I don't think hardware performance really matters that much compared to one's inspiration and the strength of personal musical ideas.

Andrejs

[beats me]

Are people forgetting that the macbook has always been the most underpowered entry level thing Apple produced??
I'm fucking broke most of the time but I've never even considered the Macbook. This thing is absolutely the worst possible choice in their line for music production, that's all there is to it.

I have made a bunch of wonderful tracks on my black 2008 MacBook back in the day. I don't think hardware performance really matters that much compared to one's inspiration and the strength of personal musical ideas.

Andrejs

It does matter if your inspiration and the strength of personal musical ideas involves using 35 Komplete plugins in a single set. This might work as your spare “I love limitations!” doodle machine, but not as your main or only production computer.

[locojohn]

Are people forgetting that the macbook has always been the most underpowered entry level thing Apple produced??
I'm fucking broke most of the time but I've never even considered the Macbook. This thing is absolutely the worst possible choice in their line for music production, that's all there is to it.

I have made a bunch of wonderful tracks on my black 2008 MacBook back in the day. I don't think hardware performance really matters that much compared to one's inspiration and the strength of personal musical ideas.

Andrejs

It does matter if your inspiration and the strength of personal musical ideas involves using 35 Komplete plugins in a single set. This might work as your spare “I love limitations!” doodle machine, but not as your main or only production computer.

I am trying to understand how your inspiration and musical ideas directly require 35 Komplete plugins, bu ok.. if you use 35 Komplete plugins. I have a much more powerful computer now but I still do not find any need for Komplete plugins.

The paradox of technical progress is that, for the most part, new technology does not make us actually work any faster or produce better results. When it comes to music, this is especially so, as people used to make great tracks 10 years ago with slower hardware and software, while now they require more flexibility and options (aka sophistication) and as the result the software demands higher hardware resources.

Clear example: Buzz Tracker for Windows (developed in 2000 by Jeskola), which I still use for production on my WinXP virtual box under Mac OS X as it lets me produce sounds that I cannot produce in modern software. I personally find the speed of producing music with Buzz is much higher than in Ableton Live. The resources it requires are so low that modern computers can run Buzz in virtual environment without issues. But, of course, I do not advocate for using 10-year old software on modern computers, I just want to stress the fact that you don't have to buy new stuff on and on.

Andrejs

[Machinesworking]

Are people forgetting that the macbook has always been the most underpowered entry level thing Apple produced??
I'm fucking broke most of the time but I've never even considered the Macbook. This thing is absolutely the worst possible choice in their line for music production, that's all there is to it.

I have made a bunch of wonderful tracks on my black 2008 MacBook back in the day. I don't think hardware performance really matters that much compared to one's inspiration and the strength of personal musical ideas.

Andrejs

Here's the rub: the macbook pro is arguably one of the better laptops out there for many reasons, it's a bit more than a comparable Windows laptop.
The old Macbook was pretty good, not too bad, not great and priced competitively.

This new Macbook is a POS. I can't think of a single reason to buy it over even the Air that pertains to music. A mobile M processor? give me a break??
Sure, someone will buy it and make some great music on it etc. but they will have been better served with other choices, period. If you really need the fastest computer out now then you shouldn't be looking at laptops in the first place, sure, but don't spend more on something that offers less.

Seriously, look at the specs of the Macbook VS the Macbook Pro for the same fucking price of $1299. Anybody who buys the Macbook should be told to fuck off if they ever post any whinging about performance or Live etc. making that boner move.

[Machinesworking]

It does matter if your inspiration and the strength of personal musical ideas involves using 35 Komplete plugins in a single set. This might work as your spare “I love limitations!” doodle machine, but not as your main or only production computer.

I know you're joking, but orchestral composers do use dozens of instances of Kontakt in every song. They would probably ban you from their forums if you suggested using a bottom of the line mobile processor laptop.

[BoddAH]

Just because you *can* be inspired and make good music on this POS doesn’t mean you should. It simply doesn’t make any sense to select this model with the main intention of making music over any other MacBook.

You can make awesome music with LSDJ on a fucking Gameboy from 1989 if that’s your kind of thing. But suffering through the hard limitations and underwhelming power only makes sense if you’re actually into vintage 8-bit sound.

The new all-new MacBook doesn’t have that going for it. It’s a modern and expensive device that’s in direct competition with other models offering objectively better specs in every way for less money.

Music production with Ableton Live or any other DAW is all about processor power and ports to accommodate your sound interface, MIDI controllers, etc. The new MB is severely gimped on both fronts. Easy as that.

The only little and frankly negligible aspect that it has going for it is the fact that it is fan-less and absolutely silent. But in real life it doesn’t make any difference honestly.

Even the size and weight are a moot point. If you absolutely HAVE to have a light and compact device for quickly sketching out ideas you’re probably better off getting an iPad with a bunch of music apps.

[re:dream]

I find it interesting that we are getting so worked up about it, though. It is fairly clearly not aimed at the producer market. And its target market (I am imagining my girlfriend's 13 year old, for example) would have no complaints whatsoever.

[BoddAH]

And its target market (I am imagining my girlfriend's 13 year old, for example) would have no complaints whatsoever.

They would probably complain about the 480p FaceTime camera.

That’s just SO 2005.