Ableton Forum

Hello, i want to buy a new macbook pro md101 (i5 processor and 4gb ram and upgrade to 8 or 16Gb Ram later) after saving money for almost 2years. I'm having doubts if i'll purchase the i7 processor but surely, it will take a really long time that macbook non retina version might be not a good option anymore.

i'm using a windows laptop now and I am very limited on my instruments, when I have 15 tracks with envelops & audio effects my CPU usage becomes very high and lags.

I want to take my music production to the next level so I really want to invest on a very reliable laptop. I read a alot of discussions about Live on Mac and I'am convinced enough that I want to use one too.

I want to do intruments with many layers, audio recording for project and live performance, looping, midi controller, dj-ing with live, and arrange music for games and film scoring.



I just want to ask, if having an i5 processor and 16/8gb RAM is good enough for ableton with many tracks, probably 30 above with effects, reverbs.

Is Processor is much important than Ram in Live?

To any macbook i5 processor users out there, I would like to hear your comments.

In addition..
I also saw a post that Ableton Live 9 is having trouble on Macbook i5 processor & i7.

Updating your own RAM on any MBP after the 2012 non-retina model is not possible. Keep that in mind!

Also the difference between i5 and i7 mostly comes down to a core count as both are plenty fast, but the i5s usually come in their dual core variants, while the i7s are always quad cores. For a programm like Live, this means twice the tracks you can potentially run with heavy processing at any givven time. So I would also watch out for that!

if u use more audio files then vst instruments/plugins (except sample libraries) then ram is more important.

if u use more vstinstruments/plugins then audio files then the processor is more important.

but i5 isnt the best idea. see: http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup. ... 40+2.67GHz

may you can compare with your current processor. or jsut google "yourprocessor i5.... benchmark"

TomViolenz wrote:Updating your own RAM on any MBP after the 2012 non-retina model is not possible. Keep that in mind!

Also the difference between i5 and i7 mostly comes down to a core count as both are plenty fast, but the i5s usually come in their dual core variants, while the i7s are always quad cores. For a programm like Live, this means twice the tracks you can potentially run with heavy processing at any givven time. So I would also watch out for that!

You can definitely update on some non-Retina models after 2012. Just to be clear. I am thinking of steering away from Mac because of shit like this though. I love em but I can't afford to go through the whole resell-and-buy-new process every four years.

SuburbanThug wrote:

TomViolenz wrote:Updating your own RAM on any MBP after the 2012 non-retina model is not possible. Keep that in mind!

Also the difference between i5 and i7 mostly comes down to a core count as both are plenty fast, but the i5s usually come in their dual core variants, while the i7s are always quad cores. For a programm like Live, this means twice the tracks you can potentially run with heavy processing at any givven time. So I would also watch out for that!

You can definitely update on some non-Retina models after 2012. Just to be clear. I am thinking of steering away from Mac because of shit like this though. I love em but I can't afford to go through the whole resell-and-buy-new process every four years.

the mid 2012 non-Retina MBPro was the last non-retina MBPro they made. I know, because I bought it refurbished in early 2014 precisely for that reason (upgradeability).

And unless Apple surprisingly changes their policy in the future, this will probably be my last Mac because of that.

I guess you're right. Thought I had a 2013 but apparently it's a 2012. Shit.

TomViolenz wrote: while the i7s are always quad cores.

You're right of course that all the 15" MacBook Pros of the last years have been quadcore i7, but there have also been a few other Mac models with duocore i7, certainly as an option in some build-to-order models that came with an i5 in the base model. The MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.66 17" Mid-2010 is one MacBook Pro example of this.

Just giving supplemental info, not contradicting what you wrote, as other people may read this and may be looking for an older model too.

Stromkraft wrote:

TomViolenz wrote: while the i7s are always quad cores.

You're right of course that all the 15" MacBook Pros of the last years have been quadcore i7, but there have also been a few other Mac models with duocore i7, certainly as an option in some build-to-order models that came with an i5 in the base model. The MacBook Pro "Core i7" 2.66 17" Mid-2010 is one MacBook Pro example of this.

Just giving supplemental info, not contradicting what you wrote, as other people may read this and may be looking for an older model too.

Update:
I have enough budget to buy 13" 2014 rMBP with 256 SSD.
But I guess, I will still save to buy the 15" rMBP, 256 SSD. Just 2 more months I guess

...if you can wait then you should wait till autumn/end of the year when apple releases the new macbook pros...they're said to be 30% faster while using less energy...just sayin'...

**Update**

I bought a 15" Retina Macbook Pro
2.2ghz, i7 intel, 16gb raM.

I compared it to my past i5 gateway (windows) laptop
and the results are really good.
Very satisfying, I really installed Live 9 on the laptop
just right after receiving, also installed some packs
but I'm still having a hard time grasping apple osx.

I'm pretty much excited to make a new music with this beasttttt

Nice choice I'll be updating my MacBook Pro fairly soon, would like some more power for Live performances.