Best Macbook Pro For Music

• This is the best Mac Pro for live music for this reason as well. The Intel Iris Plus 640 graphics are so clear and crisp, you know you'll have no problem working and cueing from this laptop in a busy club or venue environment. The Macbook Pro Retina even can be upgraded to a quad-core processor for even more punch.
• The reason you see so many Apple MacBook Pro laptops anywhere near music is that the users love the reliability in combination with the professional performance that can be taken anywhere on a go. Touch Bar happens to be really helpful when it comes to music tasks such as switching the timeline on a track.
• Apple MacBook Pro 13' Getting the best MacBook Pro for video editing doesn't necessarily mean that you should get the largest one. The MacBook Pro lineup has two sizes, 13' and 15', and even the smaller model is very competent when it comes to video editing.

1. Best Macbook Pro For Music
2. What's The Best Macbook Pro
3. Best Macbook Pro For Music

MacBook Pro 16-inch – Best Mac Laptop for Music – #1 Pick. This portable MacBook Pro 16-inch comes is a beast for audio engineers and musicians. Has improved speakers plus high-quality display – you can upgrade to 8TB of storage plus 64GB Ram. Check Price on Amazon. MacBook Pro 16-inch comes with a 16GB RAMp plus a 6‑core i7 processor. The Best Macs for Music Production. Here is our list of the best Macs for music-making: 27-inch 5K iMac—the best choice for music production. The new 2019 hardware makes the 27-inch 5K iMac our top pick for your home studio. You can customize its RAM up to 64GB. The advanced processor lets you use all the features of pro audio editing apps.

For the music producer, Apple's new Macbook Pro 2016, requires quite a bit of upfront investment.

The first thing I wondered when I saw the Macbook Pro being introduced is how am I going to plug in my Cubase dongle? Let alone the many other audio hardware a typical music producer owns – from audio interfaces, MIDI controllers to drum pads & DJ controllers.

The Macbook Pro has been stripped off all traditional USB ports USB-C ports instead.

Well to use the latest Macbook Pro for music production, you'll have to invest in about $250 of dongles & special cables.

The New Macbook Pro For Music Production

How will the new MacBook pro do for music production? It's lighter, thinner and it comes with a nice new ‘touch bar'. The MagSafe power connector is gone, which is a shame really as it was a useful safety feature, so your Macbook does not fly off the stage if someone happens to trip over the power cable.

You can still use traditional USB2.0 & USB3.0 devices with USB-C

I don't know what type of musician or producer you are, but you're bound to have some controller or audio device that connects to your computer via USB. How to connect your USB devices like audio interfaces and controllers to the Macbook Pro then?

The good news is you can buy a USB-C to USB 3.0 cable, which would work with USB2.0 devices as well. But this means changing all the cables you have in your studio, which can get pretty costly.

Another alternative is to buy a dongle like the USB-C Hub to USB-A, for all your connection needs.

It does not end there. Those dongles are needed to connect your audio devices. What if you take pictures as well or have an audio recorder like the Zoom H6 that uses SD cards? Well, another SD card USB-C card reader dongle for you.

You plan to connect your Macbook Pro to an external monitor in your studio? Yup, another USB-C to VGA adapter for you unless you're waiting for the said new LG monitors that will be built with Macbook Pros in mind.

This might not be a deal breaker for many music producers, but I don't like the idea of carrying so many different dongles. They get broken quickly and worse, you're bound to forget a dongle and mistakenly leave it behind when you travel.

What about the new 'Touch Bar' for music production?

Since Apple developed Logic Pro X, we would think some kind of Touch Bar feature will be built for it. But it seems like while every creative app, like Final Cut X, Numbers & Pages got updated with Touchbar support, Logic Pro X did not.

I must say, the Touchbar feature looks amazing and cool. There are so many features that I could think off, would be really cool on the Touchbar. For example, imagine using the Touchbar as a transport bar, MIDI controller or a mixing control surface to mute/solo or perhaps tweak some pan pots.

Touchbar seems like a nice feature for the music producer, but do you really need it? I figured using a touch screen to control the knobs and faders on a DAW would be much more intuitive than trying to fiddle on a thin Touchbar strip.

The new Macbook Pro can only have max 16GB RAM

As a music producer, producing with lots of VSTs and effects through the years, you probably know how important RAM is for your setup.

Before you throw hate on Apple, understand that the Macbook Pro is a laptop. It is designed to be small and portable. If you're looking for super serious production work, it's best to get a desktop unit or something like the iMac 27.

The reason why the Macbook Pro only limits up to max 16GB of RAM is possibly to make up for its higher battery life. Some users also noted that the MacBook Pro is using an LPDDR3 RAM which uses more power as compared to DDR4, in which surprisingly Apple did not put in.

However that being said, it's still possible to do serious production work on a Macbook Pro. The SSD speeds on the MacBook Pro will aid with any heavy audio recording or processing in the studio or on the roads.

It also has a bumped up battery life to 10 hours between charges, so producing music on the road will be a breeze.

Isn't the MacBook Pro a little expensive?

The standard 13-inch MacBook Pro (without the Touchbar) starts at $1499 instead of the previous pricing of $1299. And this model is without the TouchBar, which in my opinion, kind of defeats the purpose of upgrading to the new MacBook Pro. Besides, the entry Macbook Pro also comes with only 2 USB-C ports which is quite a deal breaker for music producers.

I used to recommend fellow music producers who wanted a Macbook Pro, to go for the base 15-inch model as it comes with higher disk space and also with a maxed out 16GB RAM. It wouldn't be worth the price difference if you were to get the 13-inch model and upgrade the disk space and RAM.

Betsafe casino red. However, the new MacBook Pro 15-inch model now starts at $2300 and even higher for people in Europe at €2799 (which is reported to be a 50% increase in price from the last pricing).

Even though Apple is a company that prides on their higher priced products, the price increase this round has caused lots of grumbles. Many users are talking about going back to run on a refurbished 2015 unit instead of getting the new Macbook Pro 2016.

Switch To Windows For Music Production?

Mac used to be the computer you want to get if you are into music production. But that isn't the case anymore these days. There is no reason why you can't produce great music on a Windows based computer system.

In fact, I'm using both the Mac and Windows for music production. The ONLY complaint I probably have for a Windows machine is the absence of a robust audio driver like CoreAudio on a Mac.

There is also a few great reasons why you would consider the switch to a Windows machine. Again, I'm not biased and this is not a Windows to Mac debate, but it's cheaper to start off your music production journey on a Windows machine. You get more power for the price you pay for in most Windows based machine.

Some MacBook Pro alternatives for music production

Here are some great laptops you can consider if you're in for the switch to Windows. The laptops recommended here are near the Macbook Pro in terms of portability and battery life.

1 – Dell XPS 13″ (Kaby Lake)

Coming with a new 7th generation processor, this is one of the best MacBook Pro alternatives you can find for music production. The Dell XPS is super portable, and it also comes with an excellent battery life, said to last up to 14 hours on web browsing – better than a Macbook Pro.

The laptop also comes with touch display, which can be used to control your DAW. For $1399, the highest model, you get an i7 CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD and a beautiful 3200 x 1800 touch display.

2 – Microsoft Surface Book i7

If you're into full portability, consider the Surface Book i7. The Surface is easily mistaken as a tablet PC with touch display but is in fact pretty powerful for music production.

The Surface more towards a mid-range to a high-end computer but you get lots of performance while it being extremely portable as well with 12 hours of battery life. At $2699, you get an i7 CPU, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD and also a NVIDIA graphic card.

The Surface wouldn't be a great choice if you're into high graphic work, but for music production, the touch display and the performance it comes pack with are superb.

3 – ASUS GL552VW

This laptop packs lots of power at the expense of having less battery life. It's a gaming laptop but a good choice for music production as well.

It comes packed with an i7 processor and RAM upgradable up to 32GB, and this laptop is a powerhouse when it comes to processing and recording audio. Another thing to note is that it comes with an SSD and also a 1TB mechanical hard disk. This means you can put your system files on the SSD and your samples on the mechanical hard disk.

The cons to the ASUS GL552VW ROG is sadly that ASUS shipped many laptops that had graphic driver issues. I suspect it's a hardware issue, but there is no solid answer. Just make sure you test the laptop thoroughly to check for any fault when you receive it.

4 – Microsoft Surface Studio

Not a portable computer but it definitely caught the eye of many creative professionals. It looks near to an iMac, but it's more than just a regular computer.

The Surface comes with 28″ touch display, giving you lots of display screen real estate. The 4500 x 3000 Pixelsense display also gives you true colors, which would be amazing for design – showing you the actual colors. Upgradable up to 32GB RAM and has plenty of ports of all your audio hardware, it also comes pack with lots of CPU power with a

What really makes the Surface studio shine, is the Surface dial. It's a new accessory that works with the Surface studio by just placing it on the display.

Imagine the things you could do with the Surface dial, from drawing in automations, using it as a fader and more. We don't know the possibilities that it can do for now, but pretty sure more support for it will be launched soon.

Your Turn – Thoughts For The New MacBook Pro for Music Production?

What do you think about the new MacBook Pro and how will it fit into your studio?

Let us know in the comment section below. Will you stick to Apple and buy the MacBook Pro or is it time to look for an alternative? Emule p2p software.

When choosing a Mac for music production, you have a few choices.

The first thing you have to decide is if you rather have a desktop computer or a laptop.

Typically, if this is your first mac, or you don't already have a reliable laptop, I'd recommend going for a laptop. Having the ability to bring your studio anywhere is important.

If you prefer to have a large screen when making music and don't plan on working in too many locations, a desktop computer might be a better option for you.

Once you have made that decision, you have to choose the best model for you.

Down below are my top 5 picks for the best Macs for music production.

Tip: When writing this article, I found that most of these computers were cheapest on Amazon. I recommend comparing prices on Amazonbefore buying directly from Apple.

Mac Pro

If money is not an issue, go for a Mac Pro.

Not to be confused with the Macbook Pro, the Mac Pro is apple's most powerful desktop computer.

Its price starts at $3000.

The Mac Pro is packed with 12GB of ram. Its processor is quad-core and is 3.76GHz.

There are 4 usb 3.0 ports and 6 thunderbolt ports. As for connecting display, you can use either the provided thunderbolt ports or the hdmi port.

The hard drive is 256GB. Don't be alarmed by the small storage capacity (compared to the 1TB+ computers that are standard today). The hard drive is a solid state drive (SSD). This means that there are no moving parts.

Solid state hard drives are a LOT faster than normal hard drives. Doing anything, from booting up, to loading up your favorite DAW, will happen in a fraction of the time that it would with a normal hard drive.

The newest Mac Pro model is noticeably compact.

The first thing you'll notice about the Mac Pro is how small and compact it is. It is perhaps one of the smallest powerhouse computers in the market.

You can tell that the Mac Pro was designed very well. It runs incredibly efficiently and stays cool during use.

iMac

The nice part about buying an iMac, compared to a Mac Pro, Is that the display is built-in. No additional purchases are needed to get up and running with the iMac.

There are 2 main types of iMacs you could get: The Retina and non-Retina version.

The best iMac available is the 27 inch iMac Retina display model.

The Retina iMac starts at $2000 and has a few different variations.

The baseline iMac has 8GB of ram and a 1TB hard drive. It has a nice and powerful 2GB video card as well.

For the average producer, this is more than enough power. Even if you need more power down the road, the iMac is upgradable to 32GB of RAM.

To save some money, you can buy the non-Retina version for only $1099. It still has plenty of power from its 8GB of ram, 500GB hard drive, and 1.4GHz processor.

Mac Mini

Mac Minis have gone down in price a lot over the years.

They are still an amazing performer in the studio and have quite impressive specs for their price.

https://downxup851.weebly.com/slot-winners-videos.html. The cheapest one you could get is $500. If this is all you are willing to spend, by all means go for it, but I would recommend the next option up.

The next option up is $700, BUT has twice the ram, a 1 terabyte hard drive, and a much faster 2.5GHz processor.

The Mac Mini has 4 usb 3.0 ports, 2 thunderbolt 2 ports, and also an hdmi connector if you prefer hdmi over thunderbolt.

$700 is an incredibly low entry barrier to get a Mac. Of course you also need a monitor. Apple has their own expensive displays, but if you're on a budget, you can pick up a third party thunderbolt monitor, such as the ASUS MX279H for only a couple hundred bucks.

Overall, the Mac Mini is an excellent choice for music production.

Macbook Pro

Without a doubt, the Macbook Pro is the best laptop for music production.

Out of all of the few laptops that Apple offers, the Pro model is the most powerful. While it is not as thin as the Air, it is still a lot more portable then most other laptops in the market.

Just like the iMac, there are both Retina and non-Retina versions. The non-Retina Macbook Pro starts at $1099 while the Retina Macbook Pro starts at 1299.

Best Macbook Pro For Music

The Retina Macbook Pro comes in both 13 and 15 inch variations. It has 8Gb of RAM and a 2.7Ghz processor.

There is even a 128GB SSD hard drive built-in. If you pay a little more, you can get a 256GB hard drive.

The Macbook Pro has a long-lasting battery that will last for 10 hours. (That would probably translate to roughly 6 hours of heavy audio-editing in a DAW.)

Macbook Air

I included the Macbook Air on this list because it is what I found to be the cheapest Apple Laptop that would hold up to music production.

The Macbook Air starts at $900 and goes as high as $1199.

You can get your Air in either 11 or 13 inch variations. I would recommend going with the 13 inch model. Those extra 2 inches make a big difference!

The baseline 13 inch Macbook Air will cost you $1000. It has a 1.6GHz processor and has 4GB of ram. You'll immediately notice that the Macbook Air is really fast! This is because of the 128GB flash SSD hard drive inside.

I don't think I even need to mention how portable the Air is. You can stick the think in an envelope if you wanted to!

Overall the Macbook Air is a dream for producing on the go! It is surprisingly powerful and inexpensive.

Summary:

So there you have it!

I hope you have learned a bit more about which mac are best for music production. If you still have a question, drop a comment down below!

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