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Been thinking about getting a laptop for portability soon, and as expensive as they are, i've considered getting a macbook pro.

Anyone here use or have experience with one? I'm planning on producing and actually creating my songs on it, not just DJ'ing, so i'm hoping it'll be good on cpu.

Currently, only the 15 and 17 inch support the i5 and i7 processors so i might go with the 15 unless the 13 inch will run just fine with the core 2 duo processor.

Whataya think? Going to be using Ableton btw

15 inch specs:
# 2.4GHz Intel Core i5
# 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
# 320GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)
# MacBook Pro 15-inch Glossy Widescreen Display
# None
# Backlit Keyboard (English) & User's Guide



13 inch specs

# 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
# 4GB 1066MHz DDR3 SDRAM - 2x2GB
# 250GB Serial ATA Drive @ 5400 rpm
# None
# Backlit Keyboard (English) / User's Guide
# None
# SuperDrive 8x (DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/CD-RW)

Get the largest screen size you can afford. I have a 17"... but I don't understand your question about processors... mine is from '07, btw so its core duo... if that helps... but, again... what exactly are you asking?

I'm not sure which macbook to get. I think the 17 inch is out of my price range, i don't think there'd be THAT big of a difference between the 15 and 17.

also, the 15 comes with the i5 unlike the 13 inch, so im not sure if that will significantly improve the overall performance.

So basically, i'm asking if i should go with the 13 inch or the 15 inch and what specs i should use for each, that's the most affordable, i can save a bit longer for the 15 if it'll really be a great improvement over the 13. I just want to be able to create music in ableton without having it go slow/glitch up due to the cpu usage even when using some more demanding vsts

to be honest, you won't need the best of the best specs. all the available macbooks are already enough, remember how many kickass tunes were made years ago on singlecore computers. you can always work around low specs (resampling to save CPU power for example) but you can't work around having a too small monitor.

i had a powerbook g4 and didn't really mind even though almost every single program won't run on it, i'm on a thinkpad r60 now which is laughable compared to modern notebooks but i wouldnt mind either if it weren't for the fuckig 1024x resolution.

usability is worth much more than power, get the biggest one you can afford even if that means you won't have that extra ram (which you should NEVER directly buy from apple anyway, waaay too expensive)

Alright, so i think i'll go with the 15 inch then. I just think the 17 is too much for me.

The 15's hard drive is 5400 rpm and i've heard it's much better to go with the 7200 rpm, should i go with that? Not from apple, i'd get it elsewhere and install it myself, just wondering if its worth it.

i just got the 15 inch i7 and its awesome

Starmaker wrote:I'm not sure which macbook to get. I think the 17 inch is out of my price range, i don't think there'd be THAT big of a difference between the 15 and 17.

also, the 15 comes with the i5 unlike the 13 inch, so im not sure if that will significantly improve the overall performance.

So basically, i'm asking if i should go with the 13 inch or the 15 inch and what specs i should use for each, that's the most affordable, i can save a bit longer for the 15 if it'll really be a great improvement over the 13. I just want to be able to create music in ableton without having it go slow/glitch up due to the cpu usage even when using some more demanding vsts

The 17s use the quad-core i7, so in terms of performance they are WAY ahead of the others. I use a top of the range 17" macbook pro, with 8gb ram and the quad i7. It's more powerful than my PC and I never have to resample anything to save processing power, always sits around he 30% mark in terms of CPU usage.

I also had a 15" macbook pro from 2008, and it couldn't handle it. It was using the core duo chipset with 2gb ram.

the 1st gen MBP is my production computer. I have to load up a session w/ like 24 audio tracks, 3 instances of massive, 3 of battery, and 3 of predator (along w/ a sizeable dose of sculpture's, es2's, and ultrabeats) for it to start sputtering... and they've only gotten more powerful.

keep ALL your audio, including your itunes library, on external drives (and back everything up via timemachine) and things will move much more smoothly.

amphibian wrote: The 17s use the quad-core i7, so in terms of performance they are WAY ahead of the others.

Nah i got the i7 in my 15 definitely worth looking at. I had a 17 inch from 2008 aswell that thing is just stupid big. Try writing tunes on an aeroplane with that badboy.

anybody planning on buying a MBP should hold off until after the 20th because new models might be announced in a few hours.

I have last years MacBook Pro 13, and it runs Logic/Ableton just fine. The small screen is very limiting though.

First Post!

i just bought a 15 i5 and its siiiiickkkkk wouldnt want a 17" tbh this thing is heavy enough as it is lmao

cudnylon wrote:anybody planning on buying a MBP should hold off until after the 20th because new models might be announced in a few hours.

The only time to buy a mac product is RIGHT after they come out, they do a new model pretty much every year

I'm running and old ibook g4 and looking to update to an mbp also (after they release the updated ones, which are supposed to be announced today), but personally for me I'm going to go w. the 13 inch. The screen size pretty much limits you to having one window open, but I use the spaces feature (multiple desktops) and put my arrange window in one space, my mixer in another, and so on (using logic). This doesn't seem to work with plugin windows (logiv v8, and leopard OS), but that is something that could be fixed by now? I do the same with Reason (the rack and the sequencer), but I'm not as sure how it would apply to ableton.

17" MBP isn't a laptop anymore.

My recommendation is get a 13" or 15" MPB. Then plug it into a big boy LCD monitor when you're at home, that's what I do anyway, you get portability + a big screen when you need it. I've got a 23 inch LCD, which was about £120 or so, perfect set up.