Apple M1 - A Logic Pro User's Upgrade Guide

[@hansigutten]

I would love to see an updated video for this subject. How far have we got in the M1 transition?

[@teganmora]

waiting for the m1x dropping this fall!

[@robbiemichaels2347]

Likewise

[@stephanemignot100]

Same here, I won't use any third party plugins to keep it clean and efficient...

[@dtek9470]

Any release dates??

[@alessiorossi]

I can’t wait for the new MBP 16’…

[@wglennhowells]

I bought an M1 mini the day THU Overloud (which I use in logic) had Native support. Absolutely love the M1 mini.

[@petrikaivanto]

I took the leap from an old MBP to Mac mini M1 in March and decided to install everything from scratch. I am very happy of the performance and can live with some plug-ins still not working native. Surprisingly many do, much more than I expected. I decided to get Antelope Audios Zen Go interface and it's really good, too.

[@alexgregory1427]

does antelope have M1 functionality yet?

[@petrikaivanto]

@@alexgregory1427 Unfortunately AFX2DAW plug-in doesn't work, but otherwise Zen Go works just fine. For other Antelope models check their page.

[@dougsteel7414]

Been using Logic on an M1 MacBook air, tons of soft synths, complex reverbs, analogue modelling compression, saturation, about 20 tracks. No fan to annoy me, and it flies through it! Some plugins are causing problems, that's always been the issue with such a third party integrated application. Waiting for them to issue ARM native versions.

[@CRASS2047]

Finally upgrading. Got a 16” MacBook Pro with M1 max. Going back and rewatching all the M1 videos. Just worried my old projects won’t open correctly in the M1 system

[@Theusone1]

Not all heroes wear capes, thanks for the in-depth knowledge and experience

[@kelvynification]

I’m using everything in Rosetta - 1500 plugins - took a while to install, re install, troubleshoot but after that all good. I would suggest waiting to work exclusively native until all plugins you own are ready for ARM.

[@Keziapurrs]

I recently replaced my MBP '17 b/c it needed a new battery which was going to cost me $250 at the least. This, to me, justified purchasing the new Mac Mini M1. I specced it with 16Gb of Ram and a 512Gb SSD Drive. Unlike you, i used the Migration Assistant to expedite the transfer of information from the MBP to the Mini. I probably should've gone the route you took, but i didn't have any issues, and haven't experienced any problems that may have originated from the MBP. Reactivating my plugins was a pain in the butt and took about an hour, but it was well worth it. I'm loving my M1 Mac Mini and have no regrets about my transition from the MBP. Thanks for the video. Very informative and makes me feel even better about my purchase.

[@DavidRojoCancun]

I find your mindset and point of view VERY useful. Thanks for this video. I'm about to transition to this MacMini from an 2013 iMac :D

[@budgetkeyboardist]

Great tip about the processing threads! I was wondering about that. Thanks!

[@davidbyourplanb]

Thanks for this helpful run through

[@doug941]

Congratulations Chris!! I love mine!!

[@timothyporr]

Wow, you did it again. I've been thinking about upgrading my Mac Mini, which will not run the latest version of Logic or Mac OS. Decision made, thanks!

[@jeffagoddard]

Like you, I’ve got a lot of Novation devices and my projects incl a variety of 3rd party plugins. I’m glad your up and running, but I’m going to wait a while longer.

[@jwalker99us]

Thanks Chris for another great 15 min video. I have a 1.5 yr old Mac Mini (Not M1) but its super charged with 64 gigs ram, and a fast intel processor and runs fine with UA Apollos. With all the great tech available these days, its too easy for me to get distracted with tweaking gear rather than making music. So not changing to M1 anytime soon.

[@harwin7430]

Just found your channel from my recommendations. Bought my first mac a few weeks ago (M1 Air) and have been dabbling around with Logic Pro since I can now. Been using Ableton for about a year now, but I might switch to Logic if I like it enough. Your channels been super helpful learning all the ins and outs.

[@johnathanbeats]

I got the m1 16 ram, you did it right. I know I've read of others migrating and stuff being so slow.

[@velanche]

Going from a late-2013 MacBook Pro to an M1 Mac (Mac mini, too) is like a dream come true as a Logic user. I focus far less on the tech, and more on the creation process. Thanks for pointing out the processor cores in Preferences; that is a bit weird that having it on “Automatic” doesn’t, well, automatically push the M1 machines to 8 cores by default, so will get that fixed up. Though I’m still using Logic mostly in Rosetta and sometimes native, the experience still has been great. Enjoy!

[@xeonoswalds5692]

Man your buffer size! Reduce it to 128 and see how it chokes......

[@velanche]

@@xeonoswalds5692 Maybe I’ll try it. I had it on 128, 256 and 512, and the performance meter has at least one core always going high. When I load and play the Billie Eilish demo song, it wouldn’t be long before the system overload message appeared. But I’ve since wiped the SSD and reinstalled stuff one-by-one, so might give it another try. Would be nice to have a backup or at least a secondary way of having Logic away from home.

[@velanche]

@@xeonoswalds5692 Well, just did a test with my late-2013 MBP where I simply loaded and played the Billie Eilish track, which usually would give me a "system overload" error on it when I was using the computer full-on. Today, the top core only peaked pass 50 percent, instead of the usual 80 percent plus. To be fair, I have erased the SSD, put on a fresh coat with it running Big Sur, have only a handful of third-party plugins installed, and have upgraded the SSD to an OWC one that's better than the original SSD installed by Apple. Since I got the Mac mini, I left it alone for awhile until realizing that it would make a good DJ-only laptop. Now it could make a good music production laptop too perhaps? I might explore that. Thanks for the inspiration.

[@neilpower1026]

Loving my mac mini m1 16gb!

[@alexgregory1427]

wish the M1 would be compatible with major plugins and daws...they just won't adopt it - might be some issues , because how hard can it be, they had this for a year Intel might trump all this with gen 13, and then appel I going back to Intel...but the m1/iPhone chips are definitely a nice little experiment going well..

[@StratsRUs]

If that's what you bought then it's already great advice to buy for me.

[@wadewilliams1892]

UAD works Waves doesn’t seem to work Akai Mpc beats doesn’t work Plugin alliance works SoundToys works Skate digital doesn’t seem to work Izotope doesn’t seem to work Great video displaying how to access Rosetta🧡

[@eriktelford3574]

I'm running an M1 Mac Mini and have no issues using Waves, Slate Digital, or Izotope.

[@bosssales9448]

@@eriktelford3574 all vsts wrking ???

[@JasonTaylor-po5xc]

Surprised you waited until now to get an M1 MacMini - especially with rumors of an improved version coming out soon. I bought mine shortly after it came out. I see a lot of potential with it, but there are several gaps that need to be solved to reach parity with the Intel versions: 1. Multi-monitor support. My Intel MacMini can support more than 2 monitors, M1 maxes at 2 (officially). 2. eGPU support. M1 is decent for integrated graphics but still nothing compared to a dedicated graphics card. 3. Software support. It was really bad early on, but it has gotten much better - but there are some software that just won't run native or in Rosetta. 4. Virtualization and Emulation. Currently, Parallels is the only working option that is also user-friendly - but that requires a subscription. VirtualBox has no plans to support M1. 5. Limited options and expandability. 16 GB is the max memory config you can get currently - while those 16 are more efficient, they are also shared with the on-board graphics. M1 laptops are even worse since they are limited to only 1 external monitor - which is a no-go for me.

[@martinjmusic]

Thanks for this video! Thought a few times about a cheap M1 Mac mini as my new main computer... but now I now that most of my Synths would require me to use always MainStage / Logic in Rosetta, it really makes now sense (for now) :)

[@toribarron5700]

I, “Finally” got one last week. Thing’s fast. Same specs as yours.

[@ProdbyTrehnt]

Running strong on my i7 2019 MacBook Pro on Catalina! Might get m1x when the technology develops more in a couple years

[@johnb6723]

M1 has been available for about a year. I would have thought the app manufacturers would have got the plugins fully M1 compatible by now. Shame on them.

[@alexgregory1427]

majority still unsupported. I agree... They had this forever... The real reason is probably some tech issue....that it is not as easy as they think it is... Too much pushback...Who knows maybe just an experiment, and we'll all be back with ultra powerful Intel 13th generation......

[@YoureNowOnTV]

Ram and storage is just way too expensive to justify an upgrade from my 5k iMac, MBP’s, and MacMini. I’ll hold off for another year or so until all the M1 dust settles and get a better overall system if I feel the need to swap out my main machine (iMac).

[@doug941]

I've also only need run 64 for I/0 Buffer! Amazing!!

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

best time cause i am doing all for this mac mini. It sucks like hell my 32 gb ram of 2018. But i don’t know still if Opus app sucks first, cause this composer cloud of Eastwest is so heavy. I cant mix a 50 track session of 3 min. The playback is not realible, this is the HELLLL after so much details and work done in something that was sounding amazing

[@issiewizzie]

You did it …..I just to run as many Omnisphere instance as I can

[@savvyeyemedia]

Hey Chris, Thanks so much for the info, you are just the best period!!!

[@tenchudjmusic]

Logic's ancient rotten codebase got bandaided for arm and rosetta, including random crashes from back in the 2000s on plugin loading. get a sandbox for pluginz, Logic!

[@reaganbrowneofficialyoutube]

Great video! You saved me a lot of headaches for when I get mine. Do you know if Universal Audio plug ins or EZ drummer is compatible yet? Thanks

[@madzthomas1044]

Wow i needed this video, thanks alot! 🙏🏾

[@FLH3official]

I'm still on Catalina. 🙂 As long as everything works...

[@joost3783]

Im still on mojave xD. I do wanna upgrade but I am "afraid"

[@FLH3official]

@@joost3783 LoL. Any change is frightening 😄. But if everything works as it was intedended to, is there a need to upgrade anything? If you're happy with Mojave, if your DAW and your plugins and various apps works, if you don't want to do anything more, so.... I've a principle in life: if the thing you bought for doing something can still do this thing you don't need to change it. It works with expresso machines, cars, shot guns, computers, dish washers, light bulbs, etc...

[@alexgregory1427]

yeah Big Sur is a big no no in pro audio. Catalina just became fully supported recently and is table now...Always stay one OS behind, if you have paying clients, and make money as a pro.... can't waste time having downtime...

[@joost3783]

@@alexgregory1427 well that's not what Im saying though.From most people I heard everything works fine. I just can't afford to loose my single working machine. Ill probably get a new one M1X or sth and leave the old one as is bc of that

[@modxsounds9032]

..great DAW, but its a shame that it cant import and use 32bit samples as any other daw in 2021.....

[@BetweentheBeans]

loving my M1! as a computer scientist, Apple Silicon is the coolest thing i’ve seen in tech since…idk Bitcoin?

[@youtubevideos415]

Why? I'm also a professional and i think it's pretty mediocre performance wise. It's basically just a smartphone in a computer case.

[@alexgregory1427]

@@youtubevideos415 true!

[@auncor8889]

I'd say 95% of the time Logic works just fine while using Rosetta, however I have had really weird glitches and lag happen that I've never experienced on my old macs. Which is really frustrating when youre trying to get the creative ideas rolling out as they come to you. If I could go back to my 2014 macbook pro. I would in a heartbeat. R.I.P.

[@doug941]

I also removed the hard drive from my old Mac and got a cheap connection case!

[@customjohnny]

This is a fantastic video. I greatly appreciate your work man, keep it up! Thank you.

[@SEFFOfficial]

I’ve got pretty much all of my plugs running M1 native now apart from Soundtoys and Waves. It’s working amazing with some of these AI plugins right now!!

[@alexgregory1427]

so you only have a few minor brands?? what about Plugin Alliance, Brainworks, Acoustica Audio, SSL, Avid,. aside from Waves etc.....none of them mess around with M1...

[@SEFFOfficial]

@@alexgregory1427 I’ve got more than I’d ever even need mate!! All good here

[@maltehagemeister2671]

@@alexgregory1427 so how's that developing? Hard to get an overview. Using loooots of brands her, too

[@djasides]

Hey Chris can you tell us how you got Waves working???? All of my plugins seem to work but Logic Pro is not playing ball with Waves using Rosetta on my MacBook Air :( Keep up the good work :)

[@attilaborza6067]

Thank you sir !

[@bernardclarke254]

This is great -thank you very much!

[@AlexOlivari67]

Had to finish a mix on a M1 mini I started with my iMac pro. It was a nightmare. When I solved the Rosetta problem, I could work around. But it was slow slow slow ! System overload all the time. Stay away - just my personal advice.

[@forcetheedges]

Extremely helpful info, thanks. Do the newest Imac and Macbook also have this new silicon chip?

[@cs-williams]

Thanks Chris, good video - one bit a feedback :) - your audio is too perfect! amazing that you can do that and hide every breadth but it doesn't sound natural. I'm curious that Logic is using Rosetta ... thought it was odd Apple didn't have M1 support for it.

[@timbeaton5045]

LOgic CAN use Rosetta, but as he demonstrated it will run natively. It's down to the 3rd party plugins. If they are not native, then Logic can run in Rosetta mode to enable them to run. This will eventually not be needed as and when the 3rd party software is made native. And there's the rub. It all depends on those 3rd party developers actually updating their software to Apple Silicon. Some have already done so, but some have not. So that fact that Logic CAN run in "Intel" mode is amazing, and of course means that by and large you can run pretty much any project you may have hand form quite a long time back. BUT, it will only reach its full potential when every bit of 3rd party software is updated to Apple Silicon code. Which, at least as far as some developers might be some time, if at all. I only have a few plugins, and those have been made native for the M1. Always go to the manufacturer's website to check if they have updated their software. For instance, Valhalla HAVE... Waves have not (according to their website), so do your research, and maybe think about avoiding using plugins that haven't been M1 updated. I tend to keep clear of developers who take an eternity to update their software, as it does make one wonder why they drag their feet over such things. Let face it, the M1 series is now nearly a year old, so that should have been plenty of time to update at least some of their offerings (eh Waves?!?!)

[@craigw9292]

@@timbeaton5045 Yeah thanks I clearly hadn't finished watching when I posted that dumb reply lol I'm holding off for now only because I use close to my 128GB of installed Ram, producing videos etc for music and while the M1 can do a lot the apps themselves don't understand a lack of memory and make decisions based on that, I need to Adobe product to pre-render frames which it isn't going to do with 12/32 GB (well not much). I'm sure it's coming just have to wait.

[@raf5.13]

Thanks for doing this. I’m also moving to apple silicon and wondering if I stick to UAD or go for M1 + Apogee

[@normjones6916]

Are you still enjoying the m1 mini, if you were to buy now what would you buy?

[@iammusicp]

great, that helped me a lot! thanks!

[@Mark-vf8op]

5:46 was that an overrun the crackling ont the bass sound

[@stevedaycreative]

Chris - thank you so much for this one! Valuable information. Question: Do you ever hear the fan at all?

[@edglue6138]

No

[@3xAudio]

very helpful

[@davidpurple3698]

Thanks Great. You should have tried a Time Machine backup though :-)

[@michaelansbro1512]

Previous system, portability, power source, peripherals ????????

[@doug941]

Unfortunately I need to run Logic Pro in Rosetta....as work around..otherwise I would lose any of my plugins that feature "drag midi".

[@jwalker99us]

Chris, have you used the Flock Audio "Patch" digital patch bay ? . Makes using hardware as simple as plugins . Pls consider doing a review.

[@b-rninecks1168]

Nice something thats still rising

[@Mr_Kirk_]

Still happy with this purchase or are you thinking of upgrading?

[@ThriveThamizha]

Can we use Logic pro in M1 with 8GB ram!

[@jonathanvandenberg3571]

I use logic all standard plugins on m1 macc air, its literally all you need, more than what you need probably. and fast as damn hell. 8gb 256gb version. kicking ass.

[@DavidNamdvili]

Good, but we can't change/upgrade internal SSD.

[@soyelpresi7023]

I'm currently on the look for an M1 Mac Mini, but kinda want to wait for the next M1X/M2 chip. Though if I get an M1X/M2 might have to wait longer for third-party plugin companies to support the new chip and that'll be a long wait... I feel like a 16GB M1 Mac Mini, is sufficient for music production and doing live streams, any pointers anyone?

[@guccisquidbillytentacles]

once they support m1 you won’t have to wait for m1x/m2 support the reason they don’t have native support now is because it’s an architecture switch from x86 to arm once they support arm it’s supported it’s not gonna be chip specific like that

[@Altropos]

This guy took an M1 mac mini 8gb ram and managed to run around 1.000 plugins on it :D kzbin.info/www/bejne/gXqkhpx8pL6DqrM

[@handihasan8823]

yes, m1 is more than enough for music production.... even beat the intel one at that...

[@PreacherAtArrakeen]

I have the Mini 16gb ram/1tb storage. It runs Logic better than my late 2015 i7 27" 4ghz, 32gb ram machine does. But I tested the basic model before hand, and that handled well, too. Unless you're composing symphonies or movie soundtracks, the Mini M1 is enough. All of my 3rd party stuff, and there's enough of it, works well in Rosetta mode. I also have a template with 3rd party native plugins, and that is the most impressive experience Ikve had with Logic.

[@motomuso]

Looks great but there is that 16GB max on RAM. I wonder, can anyone do orchestral mockups with 16GB? I'd love to know if anyone is doing it and how. Thanks!

[@accentontheoff]

If I had a little more budget would the MacBook M1 Pro be worth it. More so considering this is one year later.

[@xeonoswalds5692]

Man your buffer size! Reduce it to 128 and see how it chokes......

[@kennethjackson4858]

Hello there, great review. I have an old iMac and looking for a M1 MBP. But looking at this the mini Los Best Buy only 16 ram. My iMac has 32 ram. I see you have 1tb. Does that help? What if you travel want to wire music or do production away from home, can you u use the mini like the MBP and take it with you? What monitors are you using it recommend? Apologies for ask questions but I don’t want to spend $$$$$if I can do it with wisdom. Thanks ahead!

[@NoLefTurnUnStoned.]

What?! RX8 now works on the M1?

[@tg4878]

What audio interfaces are working for everyone? I have waited a long time for Apogee to support the M1 and the new OS! My Element works great with my old iMac, but Logic Pro keeps crashing with my new Macbook! Bummed!

[@themusicaviary6361]

Hey Chris, what's your take on this: I have a 2020 mac mini (pre M1). I have logic pro x, Ni, fabfilter, waves, izotope, nexus and many other 3rd party vst's. It all works fine. I want to buy a mac book so I can take some of my projects to other people's houses to work on them but I'm confused as hell about what to buy. Budget isn't a major problem, though I don't want anything too expensive because I'm only taking about maybe once or twice a month where I'd be working remotely. I'm worried about compatibility I suppose.. what do you think I should aim for?

[@peacetrip5049]

Hi Chris I just used migration Assistant to transfer everything from my 1994 15' MBP to my new 16" M2 MBP but Logic and other Apple Apps that should run native now ask me to download Rosetta. How do I fix this?

[@savvyeyemedia]

Hey Chris, I need your help, please... I have finally built the courage to start my youtube channel. I use logic with NI Komplete 6 audio interface, I have a couple of high-end Logitech cams, one to record my desk area, and another one to record me, and I plan to screen capture. I have the option to use OBS or multiple instances of Quicktime. Can you please advise me on how you record your videos, please? I notice you record your vice and at the same time any audio you play from Logic, how do I achieve the same, please?

[@CINIMA]

Thanks for this. I’m curious, what do you like about fabfilter since you’re a big proponent of the stock plugins?

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

i still don get this fabfilter trend, i use the normal eq and the waves EQ or NOVA

[@toribarron5700]

FabFilter basically replaces the stock, digital plugins. Workflow, flexibility, and brilliant GUI. That’s FabFilter. FabFilter doesn’t exactly sound better than stock, it just gets you sounding better faster and in more simple ways. Excellent in tandem with Logic plugins, especially the analog emulations and the instruments. They’re costly. But if you buy a bundle on Black Friday, you will save a tone on future purchases, as their price is based upon how many plugins you own. Brilliant plugins.

[@CINIMA]

@@emanuel_soundtrack I have nothing against it myself. Just trying to understand better why everyone uses it. I downloaded the trial a while back and it may be unfair to judge since I didn't spend a lot of time on it, but I didn't feel that it was able to give me anything I wasn't already able to do with stock or much cheaper third party alternatives.

[@CINIMA]

@@toribarron5700 That makes sense. They do have an appealing GUI. Thanks for your input. Going to keep an eye out for Black Friday. I'm guessing by 11, Logic will be making more improvements too.

[@perge_music]

I'd love one but breaks too many plugins I use for the moment as there's no iLok support.

[@LanzaroteShowcase]

What!!! No iLok that is terrible, what does that mean exactly? I use iLok for massive orchestral libraries...

[@perge_music]

@@LanzaroteShowcase It means that anything that uses iLok won't work even it it would run under Rosetta 2. So no ProTools or Falcon, anything that needs it for protection. Pace need to fix it ASAP.

[@LanzaroteShowcase]

@@perge_music that is not good. I’ll be sticking with my ancient 2012 a bit longer then…

[@perge_music]

@@LanzaroteShowcase Yup, still running a trash can here

[@ManontheBroadcast]

How would you handle large orchestral libraries with 16 gigabytes of RAM ?

[@wglennhowells]

The M1 uses ram differently than you’re used to. You will have no problems with 16gb

[@CRASS2047]

Does anyone know if I can transfer licenses for waves plugins to my new Mac?

[@totoroutes5389]

The m1X will be available after New Years.

[@davidpurple3698]

Anyone who have tried Avenger on the M1 - its pretty CPU heavy on the old Intel ?

[@kevinmoutterbridge]

Did anyone load there sounds for Logic Pro, Native Instruments to external drives?

[@newmanpc4253]

how can i import a logic 9 prodject to logic pro 10 , whit m1 system

[@hichamthex]

I own a powerful 16" Macbook pro, but it's just very very loud. how loud is the mac mini ?

[@toribarron5700]

Quieter than the room tone. So it may as well be silent.

[@ravenwoods7855]

I'm on Day One with my 2021 M1 MacBook Pro 14". Lots of things are obviously faster but I did a bounce test comparison against my 2015 13" MacBook Pro, using a Logic Pro file that is pretty much just audio files, about one hour long. The 2015 MacBook Pro was actually faster. What gives? Anyone having a similar result?

[@gustavopeters227]

My waves plugins still don't work even using Rosetta

[@gustavopeters227]

@Enrize maybe but I do like some of their plugins for specific purposes, and haven't found something I like as much.

[@jaywalker2872]

Do you have to upgrade ?

[@gustavopeters227]

@@jaywalker2872 Maybe I've been without internet for about 4 weeks, (getting it tomorrow) so there is a possibility. Are they working for you?

[@rc3754]

@Enrize Couldn’t agree more.

[@gustavopeters227]

@Tronam I'm not too sure actually, How do I check that?

[@yitao_]

that mustache tho.

[@POSTONBEATS]

🤜🏾🤛🏻🔥🔥🔥🔥

[@dafingaz]

Yeah, bringing over the apps and dealing with bringing licenses over was really a long process for me. I also had some issues for a few days bringing Spitfire Audio apps into M1 Macs. Is a new M2 Mac coming next week?

[@emanuel_soundtrack]

did you open Opus there?

[@dafingaz]

@Tronam do you use Fragile String Evolutions? That’s the main one right now that’s not working for me.

[@dafingaz]

@@emanuel_soundtrack me? Remind me what Opus is.

[@pummisher1186]

I'm convinced that the only people who own Macs are people on KZbin talking about how they bought a Mac.

[@ShiftIV]

Why Logic Pro and Apple Big Sur suck - lack of compatability of control surfaces and midi controllers. My MCU Pro works in Pro Tools on Big Sur but not in Logic. I replaced Pro Tools' money suck with Logic and so far the money I am spending on trying to find a compatible control surface is costing me more than the 35 a month for Pro Tools. Get with it Apple. I want to spend my time working on music not setting up controllers to function at bare minimum.

[@purplewound]

Have you noticed any differences in latency values compared to your old Mac?

[@joost3783]

everything is great, BUT APPLE - FIX MONTEREY MOUSE LAG THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE ARE DUMPING THEIR MAC

[@joecaner]

16 Gbytes of max RAM? Not much of an upgrade, is it? No thank you.

[@dr8544]

Hh

[@theofficialtonyvincent]

Chris- now that more plugin-manufacturers are Silicon native, what is your experience with VST instruments? I'm having to boot my MacMini (2018 intel) to the curb, because I can't get more than 3-4 VST instruments happening without the "single-core spike"... Thoughts my brother?- TV