You SHOULD NOT Buy the M3 Mac for Music - Here’s why

IN DEPTH MIX TUTORIALS, Music Business advice, Live Q&A, Awesome Merch
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ProTools CPU Test Session
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[@ColtCapperrune]

What computer are you using?? Is it powerful enough??

[@MarkVO]

M1 Pro 14', I mainly use Adobe Audition for voice over and it's definitely fast enough BUT - some actions do struggle. I think it's just Adobe, though.

[@thenetworkmystery]

M1 MacBook Air. VERY MUCH NOT powerful enough. Looking to replace actually. Working with huge orchestral libraries, and 16 GB of RAM simply isn't enough. I think 64 would be a good amount.

[@bryans8656]

I live in M1 land, base Studio Max and an MBP Pro 14 (16GB/1TB), and those devices more than meet my prosumer needs.

[@uplift321]

My 13-inch M1 16GB is just not fast enough. I’m a pro working everyday with big sessions - as you say. It’s usually just about fine until 2/3 of the way through a project then I have to put the buffer up to max, then by 3/4, I’m getting CPU overloads. I don’t do huge video projects but I do make content. Want to get a laptop and I’ll go for more than 16GB. Do I go M2 Max or M3…?

[@SamuelRebelo74]

My Score with your session: between 30% and 36% @ 64 buffer size Windows 11, GIGABYTE Z790 AERO G LGA 1700 Intel Z790 Motherboard, DDR5 CORSAIR Vengeance 32GB, Intel core i7-13700k, SAMSUNG 980 M.2 2280 500GB SSD in a Fractal Design Define R5 Black Silent Case...No graphics card...under 1000$ at the time of writing this comment and assembled by me...

[@larswillsen]

Colt our hero ... I managed everything without any problems on a Mini Mac M1 .. stable, no nonsense .. and for the first time after I started re-recording after 30+ tears I relesed a ciuntry track this morning :-)

[@ReedRobins]

Thanks for the vid, I've got the Mac Studio Max M1 with a ram upgrade to 64. It's doing me right!

[@eyeque7]

I have your recommendation - M2 pro Mac mini, it’s absolutely perfect for producing songs. 16gb with 512 storage with external 2tb SSD. Runs like a dream.

[@johnplainsong9769]

You can get an M1 Mac Mini for around $350 used now. It still packs enough punch for most home studios and I'm having no issues. I'm in the process of upgrading from a late 2015 maxed-out iMac 27" Retina, and am gutting the iMac to use the 5K display via a $100 display controller.

[@Salmon260]

There is one very important thing to remember: on all Apple Silicone Macs accept the Mac Studio and the Mac Pro, the SSD is soldered onto the motherboard, once the SSD dies on you get a black screen and if you don't have 3 year Apple Care warranty you will end up with pile of aluminium on your hands, the good old days were you had the possibility of replacing a hard drive on your Apple computer are over, so I encourage you, you to edit music, movies and pictures on an external hard drive to preserve your internal SSD.

[@Chris.Brisson]

Just buy a new Mac Studio every 3 years like you do your iPhone.

[@Makebelieve123]

Thats a great point ! @Salmon260

[@multireel7590]

Not sure if you're sarcastic or serious, but does planned obsolescence and anti-repair design sound like a good thing to support?@@Chris.Brisson

[@multireel7590]

I would also encourage people to think twice before buying a product that so blatantly promotes planned obsolescence and anti-repair tactics.

[@Chris.Brisson]

@@multireel7590 the typical Apple consumer would do well on something I'd call the "Apple Ultimate Plan", whereby they would fork over $175 per month on a 3 year lease of both an iPhone and choice of Mac Studio or MacBook Pro, all covered by "AppleCare Pro". You'd surrender the devices after 3 year lease is up and sign a new 3-year contract for the latest products. #ApplePayForPlay

[@officialmaar]

I needed this!!

[@Vela_Isai]

Thank you for this video colt. I very informative. I enjoy watching all your videos. You have inspired me in many ways. Thanks mate👏

[@thesonicsolution1976]

The M1 Max is only a year and a half old and can be purchased through apple refurb. Especially if you are moving up from an intel machine, the gains are enormous. Outside of just wanting to have the latest and greatest, the M1 Max chip is an absolute beast of a machine for audio.

[@ReggieBishop]

I just bought a M1 Max. It's great

[@thesonicsolution1976]

@@ReggieBishop - I bought the M1 Max studio when it came out in march 22. It's cool seeing the improvements through M2 and M3, but the M1 Max still hammers out everything so well I doubt I would even notice the gains. Especially working audio mainly. Congrats on your M1 Max!

[@ReggieBishop]

@@thesonicsolution1976 it's a big leap from my old MBP mid 2012 😂

[@coldskoolbeatz]

@@ReggieBishop 💯%

[@Loki6669Alpha]

Moving “up” from an Intel machine? You mean from the Intel based Macs Apple purposely undercooled to cause throttling so their new in house chips would look like compelling upgrades? Sometimes it’s better to just leave an abusive relationship rather than make excuses for bad behavior.

[@LordDavidYoung]

I just updated my studio from an intel 2019 Mac to the m1 ultra Mac Studio. B&H has a deal on them that is almost $3000 off. Also m1 ultra and m2 ultra are identical to protools since PT can’t use the efficiency cores. Save the money, and get a killer machine for a steal.

[@LTDusersince99]

I have an 2013 i7 macbook pro, and apart from fan running loud with Ableton. It's strong enough already, but getting sign of age and starting to behave strangely on other aspect of the computer. But the reason I will have to go to M3 Macbook is because that's what's being sold new with a french Keyboard here in Canada, and as a sound designer for theatre shows and sometimes being part of the show in live situation too, I need to be in a lot of different places. But for a home studio. I agree with you for the choice you do :)

[@promozo]

I have a very old imac for production and need to upgrade, I like the idea of the M3 Macbook pro for portability plus being able to hook up to a monitor for in studio... I use Ableton and a ton of plug ins. It's gotta be worth the upgrade? What do you reckon?

[@devicefuldb5097]

Based on my research when I bought the M1 Ultra Studio, it was better for large audio project verses the Max, which was better for Graphics Dev. Since I got it, about a year ago, my CPU yawns at huge Logic projects (that would crash my Mac Pro) with lots of virtual instruments and plugins. I do notice that standard large projects when mature, use a ton of Ram if available. I got 128GB of ram because you can't upgrade this thing, and a normal mature project is using 20+GB of it. So, it's much better to have it, IMO. Personally, for the cost of these Macs, we need to get a good long run time out of them. I'm talking at least 7 years or more, which I did get out of my last Mac Pro.

[@Maradnus]

I used my 2006 Mac Pro from 2006, all the way up to 2018.. So unless you’re in desperate need of running something, that out dates your current machine, you should be good. Are use i-STAT menus as a CPU and monitoring option for the menu bar. This allows me to see and monitor memory pressure versus CPU usage, et cetera et cetera .. I have also noticed that browsing and watching KZbin videos does about the same if not slightly more write activity to the drive down my logic projects.. I have the base M1 Mac mini with a 8gigs of ram and my projects, I often see using 10… I like many people feared that it would just do too much Page swapping to the drive … I think browsing and watching KZbin videos it’s the hard drive harder than my logic projects do

[@billyhughes9776]

Excellent vid -- useful info. Thanks!

[@JamesButcher]

good advice and straight to the point - awesome vid as always Colt!

[@motrock2]

Colt; I have an iMac from 2016. Its almost totally out of date. However; the screen is still great. I was told that I could get a new Mac Studio and use my iMac as the monitor. I asked Apple that question and they said; YES, you can do that. Have you heard of people doing that? I am running Universal Audio Luna for my recording btw. Plus the OX BOX, Apollo Twin X, etc.

[@artysanmobile]

The reality that music production is not terribly computer-intensive disappoints some. The 2013 trashcan happily handles 100-200 tracks with all the plugins a music producer could ever need. It is dead silent, small, expandable and light in weight, absolutely loaded with ports. I typically record around 100 tracks while providing 25-40 foldback and stem outputs in my live sessions and it is quite happy, not even breathing hard. It is even comfortable with any macOS including Sonoma. Apple won’t like us giving such advice but… too bad.

[@Zukaarimoto]

I have a regular M1 Mac Mini but I’m thinking about having a mobile set up. I although I would like a M3 Max, the Pro should be good enough for mobile use. I think a Max would definitely be good for a home studio set up. Eventually I’ll get there down the line. Good video. Gave me some things to consider.

[@csjaugiedog]

Great advice Colt, Thanks!

[@pigknickers2975]

Still running an 2015 iMac 27" but I have got 18 cores of UA processing with most of the plugs. One day I will make the leap but I like holding back obviously enough! I couldnt do it if I was doing score composition but I'm not. Intersting video.

[@dirface]

For a good price vs. performance ratio, buying last year's model is usually the way to go for any model or make.

[@JohnSmith-pn2vl]

not really since m3 max is a game changer for audio, the p-core count is insane. tho a m2 or m1 pro (max p-core version) is a very very solid machine still. m3 pro is a no go imo, either base or max

[@dirface]

For performance, maybe, but I did say price vs. performance. Since you can run 100+ tracks on a $1500 PC these days, how much of a 'game changer' do most people really need?

[@smokey5100]

Hi there, great video! I'm about to purchase a new Mac Studio and I plan on using large sample libraries as well as mixing large projects. If you had a choice would you go with a M1 Max (10 core CPU/32 core GPU) refurbished for $2600 or a new M2 Max (12 core/30 core GPU) for $2999? I'm a ProTools & NI Maschine user. I would also equipt either with 64 gb ram plus 2tb of SSD storage.

[@michaelevan9184]

I went from a 10 year old iMac that actually felt like the back was on fire as it got so hot running orchestral plugins and would basically just grind to a halt do to over heating and exceeding CPU usage. Got the first M1 Mac Book Pro 13" 2020 edition and it is awesome. If I'm recording sessions with non-orchestral libraries, say country demos with dozens and dozens of plugins my CPU usage barely hits 10%. And it stays as cold as a corpse! No overheating issues. And it's fast! My rule of thumb..... if she's not bogging down on you during your sessions ride her till she does then trade her in for a younger more powerful chick! Cheers.

[@lenimbery7038]

I wish you’d done this video a year ago when I moved from my 2015 iMac to a Mac Studio with an M1 chip

[@oscarpatxot659]

As someone living outside the US or Europe, the most important thing keeping me from Apple is repairs, I use a PC, and if anything breaks I can swap it myself easily and within the same day, we do have certified apple stores here but the repairs can be long, expensive and tedious. Edit: spelling

[@Omegaparsec]

Apart from the desktops, I think we’re at the last leg of mobile PCs having individual components as well... Give it few more years and everyone will be onto SoC

[@Digalog]

Everything ? Like what broke ?

[@oscarpatxot659]

@@Digalog ram, drive, psu, fan. Any of those fails, I can replace easily without having to surrender my device the shop. And wait for a diagnostic, then wait for the part, and then the repair.

[@ArmaGeddon-iu1vv]

My trusty 12-year-old iMac is still going strong, with two backup macs that were a steal - this machine seems built to last forever. While I'm due for an upgrade, I'm hesitant to keep shelling out money for new devices after owning all models since the beige G3. For those on a budget, I highly recommend older models.

[@GregKletschka]

I have an M1 Pro MBP with 32gb of ram. My sessions are very VI and fx heavy and I’m only pushing 30% cpu and ram usage. This laptop will serve me very well for the next few years

[@partlysimpson5154]

Wow I have 16GB m2 pro. Do you run into RAM issues? Or its 32 even overkill?

[@GregKletschka]

I think 32 will sufficient in a few years

[@user-eo2xs1sg6w]

Thanks so much Colt! Brilliant honest review.

[@jdubbs9655]

Colt, Thank you so very much for this honest advice!

[@shawn_paps]

Always love your content Colt! And thank you for a REALISTIC perspective about the new Mac’s and who should buy them. I’m on a regular M1 Mac mini with 16gb of ram and 512gb ssd. I regularly run 100+ track sessions with industry standard plugins, amp sims, etc and I’ve never had any issues. Reaper and Logic are DAWs I use regularly. I can also have several other programs open along with the session and still no issues.

[@WisdomHouseCreative]

Is that an M1 or M1 pro chip? I ask because I'm about to buy a M2 MacBook Air, and I need to know it can handle the kind of mix projects you mentioned.

[@shawn_paps]

@@WisdomHouseCreative it’s just the standard M1, not the M1 Pro! What KZbin will never tell you (besides folks like Colt here) is that Apple silicon is stupid fast. Like really stupid fast. I had an M1 air prior to the mini with just 8gb of unified memory and that thing still could handle massive projects with a lot of plugins. Unified memory is different than regular RAM, and is extremely fast due to everything being on one chip ( CPU, GPU, etc) Now for context, I am a metal and country producer, so a lot of my tracks are real instruments or amp sims and usually a few instances of Kontakt, then your usual processing with waves, slate, Joey sturgis plugins, etc.. If you’re doing pop or edm or something with a lot of synth plugins like Serum, you may want the extra beef from the Pro series chips.

[@WisdomHouseCreative]

@@shawn_paps Thanks for the response!

[@shawn_paps]

@@WisdomHouseCreative absolutely!!! I hope that helped some!

[@redcomn]

@@shawn_papsI agree, I recently purchased M3 iMac with 526ssd and 16gb ram, all the program I used run stupidly fast. Felt like I should go with 32gb but well…. It still runs fine The only place I have problems were with video editing with effects. But well I got other machine specifically just for that.

[@checkitout611]

Went away from Apple many years ago (2005). Currently - AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (16 Core) on ASUS ProArt X570-CREATOR WIFI motherboard (has Thunderbolt support) with 64 RAM / RTX 3080 Ti GPU 12GB and it's been flat out awesome! Windows 10 running Studio One Pro. Also using it for video editing with DaVinci Resolve. Specifically built for recording and video editing. Not used for anything else. Don't get me wrong I know Apple makes good products and I know many who especially love and use them for serious movie type video editing. They both are great. Just depends on what you like and what you are comfortable on, kind of like DAW's.

[@icyspecter]

but you don't have apple logo, it accelerates

[@checkitout611]

@@icyspecter Good point. I just found some logo's for sale on eBay that should help after I affix it to my PC. 😂

[@walkergosa263]

Studio one😮

[@checkitout611]

@@walkergosa263 By your response I'm sure you're a Pro Tools user which is fine. I had a Pro Tools TDM system as well for years. It's very good and an industry standard still in many studios. I'm just as happy with Studio One Pro (since 2011) and I even use the Presonus 2626 which is flat out excellent especially for it's price. They both make music just fine. 👍 Lot's of good DAW's out there now which are all capable of great things.

[@bmbell71]

I've got the Intel version of the ProArt Creator with an i9, and those are indeed great boards. Lots of room for expansion and the driver support from ASUS is second to none.

[@anthonycunningham4598]

Thanks Colt! I need to hear this!

[@vincem2121]

Thank you for your video. Currently I have a Mac Mini M1... which I am very satisfied with for making music (songwriter on Ableton). Despite everything I would need a laptop... Mac Book Air M2 or Mac Book Pro M3?

[@DonDouglass]

I have been on the fence for a new Mac. This helps! Thanks.

[@TonyFingermusic]

I bought a base Mac Studio m2 Max this year and happy with it. Handle all like a best!

[@Capt-Cran]

Just what I needed to hear ... getting ready to take the dive ... M2 Max Studio - 2 TB SSD and 96 GB Ram ... do a ton of VSTs ... thank you again!!

[@jimi272]

Enough ssd is so important!!

[@wearecontendmusic]

Using an M1 Max Mac Studio and an M1 Pro (16GB/1TB) MacBook Pro. They're amazing! I also have a custom built i9 PC I built (i9, 32GB ram, 7900XT GPU). Even though the PC is a powerful machine, I won't use it for audio or video pro tasks. I used to have time to troubleshoot computer issues and optimization....but not anymore. Things are too busy for that! The Mac and CoreAudio just always works, even after updates. That's why Mac all day for anyone who makes money through music or video. You'll have more time to make content and more $$!! Worth the extra cost. -Izzy

[@FullMetalPanicNL]

I already have a gaming PC and that in combination with all the stuff I can legally buy on the cheap (bundles) I don't see a reason to also get a Mac. Frankly the biggest thing that holds me back is the M2 pro mac mini is €1569,- and then you only get 512 gigs of storage. Getting 1TB costs you an additional €230,-. Paying that much money just for an additional 230 for just 512 gigs extra is total insanity and I will never EVER pay for it. Their storage isn't even better quality. But they ask about 4X compared to other high quality storage. I'm sure it works, I'm not gonna make fun because someone likes to use Mac but damn is that company greedy.

[@Shreyanshboi]

Hey, I'm considering building a gaming PC as well right now but one thing I'm worried about is that I'll be missing the option to choose logic pro x which is only on Mac. I know there are other options out there like fl studio and Ableton but I've heard logic is the best one and the others are pretty hard to start with. There's also an option to get a virtual machine and run mac os on the PC but not sure if that's really 'legal'. Do you think it's worth sacrificing logic pro? Hoping to hear your opinion :)

[@richoamezquita353]

​@Shreyanshboi Definitely worth the change, there is nothing like "THE BEST DAW" It's all about your workflow, and relying on different opinions about which is the best DAW. As you know Logic Pro is also one of the cheapest options, however the MAC is ridiculously expensive, and for that value you can get a top tier PC 128GB of ram and a last gen Processor with more cores AND STILL get any DAW you want on the market. I recommend to check reviews on DAW alternatives, maybe crack-versions so you get to work with those and make a decision.

[@marcus268]

​@@ShreyanshboiI replaced my 12 core ryzen with a m2 mac mini with 16 gbyte, 512 ssd... its 25 watt vs 100 idle, its 100% silent, the ryzen cooling is the main problem you need to fix if you build such a system, even with nocuta and high efficiency psu, it will be loud... for audio silence around you is important.

[@timbecker6873]

i like to differ from this opinion. when i bought my m1max pro, i got realy fast out of power. the most important reason is if you are a composer like me (with lots of vsts) , not just classic recording. when i compose, i would like to shape the sound with short latency, not only when all tracks are done. sadly i am forced to change lantency to get more plugins and then i am not able to keep on with composing with my keyboard. the latency is to high to play. the switch between latency is a painfull downer. the most efficent DAW is reaper, but not as good as workflow in bitwig that i use. so there is a compromise. 5k for a laptop is a lot of money, but worth it in my scenario.

[@stupendousmusic4190]

I just got a Mac Studio with M2 chip.I can't imagine needing a new computer in the next ten years and then some.

[@theleastsignificantbit4794]

2012 Mac Mini that is maxed out. Works fine. I *almost* bought a Mac Mini M2, but decided until I need it, I’ll stick with the 2012.

[@this_is_jmdub]

Thank you for the insight! At what do you run your buffer size usually?

[@mitzthegamer]

Really nice video , I am looking to switch to Mac . I do use a lot of tracks and a lot of plugins . Will the Mac Studio M2 Max 32gb unified memory and 512 gb be enough for that and video editing ? And I can add an external ssd for more storage ? Or should I go for a M2 Ultra ?

[@orryfishburne5326]

Hey Colt. Does the Mac Mini with the M2 Pro have any performance issues with the 16gb of ram? I really want to upgrade to a Mac Mini since it will be lightyears in head of my current computer and its very affordable, but im trying to see if its a better choice to go with the M2 Pro with 16gb ram, or a M2 with 24gb ram. The SSD size im not concerned about since i can just get more storage externally. I should note that im not creating massive projects and i dont make music professionally.

[@delmixedit]

One thing that mentioned here is the fact that if you buy a new M3 computer, you need to understand that not all software has become compatible with the latest OS; Sonoma. That in and of itself is a reason to stick with M2 if you must buy right now or just wait.

[@N-VAMusic]

That's one thing that absolutely baffles me as a new Mac user. Why isn't the OS sent as a dev kit to everyone who is relevant so that people don't have to wait to update their OS out of fear of incompatibilities?

[@christinamichelle8790]

Completely agree. Thankfully all my plugins are working flawlessly thus far even though they’re not officially supported.

[@white.lodge.dale.cooper]

All devs have access to macOS betas for months before release. If there are compatibility issues, that's on those devs. @@N-VAMusic

[@agork]

I’m good with my mini M2 pro 16Gb / 512 SSD so far. I’m sure it will do just fine as long as I clear out my sessions to an external drive as I get them done, which I normally do anyway.

[@jigsound]

Thanks for the comparison! 🙌Still preparing for the overall M-transition here. 😎

[@blue_mountains28]

Hobby level here!!! Started on a win10 laptop and recently moved to 14"MacBook Pro M2Pro LogicPro 10.8. The Mac was well over double the price. Is the Mac double as good? no. Can you do audio on windows? yes! Is the Mac better? In my experience I would say yes. Can Mac's still overload and have issues? Yes.

[@iankirkpatrick]

great info thankyou!

[@dougd1573]

I prefer a PC over a mac because I can build a workstation with multiple internal NVME drives and replace components over the lifespan of the workstation without buying an entirely new workstation everytime I want an upgrade.

[@joshewingmusic5287]

My 2021 M1 Max MacBook Pro with 32 gigs of RAM literally just arrived today. Can't wait to dive in.

[@AnalogFlava]

wow what a straiight up forward recommendation/review covering the questions we all wanna know when upgrading from intel 2018. plugins vs virtual instruments was a good mention as well! Do you think the macbook air M2 with 16 gigs ram will be fine? I run mostly hardware synths but my 2018 is so bad (yeah the worst mac ever built I think) that it gave me a trauma

[@joshrainbow-IceTenor]

Fantastic video as always colt. I have a question about Ram. I bought the iMac M1 that comes with 16 G Ram, however, I compose orchestra using mainly spitfire libraries and izotope, UAD plug ins to name a few. I do notice when I have a session with 60 tracks and add the izotope mastering plug in the computer is jumping over 120% and doesn’t like that. I was advised 16g and that it would be enough, it isn’t. What would you choose when doing orchestral works. Some say I need 128G others say 32 or 64 is more than enough and running under 50% smoothly. I don’t have experience with higher cpu and have no idea if 32 makes a big difference compared to 16. What would you choose? The reason I wanted an iMac is that it is al in one, not sure if I could have better gone with the studio model. Love to hear your advice 😊

[@blormpf1740]

recent MacOS versions compress the program memory while it is running and less physical RAM means more work by the CPU. 32GB is probably enough for mid-weight work but for what you're doing 64GB probably would be a justified investment. The program/application using memory may be efficient or it may be inefficient and Apple has NOT provided a way to measure this efficiency - and because each application is different there isn't a way to suggest one size fits all. hope this helps

[@joshrainbow-IceTenor]

Thank you so much for your help. You helped me to go in the right direction. I also noticed more and more people downloading their software, like spitfire libraries that need 650 G of space on external SSD drives rather than buying storage from Apple which is very expensive compared to a 2 or 4 Terra Samsung drive. In your experience, does a SSD drive from this brand be fast enough and not give any problems with loading instruments? Now I have everything loading from my Imac which only has 2Terra and not much left...Some say it is better to run the programs from the computer disc than from a SSD external, and others swear by using an external SSD that has big programs stored like the spitfire BBC Pro...what's your experience?@@blormpf1740

[@Hi-xs7wm]

Excellent video thank you !

[@NewHopeAudio]

Thanks for doing this!

[@clockwizemusic1]

Thanks for this much need info!! I do music production professional and I'm switching to a Mac. However are there any issues with music software like native instruments or others running on the M2 Max chip?

[@smuthered]

as far as I know, the only compatibility issues were developers with the original silicon compatibility. by no means am I a computers person, but I believe we won't be running into compatibility issues any longer with Apple Silicon

[@shredheadred5653]

About to get a studio m2 ultra maxed out on everything. Running multiple instances of heavy Kontack vsts/ scoring work (cinematic studio orchestras, ara 2, etc). Session templates tend to be 120 tracks. With light video editing

[@PikaStu666]

I have a last of the line i5 MacBook Air, it struggles when running several plugins. I'll definitely be upgrading to Apple Silicon soon...

[@user-hf3qm3mu5t]

Thanks for this, makes sense!

[@MarkGardner66Bonnie]

Thank you Sir... I appreciate your video as I am in the market for a new computer and using it strictly for music production with Logic Pro. I will save my old Mac for internet browsing and really was trying to figure out which Mac to get... I think your recommendation on the M2 Mini will work just fine and I will save enough money to get a SSD and a new monitor...

[@Johnnybananass-_]

your a life saver, I have a new Mac air m2, specced out by ,my old MacBook Pro needs replacing so I was thinking of a Mac mini for the studio at my house and using my Mac air for studio portable work and my day job show producing, I dont use big session work as a media composer, max track amount 24 tracks with a bunch of UAD and fab filter plugs so this Mac mini will be epic

[@robhofkes3221]

One major reason to NOT to by Apple is that Apple can not be upgraded with either RAM or storage. Let alone replacing detective parts. Also windows/linux laptops are cheaper and more powerful then the Apple silicon.

[@LiamHaleMusic]

I just bought 500 ukuleles instead

[@therealdjspecialk]

I am a Serato dj video dj. I'm also planning on getting into music production. When playing video while dj'ing, my Mac stutters and sometimes gets hot. I'm considering getting a 16.2" M3 Pro with 18GR RAM and 1TB of storage. Do you recommend that for me?

[@ronaldnollet1461]

awesome info thnx cheers from Australia

[@engmix]

I did the two hundred channel test on my 2019 Intel Mac Pro, 3.2ghz 16 Core, hit play and it hovered around 36% CPU. Granted my computer was financially insanely expensive, but I do run a shyt ton of VI's etc...and there weren't really any options other than this at the time. It's also rock solid and plug and play with pro tools. You can basically buy my computer now for under 4k, which is nuts. I did speak with a huge plugin developer about Intel Chip support, and they said they have way more issues with M-series chips than the Intel ones, and don't see themselves dropping support for Intel anytime soon, whatever that means? I'm not suggesting that anyone do what I did, but it has been a great addition to my studio.

[@mrscratchhook]

im still on a 2012 mac pro 12 core 3.46, ghz but it covers all my audio needs, but going thru these comments and watching this video im going to try 200 tomorrow myself, lets see what happens. im usually right around 20 tracks consistently, a few v.i's with uad2pcie and various plugins from different vendors..👍🏽

[@engmix]

@@mrscratchhook Good luck with the new comp!

[@martingravdal7094]

Just got a Mac Book Pro - M2 32gb ram for miksing and composing. It runs really well. But it’s crazy how cheap you get them in USA compared to what we have to pay in Europe🤯

[@martingravdal7094]

The Mac Studio M2 starts at 3000$ in Norway🇳🇴 😂

[@footballuniverse6522]

Average VAT in europe is 22%, whereas average US state has a sales tax (their vat) of around 5%. Plus items are generally cheaper there *sad european noises*

[@footballuniverse6522]

@@martingravdal7094 lmao you're norwegian you can't complain - what about us italians then? 🤣

[@martingravdal7094]

@@footballuniverse6522 You are right, but i'm still a musician😆

[@digilifepro]

JUST placed an order for a MacBook Pro M3 Pro, 12 Core chip upgrade, 36GB RAM, 512GB SSD. It’s still processing… Should I cancel it and look for an M2 MAX? I’m coming from a 2013 MBP Intel chip, 16GB ram which was running Pro Tools HD rig w expansion chassis + production + video. What should I do!? I haven’t used any M-series Apple Silicon before. This 2013 is great but obvs end of life. Stick w M3 Pro or look for M2 Max? Thanks!

[@gumbilicious1]

I am on an m1, I have not even stressed the thing since I bought it. I am a light amateur music maker, maybe a few dozen tracks on a project. I earmarked it for 5 years of use, 16gb ram and 1tb hard drive. I expect it to last quite a bit longer than 5 years

[@pushbeats6622]

Such an informative video! Quick question, what other laptop would you recommend for a music guy who is doing virtual instruments,compositions and basically music porduction after M3 max, since I am a student I don't have the budget for the m3 max.

[@stephanemignot100]

I went from an iMac 2008 too a Mini M2 Pro this year, quite a bump in performance ! I lost the possibility tu use Logic 9 but GarageBand coupled with MPC Beats are good enough for my stupid tracks, I'll try Luna soon. I'm not a Pro, just a drummer... ^

[@PaulStephenson003]

I last bought a macbook pro in 2012 for personal use, and I've used a work macbook pro over the years. In 2017 I bought a 5K iMac Pro (2.3GHz 18 core - 64GB ram), but it currently can't run FCP while also having other music (Logic Pro) & design apps open. My M1 iPad Pro can more easily run them, but then I miss out on all the additional capabilities of the Mac platform. I went big b/c I don't plan to buy one for another 5-10 years... M3 Max 16 core - 128GB Ram, but I keep seeing these videos saying one doesn't need to go M3 max. :) I considered the mac studio, but I wanted something Uber powerful that I could travel with... Hoping this decision turns out ok! Thanks as always for your insights @Colt!

[@TabascoVolta]

Pro Tools on PC was great for me the last decade but I'm definitely moving to Mac for my new rig

[@joshbrightproductions582]

I run 2 Ravens, 2 midi controllers, wireless mouse and keyboard and a hard drive off of a 2015 MacBook Pro. It's worked great for years but I need to upgrade. I want a M2 Max with 32gb of Ram: is that overkill? Or should I go with something else and save the money?

[@voodoohex72]

You post the cpu stats in your tests but don't mention anything about buffer size of your audio interface for those stats. This is a very important stat to mention as it directly affects the performance.

[@MalikEmmanuel]

How much does it change his point if it stays the same in every test?

[@voodoohex72]

@@MalikEmmanuel Good point but its still nice to know the buffer settings it was on. Im guessing 512.

[@robertjoyce8527]

This is for playback during mixdown. Useful for mix engineers so all good but not necessarily applicable to tracking without knowing the sample buffer size. Sample buffer size and knowing the interface/driver set is a different situation an ultimately the most important to know if you are operating a professional studio tracking bands in sessions involving over 16 and up to 24 live inputs native and you want zero audible latency using the control room monitoring in a DAW like Cubase or Nuendo. It’s a completely different requirement involving interrupt handling when you want maximum single core performance to track using 32 sample buffers. A demo tracking 24 live inputs to a new project and a dub demo tracking, say, 10 live inputs punching in and out while playing back the original 24 tracks at 32 sample buffers is where the rubber meets the road.

[@voodoohex72]

@@robertjoyce8527 yep I usually track at 32 no more then 16 tracks and mix at 256 on MacBook pro m2 with Orion 32 +gen 3 thunderbolt.

[@boutstaxx]

exactly also he is running no virtual instruments and using stock plugins that are optimized no real variables@@robertjoyce8527

[@smokinjoe45]

I have the 16" Pro from the last year of the Intel chipset (2019) and want to upgrade to Apple silicon. I typically run sessions of about 15-20 synth plugins and lots of effects so now I'm bouncing tracks like crazy to free up cpu and would love to be able to avoid doing that as it gives me more options as I work on a track. Would the M2 Pro MacBook from refurb be OK or should I just get the M3 version?

[@accentontheoff]

My worry is that Mac Mini M3 Pro is lurking around the corner. Do you see that as something to look forward to, or to worry about 😀 esp since they might discontinue the Mac Mini M2 Pro and then overhaul the price. And thanks for making this video, not many videos out there talking about Macs for music makers.

[@Ryan_Wiseman]

I got my Mac for the sake of not needing to touch another for years. So long as it can handle some intensive 4K work and music production, that is all that matters. I would say if you do have a cinema camera, 4K can be quite taxing if you are in the range of 100MBPs, but this usually is in the export process if you use graphic acceleration (I use Premiere Pro). What I'm waiting on most is the continuation of better specs for less money. Until Apple really gives me competitive specs to an almost maxed out M2 MacBook Pro, there is no reason for me to even consider upgrading. Apple's ability to make a good computer that could last 2 decades is a reason to upgrade down the line, because by the time I need a new computer, the upgraded specs will be as good as Apple's switch from Intel.

[@MikiblueyesCambre]

Great review and really appreciate your honesty. I have a huge dilemma regarding just this... I'm using Gig Performer 4 for live gigging on an intel i9 MacBook Pro and am thinking of changing to an M chip machine but have read that M3 is less efficient than M1 or M2... If you have any experience with gig performer, would you be able to recommend any of the M series laptops? Thanks in advance

[@WeRyde954]

Thanks for you info looking for a Mac M2 here I come ...

[@derricksimonton2128]

So 3 months later, and with the release of Live 12 yesterday, are the newer M3 chips optimized now for music production?

[@Chmied]

Just ordered my Studio M2 Max today, my first Mac.

[@neilmacmusic]

Great review! I noticed you left the M1 M2 Ultra’s out of the equation….how do they sit in the scheme of things?

[@sheeepman]

I have stopped doing any CPU maintenance in my sessions whatsoever (freezing tracks, automating on/off for virtual instruments and effects, etc), I’m doing mixing on top of production, I’m forgetting to quit Mac applications as well and I still haven’t managed to hear how the cooling fan of my M1 Pro sounds…

[@mixinginatmos]

Just wait until you start running those Atmos sessions. Those 9.1.6 reverb channels increase your track counts and plugin instances a lot, plus if you don’t have an additional machine as the renderer then your comp get taxed even more.

[@hiromyherotv3045]

I've just upgraded from M 1 to M3 and the change is just incredible. Protools is more stable and I have more memory (128G). Frankly, I couldn't believe it myself. Even the sound seems optimized (I've been working with protools for 20 years). Thanks A

[@premasdarwinofficial8328]

I don’t have m1 m2 …what you will suggest Mac book pro or imac,,,…can I go with m3 chip I Mac for my music production,,.I was very excited to get m3 imac.so what step should I take ????

[@LinearSoundScott]

What about out memory? The mac mini you mentioned is 16gb. Is it worth maxing the m2 pro out at 32gb?

[@mrautomatech2329]

Ok, bedroom producer here, and it’s time to upgrade. I’m thinking of going with the M2 Max Studio 1TB Hard Drive. What do you guys recommend for Ram? I don’t do insanely high track counts in my projects, not too many plugins either for the most part. Might set up a template with somewhat heavy VST’s like Omnisphere, Keyscape, Reason racks, etc. (maybe like 15 Plugins max) Is 32GB of Ram enough? Or would you guys go with 64GB of Ram? Just looking for feedback as this would be my main studio computer hopefully for like the next 6-8 yrs or so.

[@elixirix]

still using 2 2012 and 2103 imacs using a thunderbolt... still can't afford to upgrade, but still works a treat!

[@colonelwatts]

recently switched from decade working on Mac to Windows for the simple reason that it's far cheaper to build a great machine and also window OS is hugely stable. The trauma of the annual Mac is upgrade is behind me now thankfully. Achieve the same results with less money spent and no os issues.. ideal.

[@kevinnromero]

needed this video. I'm still running logic pro x on a 2015 macbook pro 😅

[@lyzm6825]

bahaha I can beat that, mine is 2011 with logic pro recording delayed guitar and vox

[@prod_by_CnLA]

Hey I'm using an self built computer. it is based on an AMD Ryzen 7 5700G. I chose building my own PC because I was abe to choose every Part I want and I can decide wich brand is the best for each component. To be honest I was never a huge fan of apple. The products aren't worth the price in my opinion and I don't like how they go on with the customers for example the new USB C draft. I think my Computer would keep up to a Mac Alternative. But I'm not an expert, I've never really compared them. Building an own PC wasn't a big challenge and it was the first PC I ever built myself. When you are on Windows based computers this is a recommendation that will save many money or has a higher output.

[@greg_al]

Thx! You’re right 😄

[@nooneinparticular9868]

I currently have an M1 Mac mini. I use reaper. I’m super new to recording. So it does everything I need it to! I made sure to get 16 gb of ram too. I’d like to get the m2 pro.

[@politicum8113]

The best composers and sound engineers work on a PC: Hans Zimmer, Junkie XL, Noisia and Mefjus. We need to ask THEM why :)

[@johnsaras1]

Are these recommendations based on mixing only? What about tracking late in the game( redo a vocal or bass part on a large session). Latency?

[@WisdomHouseCreative]

In those situations, I always bounce the song as an audio file, copy it to a new new project, and then track with low latency. When done, just copy the new parts over into the full project and mix them.

[@johnsaras1]

@@WisdomHouseCreative , That’s an option, or just buy a used HDX card. Is he running an HD system/ hybrid or all cpu?

[@SoundAuthor]

Still using my 2020 M1 Mac Mini and it's been great. Just the 8gb RAM base model. Yeah, there are some brief hiccups every now and then, but overall it's still going strong.

[@LucasMastropasqua]

I’m actually shopping laptops now and I’ve decided to go with the MacBook Pro 16 M3 Pro I’m not upgrading but my old machine died and I’m done with PC. I just want something professional that just works and I don’t need to upgrade for a few years. What I’d be interested in knowing is what interface everyone uses for home studio use that’s good with tracking guitar through plugins. I’m leaning toward UAD Apollo, Audient, or Motu.

[@angelorasmijn7306]

Same here, my old Mac died and got a 12/18 M3 pro. I’m currently using Avid HD Native Thunderbolts with Apogee and Avid interfaces and I’m going to switch to Uad Apollo.

[@deepofomin228]

Tell me please..To create minimalistic music,deep,techno…Where there are not too many tracks, Mac mini m2 16gb and 256gb are suitable if you buy an external SSS per terabyte ..?