tbris1 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Hi everyone, I'm new to this forum so apologies if this is posted in the wrong place or something. I'm ready to get more serious about music production and I'm finally upgrading my (2013!) Macbook Air which I've been using Garageband on for several years. I've spent hours looking at the options. My budget is about £1600. I've come to the conclusion that the new M1 Macbook Airs are quite serious beasts and are giving Macbook Pros a run for their money. I'll be using the laptop mainly for Logic but also normal activities and the odd bit of video editing. My songs tend to have several guitars, several vocals and several VIs - nothing ridiculous. I'm leaning towards the M1 Macbook Air with 16gb memory and 512gb SSD. However I don't know whether the 8 core GPU is worth the extra money over the slightly cheaper 7 core? I was looking at Pros but by the time you upgrade the RAM and SSD plus the cost of Logic, I think it's well over my budget. I would be willing to fork out a bit more though if it meant it would last longer or not glitch with Logic. If I could get 7 years out of it like I have done with this MBA then I see it as a solid investment given music is my biggest hobby. Please could someone better at computers check my logic here (pun fully intended) and correct any mistakes I've made in this thought process. That would be very much appreciated. Thank you very much! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 I don't think it will make a massive difference to be honest. You'll be able to run a few more plugins than otherwise, video rendering will take a few per cent longer etc. As it's not something that can be changed, and you're looking to maximise lifespan, it's often worth it to push for the extra if you can - you won't regret it in the long term. But if it really is too much money, I don't think you'll be in any way disappointed with the power of the M1, whatever flavour you get, compared to what you have now... As a budget-limited choice, I'd take 16GB + 7 Core over 8GB + 8 Core every time... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbris1 Posted January 18, 2021 Author Share Posted January 18, 2021 Thanks a lot des99, that's really helpful. I assume from your response that you would advise against upgrading to a lower spec MacBook Pro then and that 16gb is the crucial part. I wonder how important the SSD is? E.g. an M1 MacBook Pro with 16gb memory and 256gb SSD would still be within my budget, albeit at the higher end. Not sure how that compares to a MacBook Air with 16gb memory and 512gb SSD? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 Not sure how that compares to a MacBook Air with 16gb memory and 512gb SSD? Ram and HD space is always worth it. Thorough comparison between the M1 Air and Pro: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kerochan Posted January 18, 2021 Share Posted January 18, 2021 I agree with des99 and good to check out triplets link I am considering one of the M1 computers later in the year too, fantastic reviews! let us know how you get on Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
facej Posted January 19, 2021 Share Posted January 19, 2021 The MacBook Air has upgradable nothing. On the US store an 8GPU/16GB/1TB MBAir is about $1650 - or about 1200 GBP. I would strongly suggest that you not try to shave things off to save some coins, but try to stretch your budget to get a fully functional machine. My 8core/16GB/1TB MacBook Air is faster than my spiffy iMac on lots of things. I'm deliriously happy with mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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