psmitty88 Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 So, I've been working pretty well for a few years on my 2015 MacBook Pro. 2.2 ghz, 256SSD, 16gbRAM. Running 10.12.6 (Sierra) and latest Logic X. Have all my plug-ins on a LaCie Rugged Thunderbolt 2 HD (spinning drive), and save my projects on an external SSD through the USB 3.0 port. Interface is an Apogee Element 46 (Thunderbolt 2).I'm also running Sibelius 7.5, but that supposedly works fine with Mojave if I upgrade. My daughter spilled salad dressing on this machine about 7 months ago, and the damage is starting to show up. Keys not working intermittently, etc. Apple techs opened it up last week and I had standing liquid in there on the left side and corrosion. I'm typing on this machine now and it's mainly working fine still, but it needs to be replaced soon. I'm debating whether to replace with refurbished version of the same machine or to go with a MBP post-2018. The only hiccup in my current flow is that large midi projects with my CSS strings can get pretty slow. I'm wondering if that's my LaCie spinning drive. Would having the plug-ins on a solid state drive through the USB 3.0 port be faster flow than the HDD LaCie on the (faster) thunderbolt 2 port? Or is the computer itself (processor speed, quad-core, etc) the culprit? I find it very hard to get clear answers as to what exactly creates fast/ more robust work-flow for Audio production. Processor speed vs. speed of delivery for the plug-in drive? I'm tempted to get another 2015 MBP for cost (and because that laptop is so well-designed), but I fear painting myself in a corner because of it's age and needing to switch up again in a couple of years. The adpaters for USB-C seems like not a huge deal. I try to get as much life out of these things as possible. I need mobility for work travel, so I'm not looking at desktops. Thanks in advance! This forum is the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triplets Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 Hey there, At this point everybody recommends using SSDs for everything if possible. But: I would use a spinning USB 3 drive for the projects and a thunderbolt ssd for your samples. In terms of what machine to get, maybe try a laptop of the same year or year later with the same ports but with higher CPU specs? Once you go to the latest machines, everything is USB-C, so you need adapters for everything. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BCProject Posted October 9, 2019 Share Posted October 9, 2019 I just retired my 2014 MBP 15 (2.8ghz i7 quad-core, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD) - it's going on ebay. Replaced with refurbed 2018 i9 MBP 15.Crazy-powerful. I thought I'd hate the new keyboard - it's fine. I have a small dongle that plugs into the side - 1 pass-thru USB-C for power and 3 USBA ports. I thought that would annoy me but it hasn't yet. I keep everything on the SSD. I have a time-machine disk connected to a thunderbolt dock at home. I keep a 1TB SSD in my backpack for TM backups on-the-go. I also use Backblaze for cloud-based backups. I used to carry a tiny midi keyboard but Logic Remote on an iPad has become my go-to mobile input device for ad-hoc idea capture. Hope this helps in some way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psmitty88 Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 Thanks, guys. This helps. I've opted to go with a certified refurbished 2018 machine, 2.6 ghz, 16gb Ram, and 6-core i7. I just bought a 1TB SSD from g-drive. They're having a sale. I'll put the plugs on that and with USB-C I imagine it will be pretty seamless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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