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Best MacBook for Logic


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I’ve read a lot of articles and watched videos indicating the best MacBook Pro was the 2015. Apparently this was the last year where the MacBook Pro had all the ports including USB, Thunderbolt, HDMI, and SD card. It was also the last year you could easily upgrade the hard drive, RAM and replace the battery. Of course there is a much hype these days about the new M 1, M1X and M2 chips, but if budget is a factor a used 2015 MacBook Pro might do the trick.

 

I have a mid-2014 MacBook Pro 15” w/16gb RAM and 1TB SSD. I’m always amazed at how the seven-year-old Device handles the requirements of Logic X I recently bought a 4K monitor to add to my home recording studio and was surprised to see that my MacBook Pro could delivery 3360 x 1890 resolution, nearing the max of 3840 x 2160. Wow!

 

I know my 2014 MacBook won’t last forever and the battery life and performance of the new chips is enticing, but for Logic 10.6, I’ve got all the performance I need. And battery life really isn’t a factor because I don’t take this laptop on the road much. I would be tempted to buy another MacBook Pro from 2015.

 

What’s the best MacBook for Logic?

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Right now I would not consider anything other than a M1 MacBook. They are so much faster than Intel Macs, particularly in regards to Logic Pro X, that any other annoyance like lack of ports etc is of minor concern. A good dongle and two external drives solve the need for ports and storage for me.

 

My current machine is a 2016 MacBook Pro 15" with the Touchbar. It works great with Logic, the only issue is that the battery drains in less than an hour so I need to stay plugged in at all times.

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Yes. If you’re buying new. My wife has the 13” MacBook Pro M1 and the performance and battery life is amazing, but the I/O drives us crazy. She has 5 USB devices, some that need power, so a passive dongle won’t do. She also needs HDMI to for teaching. No SD card, no MagSafe charging port. In the grand scheme these issues do seem minor, but she’ll spend another $250 - $300 on dongles, adaptors, cables and maybe a dock.
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Sure, new costs more. But you need to factor in expected lifetime though. A M1 should last you 7 years easily. A 2015 has maybe 2-3 «good» years left. I have a Satechi dongle with HDMI, usb-c, usb-a and SD slot. Power goes through it to the Mac. It cost <$100.

 

I also have a usb-c to displayport adapter, not sure about the price.

 

That covers all my needs.

 

Edit: I forgot that I use my monitor as a USB hub too... :)

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Apparently this was the last year where the MacBook Pro had all the ports including USB, Thunderbolt, HDMI, and SD card. It was also the last year you could easily upgrade the hard drive, RAM and replace the battery.

 

The Ram is soldered from 2013 on, so you can't change it on a 2015.

 

You can check all those details at www.everymac.com

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I upgraded my 2014 quad-i7 MacBook Pro (15", 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM) to a MacBook Air M1 16GB/1TB -different world. No noise, super fast, out-performs the old laptop even running in Rosetta mode due to plugins et al. If you need 2 external monitor support a MacBook Pro M1. If not, the MacBook Air is outstanding! And vastly less expensive than Intel MacBook Pros.
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I never understood the dongle problem. It is more convenient for most people. When i sit down to my desk to make music, i have to plug in just one cable and everything is connected. God send.

ikr?

i have two.

dock1: CalDigit TS3+

dock2: OWC ThunderBolt Hub

 

Either one charges it (Whichever i plugin first) so i don't have to bring anything but my laptop to the studio.

And although i added Thunderbolt Hub (mostly for the UFX+), when i replaced my intel i7 mini with M1, i simply plugged it in and it worked on my identical setup. I could literally pickup where i left after changing computer right away.

 

And when i add an M1X/whatever Mini to the setup, i'll simply put it there and connect same two cables and be done with it. -bliss-

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