licoricewhip Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 (edited) Hi there. Maybe there's no way to really answer this question... I have been using a Hackintosh and Logic for music production. My Hackintosh specs are an Intel i5 9400 6-core CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM (3000mhz), and NVME drives. It's in a silent case, which is great for recording. I had also used a 2015 Macbook 13" dual core with 8GB RAM for mixing music on the go, but the laptop has really started to show its age with larger projects. I recently picked up a 2019 MacBook Pro 16" with i9 8-core CPU, 16GB DDR4 RAM (2300mhz). On paper, the 2019 Macbook should actually be a bit more powerful than my main Hackintosh (with the exception of RAM speed). I'm really thinking about getting rid of the Hackintosh and just using the 2019 Macbook for all production purposes, since I would love to not have to transfer files back and forth between the two devices, and would be able to have a second screen (the Macbook 16" screen and my 4k monitor on my desk). I envision a scenario where I have a thunderbolt dock on my desk, and can just set my Macbook there, connect a single cable to run my audio interface, monitor, backup drives, etc. My only concern with doing this is potential fan noise from the Macbook when recording audio, and any sort of CPU thermal throttling. I'm curious if anyone does full production on a Macbook... any issues with throttling and fan noise? My understanding is that the newer MacBooks have better cooling, so maybe this isn't an issue. If you were me, would you ditch the Hackintosh desktop build I have been using and go with the 2019 Macbook exclusively? Edited June 9, 2022 by licoricewhip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted June 9, 2022 Share Posted June 9, 2022 Fan noise is annoying if you’re recording vocals in the same room with my 2016 15”. I understand the i9 is even harder up against the thermal limit of the hardware design, so fans are going to be even more of an issue. The Apple Silicon machines apparently have no issues with heat anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
licoricewhip Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 Thanks for the reply! I'm going to have to hold off on the Apple Silicon for now since I use some programs that aren't compatible and also still use Bootcamp, but will definitely be moving over eventually. I think I'll just keep my desktop PC for now. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeRobinson Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 I use my MacBook for graphics rendering and there can definitely be heat problems when the computing gets "intense." Apple seems hellbent on making its MBP's "thinner and thinner," but that becomes a problem when you're doing things that use the CPU and/or the GPU intensively. They heat up and there's no place for the heat to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
analogika Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 2 hours ago, MikeRobinson said: I use my MacBook for graphics rendering and there can definitely be heat problems when the computing gets "intense." Apple seems hellbent on making its MBP's "thinner and thinner," but that becomes a problem when you're doing things that use the CPU and/or the GPU intensively. They heat up and there's no place for the heat to go. The trend to "thinner and thinner" was reversed when the MacBooks Pro went Apple Silicon last year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
licoricewhip Posted June 10, 2022 Author Share Posted June 10, 2022 Thanks for the replies, all. Yeah, when I picked up the 2019 MacBook, part of it was due to the overall improved cooling compared to prior years. What I hadn’t realized was that better cooling was - in part - due to improved fan curves and therefore increased noise. Bummer! Still a great laptop but I don’t think it’ll be my primary music workstation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted June 10, 2022 Share Posted June 10, 2022 17 minutes ago, licoricewhip said: Thanks for the replies, all. Yeah, when I picked up the 2019 MacBook, part of it was due to the overall improved cooling compared to prior years. What I hadn’t realized was that better cooling was - in part - due to improved fan curves and therefore increased noise. Bummer! Still a great laptop but I don’t think it’ll be my primary music workstation. M1 Macbook Air here. 100 track logic projects, 15-20% third party plugins used. CPU meter shows only 25-50% usage. Blazing fast! No heat, no fan. Best Logic experience since 2008 for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
licoricewhip Posted June 10, 2022 Author Share Posted June 10, 2022 8 minutes ago, Mania said: M1 Macbook Air here. 100 track logic projects, 15-20% third party plugins used. CPU meter shows only 25-50% usage. Blazing fast! No heat, no fan. Best Logic experience since 2008 for me. I can't wait to get in on the M1 experience. For now, I'm tied to a few plugins that only have Intel support, and I still use Bootcamp, but am eager to jump ship! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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