fisherking Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 i moved from an m2 pro mini to an m2 air (so i could travel with my work). and it's been a revelation. am producing an EP for a band; we recorded in a house in upstate ny; the engineer recorded everything on his (same!) m2 air. logic crashed twice, but otherwise... everything worked beautifully. now i am starting to mix on my air, and it's handled everything i've thrown at it (a lot of fabfilter and (demanding!) izotope plugins. plus, running an external monitor with logic's main window and the mixer on the air's screen. am seriously impressed. i've owned a lot of macs, and this air is now my favorite (and the m3 air should do even better). good times! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 I agree, I loved my intel MacBook Air so much that I purchased an M1 MacBook Air, and I love it. 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 The first time in Logic's history, the M1 Air is holding up after many years of Logic updates. Still a beast for Logic. In the past, Logic would update and a few years old Mac could not keep up. Like: - When Alchemy was added. I played a chord with certain patches and the CPU maxed out. - Logic introduced Chroma Verb. At the time my Intel MBP was i think 4 years old and could not play that reverb visualization within the plugin. The M series chips are godsend for Logic users. I still edit 4K video in Davinci Resolve while composing music in Logic on my M1 Air. For hours. On battery. On the go. Is this a dream or what? 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonshu Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 The M1 MacBook Air is the best computer that I have owned in my life. Light, long battery life, quiet, a great keyboard again (I had one of those aweful butterfly keyboards...) . I wish there was one more port, but I usually get everything done I need to do, so it's ok... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 The only downside of my M1 MacBook Air is the lack of of a MagSafe port. 😪 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted March 27 Share Posted March 27 1 hour ago, David Nahmani said: The only downside of my M1 MacBook Air is the lack of of a MagSafe port. 😪 The wedge shaped iconic wrist saving design compensates for that a bit. 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Gilmartin Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 Is the Air even preferable to the Pro? I would’ve thought the Pro would be better at handling more demanding tasks. I’m considering an update in a year or two from a 2019 Intel i-9 Pro (which still works very well but not updated to 10.8 or changed from Monterey). I wouldn’t have considered an Air until reading this post… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 4 hours ago, Neil Gilmartin said: Is the Air even preferable to the Pro? I would’ve thought the Pro would be better at handling more demanding tasks. If they have the same specs (Processor, number of cores, RAM and disk), then the main difference is that the MacBook Pros have one or more fans, which can get noisy. So I would say that if the specs of a MacBook Air are enough for you then get the MacBook Air which does not have a fan, does not get hot and won't need a fan, and thus won't make any noise. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 16 hours ago, Mania said: The wedge shaped iconic wrist saving design compensates for that a bit. 🙂 the magsafe port is a godsend; at home, i have a lot plugged into my air (thru a hub in my dell monitor, etc), plus the monitor itself. and personally, i much-prefer the non-wedge shape (but that's just me). either way, this mac is a beast... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 6 hours ago, David Nahmani said: If they have the same specs (Processor, number of cores, RAM and disk), then the main difference is that the MacBook Pros have one or more fans, which can get noisy. My fan has turned on precisely *once*, when I was rendering out something that took a while. That's it. You wouldn't even know this MBP *has* a fan, until it really needs some cooling help... The Mx-series laptops right from the start have been incredible machines, all of them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Hannes Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 @fisherking Nice, congratulations. I wish you lots of fun and good music experiences while not being concerned about technic. Regarding 16" Pro M1 very quiet fans with Logic and heavily busy session 60 tracks + tons of plugs. I'd say, if you work mobile a lot, the bigger screen is worth the huge money step. That said, I am not feeling rainbows using LogicPro on a M1 Pro and Flex Audio. Very often I see drop-out messages. 😕 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 22 minutes ago, fisherking said: the magsafe port is a godsend; at home, i have a lot plugged into my air (thru a hub in my dell monitor, etc), plus the monitor itself. and personally, i much-prefer the non-wedge shape (but that's just me). either way, this mac is a beast... I do miss the magsafe charging 🙂 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 19 minutes ago, Sir Hannes said: @fisherking Nice, congratulations. I wish you lots of fun and good music experiences while not being concerned about technic. 😕 not sure what you mean; am earning my living on the air... what else matters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebenavole Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 How much RAM are you running on your MB Airs? Also what kind of docks do you use for your periphery? I am still on the fence between Air or MBP. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Hannes Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 12 minutes ago, fisherking said: not sure what you mean; am earning my living on the air... what else matters? I wanted to say that it's nice to have found a piece of technology that helps you not have to worry about avoidable technical things while you're creating (musical/ creative) content. I seem to have expressed myself badly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, bebenavole said: How much RAM are you running on your MB Airs? Also what kind of docks do you use for your periphery? I am still on the fence between Air or MBP. M1 Air here with 512GB/16 GB Ram. It is the least powerful Apple Silicon Mac in the lineup but still more powerful than an Intel Mac Pro in many ways. (And people got pro level recordings done with the Mac Pro) I went for 'fanless' because i record at my desk with a mic a lot. There is no chance the fan would turn on 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted March 28 Author Share Posted March 28 2 hours ago, Sir Hannes said: I wanted to say that it's nice to have found a piece of technology that helps you not have to worry about avoidable technical things while you're creating (musical/ creative) content. I seem to have expressed myself badly? all good, just wasn't sure of what you meant. i have an M2 air with 16gb ram and 1TB storage. one port on the air goes to my dell monitor, the other to it's hub. and, much to my amazement, everything works: 2 external drives, an audio interface, and another hub (with a music keyboard & a pedal). 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebenavole Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, Mania said: M1 Air here with 512GB/16 GB Ram. It is the least powerful Apple Silicon Mac in the lineup but still more powerful than an Intel Mac Pro in many ways. (And people got pro level recordings done with the Mac Pro) I went for 'fanless' because i record at my desk with a mic a lot. There is no chance the fan would turn on 🙂 What about periphery? How do you hook it up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mania Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 1 hour ago, bebenavole said: What about periphery? How do you hook it up? I am not at my desk and can't remember the brand name of my usb C hub. Bit it is a $20 hub from Best Buy. I have my Focusrite 2i2 and my midi keyboard and an external ssd hooked up to it and charger. I am actually in love with the hub. Everything is plugged into it and when I walk up to my desk with my MacBook Air I place it down and I have to plug in only ONE thing and everything is connected. I can't imagine plugging in 4 things each and every time. It would even look more cluttered, having cables sticking out of the laptop all over every side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonshu Posted March 28 Share Posted March 28 I have to admit the the MBA is mainly my office machine, but I do really like sketching music on it in the kitchen and it has never let me down doing that... I get different ideas there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBA713 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 Cool! This is the exact kinda thread I was looking for upon returning to LPH. I joined this forum in 2009 when I bought my first Macbook Pro. Seven years later I bought my second one. Seven years later and I am now looking for a third. However, due to, hmmm, probably budgetary concerns, and to what extent I use Logic, I am actually looking into a Macbook Air. There's a lot of commentary on M1, M2, M3, but I am totally unfamiliar, as my last MBP was a 2016 or '17. I can get a Macbook Air for $999 with M2, and a M3 for $1099. I am very casual home recordist, and I basically use Logic for tracking. I am not a huge plug-ins user, and rarely go above like 16 tracks. The only plug-ins I use are the ones that come with Logic. Back in 2009, there was a lot of talk about RAM (4GB upgrade!) and recording directly onto an external hard drive. I did that with my 1st MBP, but not my 2016-17 model. I kinda assume that with advancements made on these machines, a new Macbook Air could do what I used to do on my MBPs with no sweat. So I hate to ask the ol' "what's the minumum" question, but are these Macbook Airs as good as they seem for casual home recording, and for someone who doesn't even have internet at home, so isn't interested in streaming or graphical power or Photoshop or that kinda stuff? Thank you for reading and for your help! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted April 2 Share Posted April 2 42 minutes ago, CBA713 said: are these Macbook Airs as good as they seem for casual home recording Yup. 👍 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted April 3 Author Share Posted April 3 nothing casual here. am doing my 'pro' work on this M2 air, mixing 5 songs, and everything is working beautifully. pretty involved stuff; mostly audiofiles, lots of effects plugins, too much automation... and no crashes, weirdness or hiccups. love this thing 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Nahmani Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 11 hours ago, CBA713 said: So I hate to ask the ol' "what's the minumum" question, but are these Macbook Airs as good as they seem for casual home recording, and for someone who doesn't even have internet at home, so isn't interested in streaming or graphical power or Photoshop or that kinda stuff? Yes, definitely, more than enough! You will be pleased. 🙂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loukash Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 (edited) On 3/28/2024 at 3:42 PM, bebenavole said: How much RAM are you running on your MB Airs? Also what kind of docks do you use for your periphery? I am still on the fence between Air or MBP. For me, a maxed out MBA 15" M2 with a small USB3/HDMI/Ethernet dock was still massively cheaper than an equally equiped MBP 14" M2 – for which I would have also needed an Ethernet adapter anyway. And… with aging eyes, having a 15" vs 14" display also makes a massive difference. So getting the MBA 15" was literally a no-brainer, especially since I was upgrading from a mid-2012 pre-retina MBP 15". Edited April 3 by loukash 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bebenavole Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 On 3/28/2024 at 7:59 PM, Mania said: I am not at my desk and can't remember the brand name of my usb C hub. Bit it is a $20 hub from Best Buy. I have my Focusrite 2i2 and my midi keyboard and an external ssd hooked up to it and charger. I am actually in love with the hub. Everything is plugged into it and when I walk up to my desk with my MacBook Air I place it down and I have to plug in only ONE thing and everything is connected. I can't imagine plugging in 4 things each and every time. It would even look more cluttered, having cables sticking out of the laptop all over every side. Do you have a link to your specific hub device? thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBA713 Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 Thank you everyone for your input! I think I'm looking at a new MBAir M3 with 16GB RAM and 256 SSD. It's $1,299 ($1,099 flat with 8 RAM). The only thing I was slightly iffy on was 256 or 512, but I generally use an external hard drive to store stuff. 512 puts it up to $1,499 and I suppose I wonder if it's worth it for another $200. I think 256 would be fine. Looking forward to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fisherking Posted April 3 Author Share Posted April 3 2 minutes ago, CBA713 said: Thank you everyone for your input! I think I'm looking at a new MBAir M3 with 16GB RAM and 256 SSD. It's $1,299 ($1,099 flat with 8 RAM). The only thing I was slightly iffy on was 256 or 512, but I generally use an external hard drive to store stuff. 512 puts it up to $1,499 and I suppose I wonder if it's worth it for another $200. I think 256 would be fine. Looking forward to it! fwiw, i would absolutely go for (at least) 512GB; better to have breathing room, or the option to work on the air if, for example, you're traveling. it's just something you can't bump up later. but you know your needs best, of course! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
des99 Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CBA713 Posted April 3 Share Posted April 3 19 minutes ago, fisherking said: fwiw, i would absolutely go for (at least) 512GB; better to have breathing room, or the option to work on the air if, for example, you're traveling. it's just something you can't bump up later. but you know your needs best, of course! Haaaaaaaaa I was afraid you would say that. Well, $200 isn't much for some extra security and no second guessing or whatever down the road. I always thought hard drive size didn't matter much to performance but I seem to be finding otherwise in recent reads. Thanks again for the input! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.