Max 8 coming in the second quarter of 2018

Lilli Wessling Hart's icon

We are planning to release a Max 8 upgrade in the second quarter of 2018 with many performance and workflow improvements that we will begin to detail in the coming months. Learn a little more about it here: https://cycling74.com/products/new-max-version-8/

Jan M's icon

One question on the built in Max in Ableton Live. Does that mean when I use Max as separate application and Max For Live, I have to install Max AND a probably much larger Ableton Live? In times where hard drive capacities due to SSD technology are shrinking again that'll be a real bummer...

Ben Bracken's icon

@JAN

With Live 10, a version of Max to be used as the Max For Live editor will be bundled into the Live app, so you will not need to install anything else to just get started with Max For Live. However, Max will still be developed and released separately from Live, so Max users who also use Live will likely want a separate Max install.

We will be sharing more details about the Max 8 upgrade in the coming months.

phiol's icon

thanks ben
Will runtime versions be possible ?
As a programmer , I do not care for Ableton @ all.

thanks

phiol

Ben Bracken's icon

@PHIOL Not sure that this is what you mean, but we have no plans to get rid of the ability to build Max standalones.

phiol's icon

yup that is what I mean't :-) Great news !!!

Dave M's icon

Maybe a premature question, but was just having a reccie about potential upgrade prices for Max7→Max8

On the shop page, it states:

  • Full Version
    $399
    Own Max 7 forever, no restrictions, and you will get Max 8 for free.

  • Own a previous version of Max?
    UPGRADE FOR $149

Is that a 'Max 8 for free' retroactive to current Max 7 owners or just new buyers? Or is there likely to be a cut-off date or version limit for the upgrade policy?

Thanks!

yaniki's icon

@BEN

Thank you for the explanation. It's great, that Max is so boldly expanding.

But I have a question about this new model of the Max-inside-Live integration: as MaxMSP user and Live user I'll be keeping two copies of Max on my computer ([1] bundled into the Live and [2] "standalone"), am I right? If yes, how would the package (and third party externals) management look like?

Joseph Hyde's icon

I had a feeling that was coming! Is someone able to tell me how much the basic UI (as in patcher window, appearance of objects etc.) has changed/is likely to change this time around? The reason I ask is that I make a lot of educational screencasts using Max. The rather drastic changes to the UI in Max 5, 6 and 7 had meant pretty much redoing all of them, since the very different 'look' in each version would really throw students otherwise.

That might sound like a complaint, but it's not. Really just trying to weigh up whether to hold out on making some new materials until the new version is out.

daddymax's icon

Good news. This post is a tease though, as the link you give isn't so detailed. Looking forward to hearing what new things we can look forward to. I sincerely hope theres more help, examples and documents for the gen/ pix side of things, as years after it was released im still taking baby steps.

Lilli Wessling Hart's icon

@TEAM TANDOT : The cutoff is detailed on the link - upgrade to version 8 is free for purchases made beginning November 2, 2017.

@DADDYMAX: Sorry, we don't mean to tease! We decided that since Max 8 technology is being used in Ableton Live 10, it would make sense to let Max users know there is more coming for them, too.

pag's icon

Great news !
One question though : the announcement says
In order to make it easier for the Max for Live user, Ableton is now including a version of Max inside the Live application. (Previously it was a separate download.) The version of Max 8 bundled inside Live 10 will not affect your use of either Max 7 or Max for Live in older versions of Live.

Does that mean that devices created / saved within Live 10 are backwards compatible and can be opened with Live 9 / Max 7 ?

Dave M's icon

Thanks @Lilli for the clarification. We've had a good few years with Max 7 so a paid upgrade path doesn't seem unreasonable for a new version.

bt.soundmaker's icon

regarding Inbuilt mfl/live
would be cool to know more details on performance improvement. latency and stuff?

stringtapper's icon

Is it a safe assumption that the upgrade price for full version users of Max 7 to Max 8 will be $149 like it was from 6 to 7?

Roman Thilenius's icon

We decided that since Max 8 technology is being used in Ableton Live 10, it would make sense to let Max users know there is more coming for them, too.

something deep inside me noticed the order of these release dates.

phiol's icon

@roman
what did you expect. way passed the due date for grudges now :-)

vichug's icon

@ben torton : this change alone is highly unlikely to affect latency

Yaniki is raising a good point here - i foresee some hardly findable trouble with externals and config files

mooter's icon

Any chance of supporting ES6 in the 8 update?

Florent Ghys's icon

yay! sexy logo

daddymax's icon

It is a good logo. Sell some merch with that on it. The last round of merch I saw that had the objects on them (drunk/ anal/ metro/etc) had an esoteric charm, but weren't wonderful designs, and could lead non-nerds to (possibly) erroneous conclusions about the wearer.

Vato Gonzalez's icon

Is there any news on new or deprecated functions, could be kind of handy to know in advance which things to avoid while developing.

Paulo Barros's icon

Will Max 8 run on Linux?

Andrew's icon

Will there be a public beta of Max 8, in a similar way to Live?

patrick robert's icon

Come on Cycling spill the beans :)

rdomain's icon

nuttin still. Come on, come on, come on.... :p