Chantelle

Hello! I've been pretty frustrated with my windows 8 laptop from a variety of problems. Other than Max working better on Mac computers in general, is there any significant benefits of one macbook model over the others? Is there one that can handle larger patches than others without crashing? That, weight, and price are my three biggest deciding factors.

Hello! I've been pretty frustrated with my windows 8 laptop  from a variety of problems. Other than Max working better on Mac computers in general, is there any significant benefits of one macbook model over the others? Is there one that can handle larger patches than others without crashing? That, weight, and price are my three biggest deciding factors.


best-macbook-for-max

Any will do the trick. You can run quite complex patch and most of the macbook pros going several years back.

My machine is a 15" pro from 2013 and it's still smoking fast with Max running big patches.

If buying a used one try to get one with maxed out ram (16gb), and for new ones, it's worth waiting until the end of the month as the whole lineup is supposed to be updated this month:

http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Retina_MacBook_Pro

If buying a used one try to get one with maxed out ram (16gb), and for new ones, it's worth waiting until the end of the month as the whole lineup is supposed to be updated this month:
http://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Retina_MacBook_Pro


Stick with pro models. I think the new mbp will allow for external graphics cards as well. I hope so. It would be great to be able to connect a 4+ gb gpu when needed without sacrificing portability or money on a second system. If you buy new, consider buying with the least amount of RAM and upgrading with third-party RAM from a place like Mac Sales/OWC.

Stick with pro models.   I think the new mbp will allow for external graphics cards as well.  I hope so.  It would be great to be able to connect a 4+ gb gpu  when needed without sacrificing portability or money on a second system. If you buy new, consider buying with the least amount of RAM and upgrading with third-party RAM from a place like Mac Sales/OWC.


Do be careful with the upgrading after the fact with new computers as, unless they've changed this recently, the newer machines all come with soldered RAM, meaning what you buy is what it's stuck with forever.

It's true that all MacBook Pro models with retina display are not upgradable anymore. They stay what they are. The last "modular" devices where the uni body macbook pro (i believe 2012 or 13 was their last year). if you decide to buy a new one, best seems to be to wait for a month. new models will be released and prices of the actual ones might drop. right now i find them over priced even for apple standards.

I work with late 2012 models (uni body) and swaped the hard drive for SSD drives. They still smoke audio projects. ... and just 8 gb ram btw...

It's true that all MacBook Pro models with retina display are not upgradable anymore. They stay what they are. The last "modular" devices where the uni body macbook pro (i believe 2012 or 13 was their last year). if you decide to buy a new one, best seems to be to wait for a month. new models will be released and prices of the actual ones might drop. right now i find them over priced even for apple standards.
I work with late 2012 models (uni body) and swaped the hard drive for SSD drives. They still smoke audio projects. ... and just 8 gb ram btw...


adendum: i'd recommend the 15" ones. they are bigger but have quad core processors. 13" run on dual core only - if you run heavy projects/patches with a clever multi threading patching that might make a difference.

If you are working on patches with a lot of file based IO, you will especially notice a big difference using a machine with an SSD.

One compromise on older MacBook Pros that many of us used was to swap out the old DVD drives with a secondary drive which was usually an SSD, for storing audio and video files.

AFAIK the 2012 models were the last ones you could do this with.

With newer models it'd be best to opt for the largest single SSD you can budget for. I wouldn't bother partitioning it as usually it just winds up being a pain.

If you are working on patches with a lot of file based IO, you will especially notice a big difference using  a machine with an SSD.

With newer models it'd be best to opt for the largest single SSD you can budget for. I wouldn't bother partitioning it as usually it just winds up being a pain.


Thanks for the heads up. For some reason I thought fixed RAM was just an Air thing. Apparently it's true of iMacs as well? Forgive me while I repeatedly hit myself in the face with my fancy new aluminum keyboard. What are they thinking?

Anyway.. I am most excited about the possibility of ( a supported) external GPU and most curious about the OLED strip and Pencil functionality. After almost two years of nothing I hope they get it right.

Thanks for the heads up.  For some reason I thought fixed RAM was just an Air thing.  Apparently it's true of iMacs as well?   Forgive me while I repeatedly hit myself in the face with my fancy new aluminum keyboard.   What are they thinking?

Anyway.. I am most excited about the possibility of ( a supported) external GPU and most curious about the OLED strip and Pencil functionality.   After almost two years of nothing I hope they get it right.


Best Macbook for Max?