I got the m1 pro and I’m blown away even coming from intel i9 16”. One of the things I’m most impressed is sample library loading time, it’s incredibly snappy. This should be a big improvement for your work.
I appreciate this video. I have a tip for you regarding how you power your laptop. I also own a fully spec'd out 14" M1 Max, and with just a single Thunderbolt cable, I can fully power everything, plus connect multiple drives, peripherals, and two 4K 60Hz monitors, all without the need of the MagSafe adapter. The CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub has 8 ports and enough power for the whole setup. And you can add more ports since the unit allows daisy chaining. And it just works. So nice to come home and just plug in one wire and everything's connected and working the way I like. Thought you might like to know.
Great review! I purchased the 16" Max w/32g. I only got 1TB because most projects fit within that capacity. Once done, I move to external drive. BTW, I created a "DocLocal". folder outside of Documents so those files stay out of iCloud. It runs 2 4k monitors flawlessly with FCPX. As you mention, rendering times are insane! Cubase 11 runs without issue, so does Traktor Pro. Note that if you are running Parallels, Win10 will not work. You need to get the Windows ARM version. Also love that I can still use a USB port to run and charge. Yes, it was pricey .. $3499 US for my config, but worth it. Thanks again
Excellent review! I just took delivery of a 16” MacBook M1 Max 32gb RAM, 4 tb SSD. I just replaced my 15” 2014 MacBook Pro 16gb, 1tb SSD. I ran some practical comparisons with large Logic files and rendering a large 4K video. In general, the new MacBook is 2x - 8x faster than my old one. It was necessary but quite expensive.
@@jeffagoddard Thanks! I’m mostly doing music but *may* get into video. I’m pretty sure the Pro would be a fine chip and memory speed plus the double video lane of the Max would only matter when doing video so I’m not sure… but for only $200 when I’m already planning to spend $3000-4000 seems like it might be worth it. 🧐
I agree that the machine is absolutely bonkers. I picked up the 14" M1 Pro (10/14) since I'm not doing any video editing. I moved a Studio One project from my "mid-18" hex core i7 MacBook Pro which could barely play even with a buffer of 1024. My M1 Pro easily plays it at about 28% load with a buffer of 256. Mindblowing!
I have been awaiting the release of this video for weeks. I have had my 16" MacBook M1Max 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD on order for a month and still have another to wait for it. I'm glad to see that I have made a good choice. Thanks for sharing this, the best review I have seen of a Mac for composers and producers.
Currently middle April, 2022, and the MacBook factory (might be the only one) in China is shut down due to COVID. I placed my order last week, not looking good.
Thanks for the review, Dan! No surprise that this has been so highly anticipated. Much appreciate your input and feedback, and I hope to follow in your footsteps soon and upgrade to a very similar machine!
As a musician and composer, thank you for your assessment. As I travel back and forth to work with my laptop, I think you’re right about lugging around the 16”. My first MacBook was a 16”and it got to be heavy as hell. Mobility is the future. So thanks, I’m gonna max out my 14”.
I really don't understand people talking about weight when comparing the 14" to the 16". It's only 500 grams lol I can understand the size/clutterness argument, but not the weight.
Thanks Dan, as always - nice, calm, clear and on point.. We have the same mac in our studio and have done for a few months, wish we had of gone for the 8TB SSD but we just added 2x external Sabrent 4TB Rocket 4 PLUS NVMe Gen4's so all is well.. Keep up the good work, it's appreciated!
For software developers out there, I hear you. M1 pro with the 10 cpu cores and the 14 gpu cores with 16 gb of ram and 1 tb ssd is more than enough. screen size is up to you. I have chosen the 14 inch one and I am happy with the portability. even macbook air with m1, 16 gb of ram and 512 gb ssd is very good in terms of software development on the fly which does not require intensive gpu load (such as game development).
Sound tip for everyone: wrap the cabel that connects the midi keyboard and the computer in Aluminium foil, virtual instruments will sound way better. This also applies to wrapping Aluminium foil around electricity cabels, which can greatly improve sound quality
@@cashmerecat9269 In my personal experience things just sound more realistic. A snare drums sound more like a snare drum.. a piano sound more like a piano..I am no physicist it is simply my observation and I don't know the theory behind why this is the case.
Thank you Dan! I've been holding off on looking into the new macbook until I saw your review on it. Of course the price is something I'd have to work towards but I really see the power behind this machine. Thanks again!
Thanks for the run down of your experience with the M1 Max. I have the 16" M1 Pro, but have been having a little odd behavior with Kontakt overloading Digital Performer 11. I'll do some testing with Logic, but I've also gotten the latest Kontakt beta, which may sort things out. I see many reviewers with the M1 Pro, showing how incredibly powerful it is. For a while I was regretting not getting the Max, but I think I should be able to achieve the full potential of this amazing machine, even at the M1 Pro level of processing power. In comparison, It's and unbelievable upgrade to my 2010 i7 iMac.
I purchased a Mac Studio M1 Max a couple of weeks ago and I found this review and a look at the Gary Barlow video quite useful when I was making decisions about specs.
I literally said “oh that was well done” out loud when you showed what final cut looked like on the screen, and the video playing in final cut was this video, great attention to detail :)
Exactly the information that I need, I'm moving from a 7 year old iMac maxing out on 12 tracks of virtual instruments. I'm finally putting my 40 year old composition degree to use using orchestration I thought I'd never hear. I'm still trying to replace my large analog "West Coast" synthesizer with software, almost there, although it looks impressive in my studio. Thanks very much for the real-world information, I'm subscribed and looking forward to your ongoing experiences. Just noticed your Logic workflow video, top of my list when my M1 Max MacBook Pro arrives. It could be a long wait: as of yesterday the only factory building them (located in China) is in a COVID shutdown...
Interesting video if you are in the market but could be done in half the time frankly. I bought the exact same spec. Advice to would-be buyers about this Mac. If you get regular clipping (which I did), it was because my interface wasn't powered using electricity unlike my last Mac which ran fine using just USB. This thing is a beast.
I bought some Spitfire libraries so I sometimes listen to what they say although I find myself using them less since I moved to OT. As for this guy's videos, I put them on double speed and switch on subtitles.
Having this laptop as my working ebook as a software engineer and i'm so impressed, that i want a privat one two, just to kick out my old desktop hardware and switch to this device. For me as a hobby producer, rapper, lyricist and a pro software developer who loves linux, shell, typing - it's great. I wish i could use i3 desktop on macos as a native surface - because i love the fact, that i can produce beats, if i need 10 minutes to get my head off, of developing problems, let my subconciousnes think about the problem - and just be creative while i'm sub-thinking. such a dream come true and i really dream about going deep into machine learning and this device has the ability for my creative freedom as a human.
Can we all just appreciate how great Dan's voice sounds on this mic and setup. I hate it when tech reviewers/youtuber audio engineers over compress their voice in their videos such as another Dan *COUGH Dan Worrall COUGH*. Good to hear a nice natural vocal recording with dynamics, and you have a nice calming talking voice, too 🙏
Incredibly useful review. Really helped me sharpen awareness of what MacBook to get. The first of your videos I have viewed. Will definitely be tuning into your future ones.
Great laptops 100%! Retired my custom built Windows desktop as the Mac runs circles around it. Ended up with a 16" M1 Max, 32GB Ram, 1TB SSD. Only complaint I would call out is that I sometimes get some choppiness using an LG usb-c 4k monitor with a scaled display. Can't tell if it's a performance thing, or something else (sluggish performance with my bluetooth mouse for example.) Nonetheless - one of the best Macs in years and a big leap forward in technology
Thx Dan, for your info. I am glad you are the first one I know of to speak out that your still working with Rosetta although many libraries/plugins seem to go native. Now I know I am not the only one. 😁
I am using this 14’ M1 MacBook Pro. It is really great that it can open many many plugins in a low buffer size but the battery will be ran out within 3 hours while opening many plugins in my Cubase11 music mixing.
Thanks for this. I have a Mac Studio coming with essentially the same specs. I have similar demands for media scoring, so this was very informative and encouraging.
Great video, thank you. It answered all my questions regarding spec for my use case as a mix engineer and TH-camr because as you say, most of the stuff out there is for video editors and graphic designers etc.
First I thoroughly enjoyed your video, very well structured and paced. The only consideration with your recommendation is if you get the 16” M1 Pro and upgrade to 32gbs and upgrade the storage you are only $200 away from an M1 Max with numerous other capabilities that the Max delivers. Granted $200 is still $200 but it buys you a lot more useful life out of your new M1 MBP for not a lot more spend.
You’ll find this with almost every pricing tier on this machine, very easy to justify paying more and more and more… Just because a more powerful chip is available, doesn’t mean it’s necessary for most people - there’ll be a large number of producers obediently going out to buy the M1 Ultra Mac studio just because it’s the most powerful
I'd love to have a apple computer, the problem for my reality is: 01 - the same computer that you've bought in my country costs U$9600 02 - a pc laptop with 64gb ram, i7, 4tb ssd, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB GDDR6) and a 14" 2k display 90hz costs U$2600 Yes, both are super expensive, but I can see why people sometimes choose windows over apple. Plus you can game on windows, if that's something you care about Anyway, thanks for the review, very enlightening
Yeah this is really crazy. In the UK (and I believe Canada too), we pay high premiums (I've paid the equivalent of $5,100 for what Americans have paid $3,899). I think it's interesting because when Marques Brownlee and other American reviews say "$1000 is a lot to pay for a phone", the truth is we've been paying $1000 since the iPhone 6 came out! I completely understand why the market for PCs is still what it is, and there are some great options and more customisation
Hey Dan, we have the same machine. Mine only arrived this week and looking forward to loading up my libraries and giving Logic and Final Cut a spin. Like you I compose with multiple libraries and video edit in 4 k so very optimistic that this will improve my workflow and creative experience.
i use my current eight core Macbook Pro for djing,music production and video editing .I was having trouble with it over the last year but since i cleaned it which needs special tools for the job to open it .Hey apple sort that out it has been working really well.Right now i am not in need of an M1 but i might consider an M2 at a later date
Excellent interview and covered all the bases. Finally makes me think about a M1 Pro just question of a MBP or wait for the Mac Mini M1 Pro. The only PIA is OS X Monterey for music app is still a mess, Apple needs to assemble a team of programmers to work/lend out to the major music app companies to help speed the transition. Last thank you Dan I now think a M1 Pro 32 GB will be fine for me and won't have to spend the extra $$$ for M1 Max to get 64GB. Update a year later. I ended up buying a used MacBook Pro M1 Max 14" and in general love the laptop. My one regret is having old eyes I wish I had got the 16" model. So I'm trying decided on getting rid of the 14" and getting a 16" or just get a external 17" monitor and using both together.
I don't understand how anyone can price a computer at $2,499.00 and give you 512GB of Hard drive. it's criminal. No computer should come with less than 1TB of Storage at that price.
The $2499 model does have a 1TB drive. It's the $1999 configuration that has 512GB. Regarding pricing overall though, these MacBook Pros are premium laptops in almost every single respect: HDR 120hz display, speakers, trackpad, build quality, completely silent operation (unless GPU is being pushed and even then incredibly quiet), blazing fast SSDs, ability to drive multiple 5K/6K monitors and dedicated thunderbolt busses per port, which is rare since most TB capable laptops split the bandwidth between ports. Most of this is probably overkill for the majority of average users who should probably just get a more entry level device.
If I wasn’t stuck on Logic Pro I’d leave the Mac universe right now. But just in case I don’t, I am going to say that, according to a video I saw, the quality of their hard drives is very superior, and not like ordinary SDs.
Fan def on for the 14 inch m1 max.. But not on the base model or the 16 inch. The 14inch in combination with the m1 max causes much more heat so you will hear the fan. Still not as loud as the m1 though
for musicians they HAVE to offer the touch bar option again . This fader is better than many cc controllers of budget quality, you can use for vibrato even
Just 5 years? I just replaced my 2012 iMac 27....10 years...(use for audio productions, Ableton. ) what I expect from these MacBook Pro's too. Has to for that money.
The only difference in your machine VS mine is the 2TB instead of 1TB. I’m running all my libraries from a Sandisk Extreme Pro 4TB, because what Apple charge for storage is madness. It’s a good machine, but there are teething problems in Logic. I know they’ll get sorted, but they are certainly noticeable and show-stopping on occasion. A good machine with early-adopter issues for sure. I dont’ regret purchasing though.
Which version of Logic are you running? I've been using 10.6 that I copied over from my Mac mini, it definitely seems to run better than 10.7, plus there's better backwards compatibility
@@DanKeenMusic 10.7.2, because I keep on hoping and hoping that with every update, they fix everything they broke. So far, not so much. I’ve been on a forum discussing this which has been quite… Heated at times. Very very angry customers including myself. Yep. I hope this gets sorted soon, but it’s not a good look for a brand new product, and especially one as expensive as this. We’ll see…
i just ordered one, previously i've been using the M1 macbook air and honestly, i've yet never been able with my own projects to make logic crash and never got an overload warning even when i'm working on 96Khz. My songs are not that sophisticated. But i needed more storage space for video editing so i'm selling my macbook air and getting a pro for more storage and i went ahead and took the M1 Max. I think i'm gonna be happy except if, it gets noisy. I loved the Air cause it doesn't have a fan.
Well, you said it yourself: You _do_ edit a lot of high-rez video material, so it makes every sense that you went for the machine with the processing power accomplishing that exact thing. And the commuting aspect also lends itself to your decision in favor of the smaller sized/lesser weight one. A "no brainer" as you aptly put it. Other than that - and that's a secondary or tertiary aspect, I'm aware: Do you think that having certain audio interfaces plugged in has an effect on the machine's performance, say if you had an older USB-C connected interface there, do you think the lesser data bandwidth of that would have an effect on the Soc in your MBPro? Just curious. (and the thought arose over syncing issues I had when screen recording and running a project on my .... vintage machine....) Brilliant, as usual! Everything worth knowing in terms of "real life scenarios" is there! (and ooooh... I just edited my basically first video on my old machine, equipped with a dedicated GPU, but the latter seemingly underpowered... took me days to edit roughly 30 mins. of walkthrough of my #scorerelief2022 project file; rewarding experience, though, learning's always good :-) ) Thanks!
Except fan noise and handling Opus… my touch bar 35 ram is a love. I would ideally attach it to s slave and hope it works more smoothly, and meanwhile save money for a m1 of 5 or 4 k $. Now there is the new mac mini to be released sometime soon. All this drives me crazy , it is hard to be perfecci0nist ;)
thanks for the review! I'm getting so confused about all these amazing reviews on TH-cam, but then in contrast the 26 pages of thread on apple disussions about how the 14 and 16 M1 mbp are "un-useable" with Logic on Monterey because of many as yet un-resolved issues. Hardware issue maybe? I dont know.... I bought a 16" 6 months ago and returned it because for my setup (which is similar to yours) I just couldnt get it to run smoothly with my (supporter) RME usb interface. Good luck with yours!!
From what I have seen so far, 16GB of RAM seems to be already more than we need if we are only doing basic music production. Unless of course, one is a sound designer for a larger studio. The way the Apple silicon and integrated memory behaves, the efficiencies are very different than what we are used to for recent GB numbers. BUT, I am about to receive a 16GB version, and will be able to report better on this. 😉
That would be awesome. I saw a video with someone using almost 100 virtual instruments with the 16gb. Because I only need like 10-20 and I am mostly recording and mixing real instruments in theory the 16gb should be more than enough. But still I am afraid of choosing the wrong RAM. I guess you can’t upgrade in the future.
@@k.2768 True. I guess my take is that these machines are sought after and have decent resale value. If I end up hitting a road block in the future, I will just sell this one and get the new thing. (I realize not everyone can do this)
I guess I that will be my take too. I mean , right at the moment I don’t need 32GB and I don’t see my self using 32GB any time soon because I still don’t passed 8GB with my biggest projects. But those kind of reviews can be very unsettling.
The base model 14 inch has been amazing so far. Works flawlessly with Logic. 30 plug-ins on one session and the songs are bounced in 12-15 seconds. Using VSTs on my cracked FL has been a little buggy/crashes but it’s cracked so I’m guessing that’s where the problem lies. It’s damn near perfect.
So? I’m super interested! Have you received your computer yet? I also theorised that unified memory functions differently than standard RAM. How do your projects handle?
It is actually extremely hard to put a Face ID module in mbp. The display is only 4mm thick including the thickness from the front glass and the aluminum shell. The thinnest Face ID module itself right now is 5.9mm (almost 6mm) thick of course not including the thickness of the shell and the display and it is in the iPad Pro. The module is also wider than the notch as well. So it actually needs a significant amount of work and a break through in miniaturization of the module to make the module fit.
I wish I watched this before I settled on 16 gigs of ram. Certain audio plugins in real time or even rendering a vocal chain using said plugins crashes my DAW. It's pretty annoying having to quit every other app to save on cpu. A 32 gb ram Macbook Pro is the way to go for professional audio and video.
so if you don't do heavy video work and don't need more than 16 GB I don't see the rational to not get the simple M1 MBA for half the price. and I'm talking for pro musicians. The ports maybe? The CPU is overkill for music production. I know some people need huge libraries and for those 32 GB or more is needed but if you're using mostly synths and a few samples and sampled libraries you're gonna be fine with 16GB. What's interesting is the memory is probably the bottleneck here; even for the M1; because complex plugins also need ram (in part for the GUI) and you're likely to run out of memory before running out of CPU. maybe the M2 will have more ram.
I had the first M1 13" MacBook Pro and while it was fantastic, the limited 16GB RAM and CPU performance were not overly difficult to overwhelm with high track counts or lots of plugin heavy signal chains. Lightroom Classic alone can consume nearly 50GB of RAM just editing a single RAW file if using masks and extensive healing brush retouching. The M1 was heavily swapping to SSD with high memory pressure. For content creators who want to buy into a longterm investment that will grow with them over time, I think the M1 Pro with 32GB of RAM is a much better midrange sweet spot with enough headroom to accommodate most non-GPU demanding workflows. It also supports more than 1 external display which is an irritating limitation of both M1 and M2.
Just a sidenote (I don't know if it is fixed or not), Max has advantage on ProRes video format, but as for the H.264 for generic TH-cam videos, the Intel is just much better. Thus if you do not use ProRes, the M1 Pro might be enough for you, i you want to switch from Intel. Also as I saw the stress tests of DAWs, there is not too much difference between M1 Pro and Max. So that's another plus for M1 Pro and smaller price-tag. Now what I do not know is that there is any difference for Dolby Atmos mixing... if you have any valid information of comparison, please let me/us know in reply.
@@vince943 Hi, unfortunately I leave on the part of the world where it’s hard to buy any new MBP, not two, but even one is hard to earn. I’m on my MBP 2014 still. :( So I do not have any answer for you. Nor I received response to my question from anyone. I only assume that if an M1 Pro is able to handle around 170 tracks in the known Logic benchmark, the max number of Dolby Atmos tracks should be at least 60. Which is overwhelming.
Great review - something I was wondering is: how do you manage your sample libraries between studios if you're using a racked SSD bay? This is my biggest pain point for producing music on a laptop - having to bring an external drive everywhere, inevitably forgetting to eject it properly every once in a while when switching locations, sweating about possible drive/file corruption due to this, etc.
SSD’s have no moving parts, the fear of hot plugging comes from HDD’s that had moving mechanical components that when stopped in the middle of a cycle could cause corruption. It’s definitely not good practice - but it’s not so much of an issue anymore
Hey, great video! Do you maybe have any idea on how the M1 Max might compare to the iMac Pro with 10 cores. I have one, with 32gb of RAM, and it's not powerful enough to run my logic pro projects (slows done a lot and often can't run big projects), and I use a lot of spitfire bbc symphony orchestra and very resource-heavy plugins, so I'm hoping that the new M1 Max 16 inch mbp would at least offer better performance than that? Again, great video, thanks!
Thank you for this review Dan. After nearly 11 years with my 2012 MacBook Pro Retina, I'm finally getting a new machine and was wondering if you had any advice on how to spec it out. My plan is to get a M2 Max MacBook Pro with 64GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. I have been producing music on Macs for decades, but it's typically been of the popular (ie: non-orchestral) variety. However, I am interested in investing in a library like Spitfire's BBC Symphony Orchestra CORE, and was wondering if you thought 64GB was worth it, or would just be overkill (you mentioned having only 35GB loaded for you stress testing). I don't necessarily see myself creating massive orchestral compositions with gargantuan libraries at this point, but it's hard to predict the future. I'm also wondering about the storage. I keep my projects/libraries on an external SSD, but it appears you've opted for a bigger SSD to house your projects/libraries. If that's the case, how has it been working for you? It would be great to have one fewer thing to travel around with. Best!
After just over a year of usage, I'd probably suggest 32GB RAM to most people. I think Logic and native-running plugins have generally got more efficient since I posted this review. 64GB RAM and 1TB SSD is a lovely combo! The advantage of the inbuilt SSD is speed. For sample libraries etc, SSDs are a must but my 870 EVOs are absolutely fine for what I need. They read and write at about 500MB/s. I just did a speed test of my internal drive on the MacBook Pro: 6500MB/s write speed, 5200MB/s read speed. It's CRAZY fast. So if you can splash out on the higher internal storage, it's quite a luxury. Not essential though
I have a M1 Pro 14“ and didn‘t encounter any issues in the last 3 months. The software sadly isn‘t native yet but it seems to work fine with Rosetta 2.
I currently am running my 16” m1 Max with an Apollo Twin X at home, and at the studio, two additional 16x apollos. I feel like for the most part it runs well, but there are times when the UAD console i/o disconnects and I have to replug and try again. This would not be a problem if I was just editing, but its happened once already while I was recording in a session and my PT had to restart to reconnect. I would say use the apollo with your computer when you have time to sit and be okay with occasional bugs that could possibly happen, but go with a more reliable option if its available if you’re going into an important session.
Do you feel the 2TB internal storage is enough for you? Is read/write access to external storage fast enough for your workflow? Do you move all files for a project onto your internal storage while working on them or do you use both internal and external storage for projects? (Of course you answered this right after I commented.)
Summary - super fast and everything (couple audio app exceptions) "just works". A home run by Apple. Actually the 2020 M1 Mac Mini is more than enough for audio work and a LOT cheaper.
True, that is more than powerful enough to do even the most demanding audio production work. The M1 MacBook Pro laptops are primarily geared toward graphical work, not music production. So most of that extra money your paying for with it is simply to increase the graphical performance. You really don't gain much at all as far as audio performance goes. If you really want a laptop though, just go with the M1 MacBook Air, even that is more than powerful enough for music production.
@@nick15684 except for large sample libraries that need ram 16 GB is the minimum for those types of production, yes it will use the swap disc but that's not good to do all the time for longevity and is a slow down. I wish the air and mini had 32 and 64 gb versions.
Thanks for the video, very helpful! Do you keep any of your sample/kontakt libraries on your local drive or do you keep them on an external? Is there one that you would recommend?
I store all of my samples on two 4TB 860EVO Samsung SSDs, connected with a BlackMagic dock. I do have BBCSO Core stored locally for emergencies though. Lol "emergencies"
The only MacBook Pro I could find available at Best Buy was the 16inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro Chip, 16gb Ram & 1TB SSD. Now I really wanted one with 32gb of ram but do you think 16gb will be enough for me. I like using soft synths like omnisphere & the Komplete collection. Thanks
what do you keep on your 2 tb internal storage? a lot of people on yt suggest to only have the OS installed and run everything else on external SSDs. i find this topic very confusing...
I dont plan to go quite as far as you on specs but then im not a pro though i have done pro work as a dj but not recently at least live.I usually cut and mix video at around 720p as that seems to be the sweet spot for Serato when mixing video and audio with both visual and audio effects on top especially when using one computer to broadcast on Twitch.This quality may well go up in future broadcasts when i get the M2 but i reckon i will go with a 16 inch model.Iwont take it out much so the larger size wont be a problem
I really loved this alot, and it answered alot of my question, plus: "What about those big sample libraries ?" I am firmly decided on 32 GB, and I would love to stretch to Max, if budget allows, and 2 TB SSD if budget allows. And I prefer 16, but would take 14, but also I would love to use it LIVE ? I am a Pro. (My current 1 TB is always full, and has almost no big libraries, and no video clips.) Should I do the jump from 1TB to 2TB SSD ?
I am thinking of going with a M1 Pro processor with 10 cores, 32 GB of RAM and 2 tb of space. I produce songs using many different plugins and samples, usually around 60-80 tracks. Do you think I am making the right choice? I do not use orchestra samples. Just spitfire's LABS which on my current mac crashes.
Hey! Thanks! I figured I didn’t need as much power as you do since I don’t use orchestration or anything too complex. Appreciate it! And Spitfire products are awesome!
I got the m1 pro and I’m blown away even coming from intel i9 16”. One of the things I’m most impressed is sample library loading time, it’s incredibly snappy. This should be a big improvement for your work.
I appreciate this video. I have a tip for you regarding how you power your laptop. I also own a fully spec'd out 14" M1 Max, and with just a single Thunderbolt cable, I can fully power everything, plus connect multiple drives, peripherals, and two 4K 60Hz monitors, all without the need of the MagSafe adapter. The CalDigit Thunderbolt 4 Element Hub has 8 ports and enough power for the whole setup. And you can add more ports since the unit allows daisy chaining. And it just works. So nice to come home and just plug in one wire and everything's connected and working the way I like. Thought you might like to know.
Great review! I purchased the 16" Max w/32g. I only got 1TB because most projects fit within that capacity. Once done, I move to external drive. BTW, I created a "DocLocal". folder outside of Documents so those files stay out of iCloud. It runs 2 4k monitors flawlessly with FCPX. As you mention, rendering times are insane! Cubase 11 runs without issue, so does Traktor Pro. Note that if you are running Parallels, Win10 will not work. You need to get the Windows ARM version. Also love that I can still use a USB port to run and charge. Yes, it was pricey .. $3499 US for my config, but worth it. Thanks again
But have you tried running virtual instruments? Watch the CPU meter is up to about 20% with just one virtual instrument session. Not so good.
Excellent review! I just took delivery of a 16” MacBook M1 Max 32gb RAM, 4 tb SSD. I just replaced my 15” 2014 MacBook Pro 16gb, 1tb SSD. I ran some practical comparisons with large Logic files and rendering a large 4K video. In general, the new MacBook is 2x - 8x faster than my old one. It was necessary but quite expensive.
I’m looking at this spec coming from the exact same machine. Assuming you love it with no regrets? Any thoughts after 4mo using it?
@@DaveSchulze I’m really pleased. Plenty of power and the fan never comes on. I can render a 4K video in mere minutes.
@@jeffagoddard Thanks! I’m mostly doing music but *may* get into video. I’m pretty sure the Pro would be a fine chip and memory speed plus the double video lane of the Max would only matter when doing video so I’m not sure… but for only $200 when I’m already planning to spend $3000-4000 seems like it might be worth it. 🧐
I agree that the machine is absolutely bonkers. I picked up the 14" M1 Pro (10/14) since I'm not doing any video editing. I moved a Studio One project from my "mid-18" hex core i7 MacBook Pro which could barely play even with a buffer of 1024. My M1 Pro easily plays it at about 28% load with a buffer of 256. Mindblowing!
Can you give me a number for your old PC’s RAM and new M1’s Unified Mem?
@@samwu1836 Both Macs have 32GB of RAM.
Bruh what a review, I'm talking serious, your honesty really clarified my thoughs
One of the best videos (maybe the best) i’ve seen for reviewing this laptop - subscribed!
I have been awaiting the release of this video for weeks. I have had my 16" MacBook M1Max 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD on order for a month and still have another to wait for it. I'm glad to see that I have made a good choice. Thanks for sharing this, the best review I have seen of a Mac for composers and producers.
same
Mine was ordered dec 31st, with an expected delivery date of march 1-14, however on the order it still says processing. Is this normal?
@@AndreHance Yes. It won’t say anything new until the unit is being prepared to ship.
@@scamsnl Oh , thank you!
Currently middle April, 2022, and the MacBook factory (might be the only one) in China is shut down due to COVID. I placed my order last week, not looking good.
Thanks for the review, Dan! No surprise that this has been so highly anticipated. Much appreciate your input and feedback, and I hope to follow in your footsteps soon and upgrade to a very similar machine!
Thank you for confirming what I have decided already…. M1 Pro, 32GB but 1TB …
Great review… honest and non bias … Subscribed ✅
As a musician and composer, thank you for your assessment. As I travel back and forth to work with my laptop, I think you’re right about lugging around the 16”. My first MacBook was a 16”and it got to be heavy as hell. Mobility is the future. So thanks, I’m gonna max out my 14”.
It'll heat up. Enjoy
I really don't understand people talking about weight when comparing the 14" to the 16". It's only 500 grams lol I can understand the size/clutterness argument, but not the weight.
Thanks Dan, as always - nice, calm, clear and on point.. We have the same mac in our studio and have done for a few months, wish we had of gone for the 8TB SSD but we just added 2x external Sabrent 4TB Rocket 4 PLUS NVMe Gen4's so all is well.. Keep up the good work, it's appreciated!
I got the base 14” Pro. I love it.
Best review ever of the MacBook Pro 14" M1 Max ! Thanks !
Best review that a music composer need to see, Keep the great work Dan 😃
For software developers out there, I hear you.
M1 pro with the 10 cpu cores and the 14 gpu cores with 16 gb of ram and 1 tb ssd is more than enough.
screen size is up to you. I have chosen the 14 inch one and I am happy with the portability.
even macbook air with m1, 16 gb of ram and 512 gb ssd is very good in terms of software development on the fly which does not require intensive gpu load (such as game development).
Thanks, Dan, of all the reviews, yours for me finally settled any doubt as to the Mac books worth as a composer. Nailed it, Dan.
Sound tip for everyone: wrap the cabel that connects the midi keyboard and the computer in Aluminium foil, virtual instruments will sound way better. This also applies to wrapping Aluminium foil around electricity cabels, which can greatly improve sound quality
Coming from audiophile background, this looks legit..can you elaborate the difference so far? Thanks!
@@cashmerecat9269 In my personal experience things just sound more realistic. A snare drums sound more like a snare drum.. a piano sound more like a piano..I am no physicist it is simply my observation and I don't know the theory behind why this is the case.
Sounds like voodoo. What's the science?
LOL....
Thank you Dan! I've been holding off on looking into the new macbook until I saw your review on it. Of course the price is something I'd have to work towards but I really see the power behind this machine. Thanks again!
Thanks for the run down of your experience with the M1 Max. I have the 16" M1 Pro, but have been having a little odd behavior with Kontakt overloading Digital Performer 11. I'll do some testing with Logic, but I've also gotten the latest Kontakt beta, which may sort things out. I see many reviewers with the M1 Pro, showing how incredibly powerful it is. For a while I was regretting not getting the Max, but I think I should be able to achieve the full potential of this amazing machine, even at the M1 Pro level of processing power. In comparison, It's and unbelievable upgrade to my 2010 i7 iMac.
Been waiting for this! Thank you so much Dan!!
I purchased a Mac Studio M1 Max a couple of weeks ago and I found this review and a look at the Gary Barlow video quite useful when I was making decisions about specs.
I literally said “oh that was well done” out loud when you showed what final cut looked like on the screen, and the video playing in final cut was this video, great attention to detail :)
Loving the conversation style review
brilliant speaking and useful information! thanks for the video.
Exactly the information that I need, I'm moving from a 7 year old iMac maxing out on 12 tracks of virtual instruments. I'm finally putting my 40 year old composition degree to use using orchestration I thought I'd never hear. I'm still trying to replace my large analog "West Coast" synthesizer with software, almost there, although it looks impressive in my studio. Thanks very much for the real-world information, I'm subscribed and looking forward to your ongoing experiences. Just noticed your Logic workflow video, top of my list when my M1 Max MacBook Pro arrives. It could be a long wait: as of yesterday the only factory building them (located in China) is in a COVID shutdown...
Interesting video if you are in the market but could be done in half the time frankly. I bought the exact same spec. Advice to would-be buyers about this Mac. If you get regular clipping (which I did), it was because my interface wasn't powered using electricity unlike my last Mac which ran fine using just USB. This thing is a beast.
I bought some Spitfire libraries so I sometimes listen to what they say although I find myself using them less since I moved to OT. As for this guy's videos, I put them on double speed and switch on subtitles.
This is the review i've been waiting for! Thanks so much Dan!!
This video is so good. You’re so good at explaining things. Very clear and straight to the point! Thank you!
Having this laptop as my working ebook as a software engineer and i'm so impressed, that i want a privat one two, just to kick out my old desktop hardware and switch to this device. For me as a hobby producer, rapper, lyricist and a pro software developer who loves linux, shell, typing - it's great. I wish i could use i3 desktop on macos as a native surface - because i love the fact, that i can produce beats, if i need 10 minutes to get my head off, of developing problems, let my subconciousnes think about the problem - and just be creative while i'm sub-thinking. such a dream come true and i really dream about going deep into machine learning and this device has the ability for my creative freedom as a human.
Can we all just appreciate how great Dan's voice sounds on this mic and setup. I hate it when tech reviewers/youtuber audio engineers over compress their voice in their videos such as another Dan *COUGH Dan Worrall COUGH*. Good to hear a nice natural vocal recording with dynamics, and you have a nice calming talking voice, too 🙏
All of them use an SM7b which is overrated in my opinion
Agreed, clean as a whistle.
Incredibly useful review. Really helped me sharpen awareness of what MacBook to get. The first of your videos I have viewed. Will definitely be tuning into your future ones.
Such a great and informative video. I have a spec-out 14” on order, and it’s replacing my 2013 MBP. Thanks for this!
Great laptops 100%! Retired my custom built Windows desktop as the Mac runs circles around it. Ended up with a 16" M1 Max, 32GB Ram, 1TB SSD. Only complaint I would call out is that I sometimes get some choppiness using an LG usb-c 4k monitor with a scaled display. Can't tell if it's a performance thing, or something else (sluggish performance with my bluetooth mouse for example.) Nonetheless - one of the best Macs in years and a big leap forward in technology
Thx Dan, for your info. I am glad you are the first one I know of to speak out that your still working with Rosetta although many libraries/plugins seem to go native. Now I know I am not the only one. 😁
I am using this 14’ M1 MacBook Pro. It is really great that it can open many many plugins in a low buffer size but the battery will be ran out within 3 hours while opening many plugins in my Cubase11 music mixing.
Thanks for this.
I have a Mac Studio coming with essentially the same specs. I have similar demands for media scoring, so this was very informative and encouraging.
awww man this is Fantastic to hear! I really want a portable laptop i can bring everywhere, will be buying yours when it goes up for sale in 20 years
I just upgraded. Same specs with 16 inch and 4TB SSD
Can you share what specs you use in Logic?
Solely listening to your voice itself was a pleasure Sir. nice video, thanks
Great video, thank you. It answered all my questions regarding spec for my use case as a mix engineer and TH-camr because as you say, most of the stuff out there is for video editors and graphic designers etc.
ordered during the launch event. best investment I've made in a while lol
First I thoroughly enjoyed your video, very well structured and paced. The only consideration with your recommendation is if you get the 16” M1 Pro and upgrade to 32gbs and upgrade the storage you are only $200 away from an M1 Max with numerous other capabilities that the Max delivers. Granted $200 is still $200 but it buys you a lot more useful life out of your new M1 MBP for not a lot more spend.
You’ll find this with almost every pricing tier on this machine, very easy to justify paying more and more and more… Just because a more powerful chip is available, doesn’t mean it’s necessary for most people - there’ll be a large number of producers obediently going out to buy the M1 Ultra Mac studio just because it’s the most powerful
I'd love to have a apple computer, the problem for my reality is: 01 - the same computer that you've bought in my country costs U$9600 02 - a pc laptop with 64gb ram, i7, 4tb ssd, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB GDDR6) and a 14" 2k display 90hz costs U$2600
Yes, both are super expensive, but I can see why people sometimes choose windows over apple. Plus you can game on windows, if that's something you care about
Anyway, thanks for the review, very enlightening
Yeah this is really crazy. In the UK (and I believe Canada too), we pay high premiums (I've paid the equivalent of $5,100 for what Americans have paid $3,899). I think it's interesting because when Marques Brownlee and other American reviews say "$1000 is a lot to pay for a phone", the truth is we've been paying $1000 since the iPhone 6 came out! I completely understand why the market for PCs is still what it is, and there are some great options and more customisation
@@DanKeenMusic if you couldn't count on external SSDs to storage, would you still pick the 2tb version?
@@csm120 I'm not sure that's a world I'd want to live in 😂 I'd probably pick 4TB - 8TB is just too expensive
Hey Dan, we have the same machine. Mine only arrived this week and looking forward to loading up my libraries and giving Logic and Final Cut a spin. Like you I compose with multiple libraries and video edit in 4 k so very optimistic that this will improve my workflow and creative experience.
Absolutely fantastic review :D
i use my current eight core Macbook Pro for djing,music production and video editing .I was having trouble with it over the last year but since i cleaned it which needs special tools for the job to open it .Hey apple sort that out it has been working really well.Right now i am not in need of an M1 but i might consider an M2 at a later date
Thanks for the great review Dan, looking forward getting mine!
Excellent interview and covered all the bases. Finally makes me think about a M1 Pro just question of a MBP or wait for the Mac Mini M1 Pro. The only PIA is OS X Monterey for music app is still a mess, Apple needs to assemble a team of programmers to work/lend out to the major music app companies to help speed the transition. Last thank you Dan I now think a M1 Pro 32 GB will be fine for me and won't have to spend the extra $$$ for M1 Max to get 64GB.
Update a year later. I ended up buying a used MacBook Pro M1 Max 14" and in general love the laptop. My one regret is having old eyes I wish I had got the 16" model. So I'm trying decided on getting rid of the 14" and getting a 16" or just get a external 17" monitor and using both together.
I’m extremely happy with my M1 Max 14inch ❤
I don't understand how anyone can price a computer at $2,499.00 and give you 512GB of Hard drive. it's criminal. No computer should come with less than 1TB of Storage at that price.
Exactly...
The $2499 model does have a 1TB drive. It's the $1999 configuration that has 512GB. Regarding pricing overall though, these MacBook Pros are premium laptops in almost every single respect: HDR 120hz display, speakers, trackpad, build quality, completely silent operation (unless GPU is being pushed and even then incredibly quiet), blazing fast SSDs, ability to drive multiple 5K/6K monitors and dedicated thunderbolt busses per port, which is rare since most TB capable laptops split the bandwidth between ports. Most of this is probably overkill for the majority of average users who should probably just get a more entry level device.
Macbooks are cheap .. said no one
Apple are way ahead. You’re paying a little more for a far superior machine than the competition has to offer.
If I wasn’t stuck on Logic Pro I’d leave the Mac universe right now. But just in case I don’t, I am going to say that, according to a video I saw, the quality of their hard drives is very superior, and not like ordinary SDs.
Great review! These are what I need, all about musician's affairs. Thank you man!
Fan def on for the 14 inch m1 max.. But not on the base model or the 16 inch. The 14inch in combination with the m1 max causes much more heat so you will hear the fan. Still not as loud as the m1 though
awesome. this is the EXACT configuration i've been eyeballing! it seems almost nobody on youtube has been getting the 24 core gpu
A very thorough review. Thank you so much for sharing your experience.
for musicians they HAVE to offer the touch bar option again . This fader is better than many cc controllers of budget quality, you can use for vibrato even
Just 5 years? I just replaced my 2012 iMac 27....10 years...(use for audio productions, Ableton. ) what I expect from these MacBook Pro's too.
Has to for that money.
The only difference in your machine VS mine is the 2TB instead of 1TB.
I’m running all my libraries from a Sandisk Extreme Pro 4TB, because what Apple charge for storage is madness.
It’s a good machine, but there are teething problems in Logic.
I know they’ll get sorted, but they are certainly noticeable and show-stopping on occasion.
A good machine with early-adopter issues for sure.
I dont’ regret purchasing though.
Which version of Logic are you running? I've been using 10.6 that I copied over from my Mac mini, it definitely seems to run better than 10.7, plus there's better backwards compatibility
@@DanKeenMusic 10.7.2, because I keep on hoping and hoping that with every update, they fix everything they broke. So far, not so much.
I’ve been on a forum discussing this which has been quite… Heated at times. Very very angry customers including myself. Yep.
I hope this gets sorted soon, but it’s not a good look for a brand new product, and especially one as expensive as this.
We’ll see…
i just ordered one, previously i've been using the M1 macbook air and honestly, i've yet never been able with my own projects to make logic crash and never got an overload warning even when i'm working on 96Khz. My songs are not that sophisticated. But i needed more storage space for video editing so i'm selling my macbook air and getting a pro for more storage and i went ahead and took the M1 Max. I think i'm gonna be happy except if, it gets noisy. I loved the Air cause it doesn't have a fan.
Well, you said it yourself: You _do_ edit a lot of high-rez video material, so it makes every sense that you went for the machine with the processing power accomplishing that exact thing. And the commuting aspect also lends itself to your decision in favor of the smaller sized/lesser weight one. A "no brainer" as you aptly put it.
Other than that - and that's a secondary or tertiary aspect, I'm aware: Do you think that having certain audio interfaces plugged in has an effect on the machine's performance, say if you had an older USB-C connected interface there, do you think the lesser data bandwidth of that would have an effect on the Soc in your MBPro? Just curious. (and the thought arose over syncing issues I had when screen recording and running a project on my .... vintage machine....)
Brilliant, as usual! Everything worth knowing in terms of "real life scenarios" is there! (and ooooh... I just edited my basically first video on my old machine, equipped with a dedicated GPU, but the latter seemingly underpowered... took me days to edit roughly 30 mins. of walkthrough of my #scorerelief2022 project file; rewarding experience, though, learning's always good :-) )
Thanks!
That 256 is somn sexy. I can’t wait to get my first project done with this computer
Now I wanna know what you will think of Mac Studio Ultra 🤔😜😎😅
Except fan noise and handling Opus… my touch bar 35 ram is a love. I would ideally attach it to s slave and hope it works more smoothly, and meanwhile save money for a m1 of 5 or 4 k $. Now there is the new mac mini to be released sometime soon. All this drives me crazy , it is hard to be perfecci0nist ;)
i Can't Wait For The Mac Mini Version Of The M1 max
Very good review, didn’t know about the headphone jack being of higher impedance
thanks for the review! I'm getting so confused about all these amazing reviews on TH-cam, but then in contrast the 26 pages of thread on apple disussions about how the 14 and 16 M1 mbp are "un-useable" with Logic on Monterey because of many as yet un-resolved issues. Hardware issue maybe? I dont know.... I bought a 16" 6 months ago and returned it because for my setup (which is similar to yours) I just couldnt get it to run smoothly with my (supporter) RME usb interface. Good luck with yours!!
From what I have seen so far, 16GB of RAM seems to be already more than we need if we are only doing basic music production. Unless of course, one is a sound designer for a larger studio. The way the Apple silicon and integrated memory behaves, the efficiencies are very different than what we are used to for recent GB numbers.
BUT, I am about to receive a 16GB version, and will be able to report better on this. 😉
That would be awesome. I saw a video with someone using almost 100 virtual instruments with the 16gb. Because I only need like 10-20 and I am mostly recording and mixing real instruments in theory the 16gb should be more than enough. But still I am afraid of choosing the wrong RAM. I guess you can’t upgrade in the future.
@@k.2768 True. I guess my take is that these machines are sought after and have decent resale value. If I end up hitting a road block in the future, I will just sell this one and get the new thing. (I realize not everyone can do this)
I guess I that will be my take too. I mean , right at the moment I don’t need 32GB and I don’t see my self using 32GB any time soon because I still don’t passed 8GB with my biggest projects. But those kind of reviews can be very unsettling.
The base model 14 inch has been amazing so far. Works flawlessly with Logic. 30 plug-ins on one session and the songs are bounced in 12-15 seconds.
Using VSTs on my cracked FL has been a little buggy/crashes but it’s cracked so I’m guessing that’s where the problem lies.
It’s damn near perfect.
So? I’m super interested! Have you received your computer yet? I also theorised that unified memory functions differently than standard RAM. How do your projects handle?
Super insightful , thank you !
Went with the 16" m1 Max 32 64gb 4 TB
How are you liking it? Is 32GB/4TB overkill?
It is actually extremely hard to put a Face ID module in mbp. The display is only 4mm thick including the thickness from the front glass and the aluminum shell. The thinnest Face ID module itself right now is 5.9mm (almost 6mm) thick of course not including the thickness of the shell and the display and it is in the iPad Pro. The module is also wider than the notch as well. So it actually needs a significant amount of work and a break through in miniaturization of the module to make the module fit.
I wish I watched this before I settled on 16 gigs of ram. Certain audio plugins in real time or even rendering a vocal chain using said plugins crashes my DAW. It's pretty annoying having to quit every other app to save on cpu. A 32 gb ram Macbook Pro is the way to go for professional audio and video.
Very good review! Thank you.
so if you don't do heavy video work and don't need more than 16 GB I don't see the rational to not get the simple M1 MBA for half the price. and I'm talking for pro musicians. The ports maybe? The CPU is overkill for music production. I know some people need huge libraries and for those 32 GB or more is needed but if you're using mostly synths and a few samples and sampled libraries you're gonna be fine with 16GB. What's interesting is the memory is probably the bottleneck here; even for the M1; because complex plugins also need ram (in part for the GUI) and you're likely to run out of memory before running out of CPU. maybe the M2 will have more ram.
Exactly.
I had the first M1 13" MacBook Pro and while it was fantastic, the limited 16GB RAM and CPU performance were not overly difficult to overwhelm with high track counts or lots of plugin heavy signal chains. Lightroom Classic alone can consume nearly 50GB of RAM just editing a single RAW file if using masks and extensive healing brush retouching. The M1 was heavily swapping to SSD with high memory pressure. For content creators who want to buy into a longterm investment that will grow with them over time, I think the M1 Pro with 32GB of RAM is a much better midrange sweet spot with enough headroom to accommodate most non-GPU demanding workflows. It also supports more than 1 external display which is an irritating limitation of both M1 and M2.
Great review 🔥
Just a sidenote (I don't know if it is fixed or not), Max has advantage on ProRes video format, but as for the H.264 for generic TH-cam videos, the Intel is just much better. Thus if you do not use ProRes, the M1 Pro might be enough for you, i you want to switch from Intel. Also as I saw the stress tests of DAWs, there is not too much difference between M1 Pro and Max. So that's another plus for M1 Pro and smaller price-tag. Now what I do not know is that there is any difference for Dolby Atmos mixing... if you have any valid information of comparison, please let me/us know in reply.
Thanks for your comment, were you able to answer your question about Dolby Atmos mixing between the two pcs you have?
@@vince943 Hi, unfortunately I leave on the part of the world where it’s hard to buy any new MBP, not two, but even one is hard to earn. I’m on my MBP 2014 still. :(
So I do not have any answer for you. Nor I received response to my question from anyone. I only assume that if an M1 Pro is able to handle around 170 tracks in the known Logic benchmark, the max number of Dolby Atmos tracks should be at least 60. Which is overwhelming.
Great review - something I was wondering is: how do you manage your sample libraries between studios if you're using a racked SSD bay? This is my biggest pain point for producing music on a laptop - having to bring an external drive everywhere, inevitably forgetting to eject it properly every once in a while when switching locations, sweating about possible drive/file corruption due to this, etc.
i have the same question! that´s why i am considering a mac mini
I have this lap top. I'm getting rid of it. It's constantly shutting down and the beach ball is wearing out. I don't recommend it
SSD’s have no moving parts, the fear of hot plugging comes from HDD’s that had moving mechanical components that when stopped in the middle of a cycle could cause corruption. It’s definitely not good practice - but it’s not so much of an issue anymore
Awesome review from a fellow music producer 😌
do you have the 14 or 16?
Thank you so much for this video.
I'm running Monterey 12.3, and silent clicking is a still an option.
@Tronam
12.3 is, yes.
The 16 inch isn’t overheating like the 14 inch does.
Hey, great video!
Do you maybe have any idea on how the M1 Max might compare to the iMac Pro with 10 cores. I have one, with 32gb of RAM, and it's not powerful enough to run my logic pro projects (slows done a lot and often can't run big projects), and I use a lot of spitfire bbc symphony orchestra and very resource-heavy plugins, so I'm hoping that the new M1 Max 16 inch mbp would at least offer better performance than that?
Again, great video, thanks!
Amazing video! Thanks for that.
Which camera and lens are you using?
Thanks so much for this awesome review! Can you please tell us which LG monitor you use?!
Pretty sure it's the 27UN83A-W (catchy name lol). It's 4k, 27", works pretty well :)
In your discussions with Spitfire, can you ask them to simplify the process of using libraries on 2 computers? :)
That is indeed a long term goal
@Al Ghaeb Studio Yeah, I know the process. LOL. I need them to simplify it. 😂
@Al Ghaeb Studio LOL.
Thank you for this review Dan. After nearly 11 years with my 2012 MacBook Pro Retina, I'm finally getting a new machine and was wondering if you had any advice on how to spec it out. My plan is to get a M2 Max MacBook Pro with 64GB RAM and a 1TB SSD. I have been producing music on Macs for decades, but it's typically been of the popular (ie: non-orchestral) variety. However, I am interested in investing in a library like Spitfire's BBC Symphony Orchestra CORE, and was wondering if you thought 64GB was worth it, or would just be overkill (you mentioned having only 35GB loaded for you stress testing). I don't necessarily see myself creating massive orchestral compositions with gargantuan libraries at this point, but it's hard to predict the future. I'm also wondering about the storage. I keep my projects/libraries on an external SSD, but it appears you've opted for a bigger SSD to house your projects/libraries. If that's the case, how has it been working for you? It would be great to have one fewer thing to travel around with. Best!
After just over a year of usage, I'd probably suggest 32GB RAM to most people. I think Logic and native-running plugins have generally got more efficient since I posted this review. 64GB RAM and 1TB SSD is a lovely combo! The advantage of the inbuilt SSD is speed. For sample libraries etc, SSDs are a must but my 870 EVOs are absolutely fine for what I need. They read and write at about 500MB/s. I just did a speed test of my internal drive on the MacBook Pro: 6500MB/s write speed, 5200MB/s read speed. It's CRAZY fast. So if you can splash out on the higher internal storage, it's quite a luxury. Not essential though
What has your experience been like using the Apollo Twin X with M1 Max?
I have a M1 Pro 14“ and didn‘t encounter any issues in the last 3 months. The software sadly isn‘t native yet but it seems to work fine with Rosetta 2.
I currently am running my 16” m1 Max with an Apollo Twin X at home, and at the studio, two additional 16x apollos. I feel like for the most part it runs well, but there are times when the UAD console i/o disconnects and I have to replug and try again. This would not be a problem if I was just editing, but its happened once already while I was recording in a session and my PT had to restart to reconnect. I would say use the apollo with your computer when you have time to sit and be okay with occasional bugs that could possibly happen, but go with a more reliable option if its available if you’re going into an important session.
Do you feel the 2TB internal storage is enough for you? Is read/write access to external storage fast enough for your workflow? Do you move all files for a project onto your internal storage while working on them or do you use both internal and external storage for projects? (Of course you answered this right after I commented.)
Hi Dan, great Video. Do u like the 14" so far after 2 months? Does it get hot when u use Logic? do the fans turn on? cheers
Awesome video, 'for the most part', thanks! ;)
Cubase and UAD hardware also not working yet. Waiting.... then buying with a massive hard drive external enclosure.
Summary - super fast and everything (couple audio app exceptions) "just works". A home run by Apple. Actually the 2020 M1 Mac Mini is more than enough for audio work and a LOT cheaper.
The music may need 32_64gb versions for large sample. Libraries.
True, that is more than powerful enough to do even the most demanding audio production work. The M1 MacBook Pro laptops are primarily geared toward graphical work, not music production. So most of that extra money your paying for with it is simply to increase the graphical performance. You really don't gain much at all as far as audio performance goes.
If you really want a laptop though, just go with the M1 MacBook Air, even that is more than powerful enough for music production.
@@nick15684 except for large sample libraries that need ram 16 GB is the minimum for those types of production, yes it will use the swap disc but that's not good to do all the time for longevity and is a slow down.
I wish the air and mini had 32 and 64 gb versions.
Thanks for the video, very helpful! Do you keep any of your sample/kontakt libraries on your local drive or do you keep them on an external? Is there one that you would recommend?
I store all of my samples on two 4TB 860EVO Samsung SSDs, connected with a BlackMagic dock. I do have BBCSO Core stored locally for emergencies though. Lol "emergencies"
The only MacBook Pro I could find available at Best Buy was the 16inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro Chip, 16gb Ram & 1TB SSD. Now I really wanted one with 32gb of ram but do you think 16gb will be enough for me. I like using soft synths like omnisphere & the Komplete collection. Thanks
How is the 16GB working with K13 and Omnisphere?
Solid review Dan, I'm looking to upgrade at the moment and was going to ask about your Mac Mini - despite the life changes, would you still recommend?
Hey mate, I’m considering selling my Mac mini - email me if you’re interested!
what do you keep on your 2 tb internal storage? a lot of people on yt suggest to only have the OS installed and run everything else on external SSDs. i find this topic very confusing...
I dont plan to go quite as far as you on specs but then im not a pro though i have done pro work as a dj but not recently at least live.I usually cut and mix video at around 720p as that seems to be the sweet spot for Serato when mixing video and audio with both visual and audio effects on top especially when using one computer to broadcast on Twitch.This quality may well go up in future broadcasts when i get the M2 but i reckon i will go with a 16 inch model.Iwont take it out much so the larger size wont be a problem
I really loved this alot, and it answered alot of my question, plus: "What about those big sample libraries ?" I am firmly decided on 32 GB, and I would love to stretch to Max, if budget allows, and 2 TB SSD if budget allows. And I prefer 16, but would take 14, but also I would love to use it LIVE ? I am a Pro. (My current 1 TB is always full, and has almost no big libraries, and no video clips.) Should I do the jump from 1TB to 2TB SSD ?
Yes!
I went for the 4gb ssd. In that way, I can keep sample libraries and more video clips local.
Sorry, I've a 13" Macbook Pro of 2016, and I cannot imagine using it without the Touch Bar. It's so easy !
Touch Bar seems to be a bit of a marmite debate, no? Loads of friends hate theirs, but I'm glad you like it 😅
I am thinking of going with a M1 Pro processor with 10 cores, 32 GB of RAM and 2 tb of space. I produce songs using many different plugins and samples, usually around 60-80 tracks. Do you think I am making the right choice? I do not use orchestra samples. Just spitfire's LABS which on my current mac crashes.
I think you’ll be very happy with that spec!
Hey! Thanks! I figured I didn’t need as much power as you do since I don’t use orchestration or anything too complex. Appreciate it! And Spitfire products are awesome!
Sold.