Dude, finally someone doing a practical test with an actual project file, and ableton too! Can't tell you how many tech youtubers I've seen duplicate one-note MIDI tracks with no plugins on them, saying "wooow, so it can handle 200 tracks" 🤦🏼♂lmao, how many tracks is this btw? It'd be interesting to see at what point these each max out, maybe a huge project with a full mixed track/vocal mix/master etc. The Macbook Air seemed like it was keeping up, so I'm considering just getting the Air, but the new MBPs look beautiful
To my eyes there is hardly any difference performance wise in this test. I mean MacBook Air uses just 5% more of the available CPU power? (35% vs 30% on M1 Pro 10-core version). Will be very interested to see how they compare when Ableton Live 11.1 is released with full M1 support. Great to see that MacBook Air performance is excellent. And it has no fans to think about in a studio environment…
I got a new MacBook Pro 14inch with 32 gigs of ram, 2tb ssd, and 8 cores. I am a high performance user, but I could not rationalize buying the 10 cores. Even besides the money factor, you are getting somewhat better battery life with the 8 cores and as most of my work does not require a few extra seconds for speed, I figured it would be better to save the $300. I was running logic off an old, but decked out i7 chip Mac (which apparently has 4 cores), and it was usually ok (believe it or not). I figure 8 will be great, and 10 would probably be overkill. Admittedly a lot of my work is in programming and only some of my work is in Logic Pro, really only if I were a exporting dozens of tracks a day I’d get the 10 core model
For 99% of users the 13” M1 is more than enough power. I was waiting for the new ones coming out but got sick of waiting and got the 13” MacBook Pro M1 and had no problems with it. The screen can be a bit small sometimes but if I’m at home I plug it into an external 27” monitor. The extra ports would be nice but I’m sure people are still going I use a dongle instead of having wires sticking out all over the laptop.
I’d really like to see this same comparison but with pushing ableton way harder with more vsts and effects etc! I’m curious if the performance difference for playback is more significant with more intense workload or still the same only 5% better efficiency for playing back big project files.
That would actually be getting to the heart of the matter yes. A live, production situation where you're having to drop in and out of the session with a mixed workload (VSTs, hardware, lots of vocals work and overdubs etc etc) that all have to done at a very low buffer settings for latency reasons. I think though there would be far less difference here because these types of compute loads are are limited by single core performance. You can't for example distribute a channel strip with all its associated sends across multiple cores rather it has to all go on one core. This is true for every DAW. More cores will give you the capacity to do more channel strips (new tracks with their own channel strips loaded I mean) but the lowest common denominator will always be single core performance. That will determine just how much you can load up your channel strips and you'll want to find out where the balance is (between buffer size and how much processing you need during live production). For mix/post this is all going to look a little different because the requirements are different. You can raise the buffer for one which will alleviate the pressure a lot since low latency operation is not a requirement in post. The export test is kind of worthless to us because we print through hardware so you can't do an offline bounce anyway. And for any studio this is the least important performance indicator.
Honestly these videos are hilarious. As if 10 tracks and some vsts is pushing the computer. my 2018 mbp not even specced out can do 40+ tracks with hundreds of VSTs scattered. I want to see someone x3 that and show the performance.
@@RemmyMusic1 There are plenty of those kinds of videos out there. Avail yourself of them. 10 tracks and some VSTs could be pushing the computer. Try running 10 instances of U-he Diva on "Divine" at 32 buffer and then let's talk about 10 tracks not pushing the computer.
@@Screaming-Trees Great write up, thanks for the info. Do you think for music production (running demanding vst's) money is better spent on maxing out the processor or upgrading 16 to 32 gigs of ram?
@@josephstingley1961 Thanks. Ahm, I would say CPU if you're running things like Diva and other CPU intensive synths and plugins. The only time I'd consider RAM over CPU is if my workloads were sample heavy. And by that I mean large orchestral composition use-cases. The storage on these new Macbooks is incredibly fast and can stand in for memory if you run out. In most cases you probably won't even notice it. There is an Apple event just around the corner (Tuesday next week I think) so if you made it this far you might as well wait and see what they release. Everyone is speculating about the new Mac Mini with these M1Pro and max chips inside. This should lower the price point significantly over the laptops which are pretty pricey to get into and are also unfortunately the only entry point into these new chips. Who knows you might be able to snag both CPU and RAM :).
This is maybe the only useful comparison videos for the new M1 Pro machines :D straight to the point, useful tests and not the overpowered M1 Max machines with the ridiculous price tags. Thank you!
Picked up the 14" base model from Best Buy on launch day to test as I'm waiting for my 10 core w/ 32 GB of RAM to come in. My advice is to have a solid understanding of the efficiency (or lack thereof) in software you're going to be running. I am a print and graphics professional and there are a few programs I use heavily that really haven't been optimized yet for M1. And basically run the EXACT SAME on my old i5 Windows laptop (heck, maybe worse). However, there are others like the Affinity products, which have been optimized. So really just fully know your programs before spending a bunch of money THINKING you're going to see performance upgrades across the board when you may only see a few....until more software gets optimized...
One thing to notice is the macbook air will run really hot if you produce for long periods of time. Sometimes it can become uncomfortable typing on the keyboard which is why I decided to upgrade to the 14".
As an absolute beginner with a modest budget this video helped me a lot. I think I'll be fine now just going with a base-model 2020 Macbook Air M1. The performance isn't THAT much different from the newer model that's twice as expensive. Also, as a beginner I won't be doing that much intensive stuff in Ableton 11 so I hope I don't run into bottlenecks!
Yeah you should totally be fine w the 2020 MBP! I’d recommend getting 16gb ram to future-proof it a bit. Extra ram comes in handy for Ableton and a lot of other apps 👌🏼
I have found that Dolby mixes benefit more from the M1 pro/max versus the M1 the neural engine is a huge benefit in Logic Pro for Dolby mixes but you lose that benefit if you run Logic in Rosetta mode. Dolby mixes use nearly 5 times more CPU processing compared to normal stereo mixes and 2x more CPU compared to standard 5.1 surround mixes.
this was halpful, thanks for taking the time for making ableton specific comparison. i really only need the M1 Air, but really it is the two ports that bother me. I have UAD thunderbolt audio interface, 2 external screens, and just with that it is 3 ports. My current MBP 2018 has room for all of that, so will feel like stepping backwards. Suprised by the small difference between 10 and 8 core! 8 core seems more then enough. no client of mine needs the export a couple of seconds faster :)
Thanks for the tests. I’m interested to see how the m1 pro handles tracking with plugins with oversampling (i.e: neve preamp emulations etc) on ableton live beta 11 native m1 with as low buffer size as possible. I can’t find that anywhere. Would be nice if you can make such test.
To me, export times are completely unimportant, but it's easy to enjoy having more connectivity and more screen space. Still, though, this is almost an advertisement for the M1 Air more than anything, heh. To be able to get that kind of usable music production performance out of a computer that starts at $849 refurbished is insane, considering you can make up for at least some of its deficiencies by plugging in an external USB-C monitor that also is able to charge your laptop.
Nice one. Thanks. Can you please compare fan noise between both new 14inch ? I bet that the fans kick louder on the 10-core one on big heavy tasks to provide higher performance. That's a thing to consider for music production. Please let us know !
I haven't heard the fans go off at all on either MBP! The only time I heard a fan go off was when I was exporting a video in Final Cut Pro. Other than that, it's been completely silent on all of my M1 machines!
I’m going to be buying the base 14” with the 8 core cpu mainly for Logic Pro x production, mixing/mastering. Do you think it’ll be a smooth experience? Thank you
what software does people usually use on mac to record vocals? really feel like switching to a mac and am deciding between the air and 14'pro. also, is the 14'' really that thick and heavy in real life?
audio export is the less of the problem bro... i can definetly live with the fact that my mixdown will take 5 minutes or 10 more to be exported .. What reall y matters is the vst handling capacity ....what vst did u use? were CPU intensive? Omnisphere, pigments, arturia 5 collect, diva, massive x ... all those are vst to test because they are cpu intensive, please do another test if u can
I feel vaguely guilty pushing this since I hyped Live to you many moons ago, but man I have never regretted switching to Bitwig, and it's Mac Silicon Native as well. I can't imagine the havoc you'd cause with the modulators...
would LOVE this comparison BUT including the mbp 16 inch Intel from 2019 . 6 or 8 core . This is what I would be more curious about. These three are very new machines and very near performance wise as I see.
Thanks for the video! Would be cool to see you duplicate the tracks and see what it takes to overload these machines, and compare different buffer sizes. What I’ve found is that ableton will hang around that 30-40% cpu mark until you really start to push it, and then that’s where the differences become more apparent. For example my old 15” mbp would choke at about 40-50% cpu while my M1 air can push to 60-70% before you start to hear audio dropouts.
Been using base 8gb RAM M1 Air for 3 years now. Been pretty good but with bigger projects (7+min 50+tracks) it’s not handling that well. It is throttling and is unusable, unable to finish the projects even at 1024 buffer size. Definitely at least update the RAM, but if you have longer sessions, get the PRO models. I’m updating to unbinnee M3 Pro and I can’t wait
Does this still hold true a year later for Logic Pro X/Ableton Live? I’m a musician looking to upgrade from my 2013 MacBook Pro. I’ve never really delved deep into home recording and finally want to,l. I’d love to be able to record my full band and do some solo recording, but I’m not a full on professional per se. Would you say the 10 core cpu 14 inch MacBook Pro is worth the extra cost, or settle for the base 8 core 14 inch MacBook Pro? Thanks!
I know i'm a bit late, but the close performances are probably down to the mastering chain. As that one needs to be processed on one core either way, it's kind of the bottleneck of that project. If you'd delete the plugins on the master bus, the performance benefit of the 10 core model should be clearer.
@@b3naqua this is good to hear. What size of projects are you running, and at what buffer size? I'm curious because I use Ableton for home recording, and for live performance, so I need to keep as low a buffer size as possible, like 64 ideally. But on my 2014 15" MBP, that really limits how much I can do in my sets. And the fans are ALWAYS going. Right now, my solution to this is I've sequestered ye old MBP to the closet and long cables run around the room to my monitor/desk. I'm so traumatized by the fan noise that I've considering the new 16", simply because it looks like it's fans run much lower/quieter in the stress tests. Buuut I don't know if i'd ever be doing anything that would push the new machines to that point, so maybe the 14 would be fine. thanks!
Thanks for that instructive video. As a music producer, i hesitate between the 8C/32g and the 10C/16g (i can't afford to get the 10C/32g), and i want to keep my laptop for 5 years at least. What do you think?
Hmm I'd lean towards 8c/32gb ram personally. 32gb ram could make a huge difference for music apps. Either one of those options will be totally beast mode tho.
Something that nobody is doing here. Compare the memory upgrade with moving from a cord to 10 core. I ordered 32 gig on my 8 core 14 inch MacBook Pro. I think that’s actually going to relieve more of a bottleneck than the CPU. I have a feeling the eight core for most purposes with 32 gig of RAM, will benchmark right in the realm or maybe even a little better than the 10 core with 16 gig.
That's one thing I was wondering myself. The 8 to 10 core difference doesn't seem too substantial, but the doubling of the RAM is something I suspect will have much greater an impact, especially with Ableton.
nice review bro! I have a question and cannot find online about the core distribution. I wanna get buy MacBook Pro 14 (2021) 8 core for music production and I see 6 WORK 2 EFFICIENCY, instead of 8 CORE , 4 WORK 4 EFFICIENCY at other M1s.
I don’t like how the air doesn’t have fans. My 2013 mbpr started running really hot after a few years of use and I’ve managed to keep it from melting itself using a fan control app.
It doesn't really need the fans. It's a low wattage chip. The pro is for people who need fans for sustained workloads. For regular consumers, it's nice to have a cheaper and quieter option.
Not having the fans means the computer doesn't rely on fans to keep cool. Fans are a moving part that get less efficient after a while. Your 2013 MBP started running hot because the fans wore out or got dirty and couldn't work as efficiently anymore. If anything, this means the Air will probably run optimally for longer, whereas the fans on the Pros might start to lose performance after a while.
@@danieltalebi1040 I just like to have the option to cool things down if it starts heating up. You know the more heat in your machine is just going to do more and more damage over time.
At First, thanks a lot for this Video, i was desperately waiting for someone dropping his opinion on the new macbooks with ableton. I am about to upgrade to the MBP 14" - either the base model or the one with 1tb of storage and 10 cores for 2750€(The one without the bigger ssd is just not available in germany). I also got a nord stage, so i am playing pretty much everything live and am reliant on keeping the buffer down to 64 samples max - do you think the base model could handle this without clipping, even in bigger projects?
Thanks for the vid. Ableton isn't optimized very well for multicore usage. That explains why ithe air is not far behind, logic and Reaper would show bigger difference than ableton and cubase..
@@b3naqua thanks :) could you please do a light usage battery comparison? like web browsing, youtube, video calls, pages/microsoft word documents, etc.
Not really. They both have really similar sound and overall characteristics. The 14 does have an updated adaptive amplification system tho that supports higher impedance headphones.
To me, the MBP to me is the sweet spot between performance and functionality (extra ports, better display, etc). M1 in general is overkill for most people, but I will say the faster export speeds on the MBP are def welcome 👍🏼
@@b3naqua Another quick question haha, I make ghost producing for living, as well as some video editing and stuff I currently have a M1 Mac Mini and handles everything i throw at it, but lately i started to travel more and i was wondering what would be the best option for me: Get an ipad mini 6 or 11" M1 to companion my mac mini with LunaDisplay or a Remote Desktop, or sell the mini and get a m1 macbook air 16gb or get the air and the ipad idk im so conflicted. 14" macbook is out cause i cant afford it haha... What do you think?
Does macbook air gets very hot when using it for music production because there is no cooling system? That's one of my concerns other than the lack of ports. Right now during the sale season macbook air 16/512 is 1000$ cheaper than the new 14 one in my country lol. Performance-wise I think all of these are gonna surprise me because I still use a Dell laptop from 2010 😂
Hey bro! Please do 'pubg new state' test in both macbook M1 pro ( 8core vs 10 core ) please....for all rounder which mac between above mentioned CPU's u would recommend?!!
Solid video and I appreciate it! If anyone could give me some input I’d appreciate it. I’m looking to get back into recording synth-based stuff.. some virtual, some hardware. I’ve been waiting for these pros to dive back in. Not sure if regular M1 would be more than enough, if I should go base 14” with 16gb ram, or upgrade to 10 cores or 32gb. Anyways. Are you familiar with Arturia V-collection? Their models of vintage synths has always had my attention. Also looking into Omnisphere. Idk if something like those (or those specifically) would bog down the computer. Are V collection and Omnisphere considered ram or cpu-hogging sample-based virtual instruments? Even the newest Reason too.. I’m sure you could load samples stuff, but idk how intensive various instruments are considered, let alone with several playing at once. What if I had 20 tracks of these v synths or sampled instruments recorded in logic with a handful of plugins on each track? .. Is that considered intensive or not so much? I’m so out of the game, especially with midi and plug-ins. Only experience I have is hardware synths and running Reason 4 on a 2008 MacBook for playing live sets lol
Thanks! I'm familiar w the Arturia collection, but it's tough to say exactly how much these MBPs could handle, esp w all the different possible configurations. I will say tho, even the base MBP 14 handles some pretty chunky Ableton files pretty damn well, and Live isn't even M1-optimized yet. So Logic will be even better!
Hi , great video🔥. I have a question about the 14 inch 8 core base model. I am a beginner when it comes to music production but I want to invest In this laptop as it has more to offer in terms of ports and screen resolution, and Im wondering if I was to run logic pro on it ,would it be enough to do music production with plenty of tracks and pluggins? And also would you recommend it for music production? I would basically be recording guitar and keys and using logic for drums and making full tracks/songs and hoping to get more advanced in music production.
Thanks Olan! Yes, I think the base model is awesome for music production, especially if you're just getting started out, or even for way more complex projects once you get the hang of it.
I use Affinity photo as well as photoshop and Lightroom. I was looking for this comparison. I would not be happy with any lag while doing adjustments. MBA base, MBP 14" Base or level up of each? I do not shoot video and a caveat, I have never used a mac..... I was also thinking about the Samsung Pro 360 (Stylus has it's appeal) plus 16gigs and a TB drive.
Hi Ben, my company gives a special offer (-20%), but the choice is only between 14inch 8/14/16GB/521GB or 10/16/16GB/1TB. Delta $500. As I don't think I'll need the extra cores it's $500 for the 512GB more. What do you think after testing these machines?
@@b3naqua In a tinge of mental derangement, I've ordered the 14inch 10/16/16GB/1TB in silver over the Base Model. 🙃🤒🤕😱It's Crazy, but with anticipation of getting it hopefully soon. Not even my OLED TV was such expensive. Anyhow, sometimes you gotta do crazy things. The fact that I'll get it with a 20% discount relieves the pain. 😁😀. Thanks for your advice.
hey dude, i´m going to buy the macbook air after your video! Thanks for you comparison. Could you recomend me an usb hub for the air where i can plug my interface, midi keyboard and a external screen? THANKS! :)
Hey bro, I’ve been asking people to compare the computer speeds at 192k for max quality, if you decide to do it thanks in advance. Thanks for the video.
@@b3naqua I am split between Apple care or a better processor m1pro with out apple care. If I get the base model I can afford apple care if I go with the 10 cpu 16 gpu 16 neural engine then = no apple care
I don’t usually get AppleCare cuz I try to be insanely careful w all my Apple products. But it’s smart to buy it to have a peace of mind if any accidents might happen.
@@b3naqua Ok. I would love to see that. Cause beta version is optimized for M1 running a universal binary not rosetta emulation. This way you can really have a idea what the m1 can do. That is why you are not seeing too much difference between machines. The newest version of the beta is a little more stable (not Much but more stable LOL)
I make dubstep and use dozens of wavetable synths, cpu intensive vst processing on all of them. Sometimes 100+ tracks. Do you think the difference will be larger here?
As a musician who produces their own music without any major EDM-like production going on, would anyone have input on whether I should get a M1 mbpa (16/1tb), or a 14” m1pro mbp (16/1tb)? It would be a $625 price difference. Do all of the upgrades justify that? I’m looking to plug into a single external monitor anyway in clamshell mode.
Hi Ben. Nice video you have there. I need your thoughts on the m1 first gen. Here in Montreal Canada people are selling their 13 inch for quite cheap in order to swap for the New one i guess. Now here it goes,,,, I found a almost New 30 cycles on the battery 13 inch m1 16gb 500gb ssd for 1700 canadian dollars New at the Store its like 2200 +15% tax. Since you use the lower spec compared to the 13 inch iMac m1 you think its a smart Move to shoot for the 13 mi first gen for Light use on ableton (trying to learn it) and use with traktor 3 djing? Or should i Just cough the hard Cash 3000 and get the 14 or 16 base model with the 32 gb ram? If i get the first gen would i be buying paper weight and Risk having to sell and spend more in the end or it Will be sufficient. I buy Mac cause i buy once every 5-6 years. I run a maxed to the Gill late 2012 without issues ever. My only thought is to start learning how to produce some tracks if i can that is........
The 14 or 16 MBP will be more future-proofed and feature-rich, but if you're on more of a budget that 13 inch M1 is an excellent deal and should provide plenty of power.
The video is yet another proof that for music production the single core performance is way more important than the number of cores. The performance difference across the models is just negligible.
yes, as a producer you are going to want to be able to plug in a multitude of microphones, something that is not possible without an audio interface. The new ports are nice though (or should i say re-born ports?...)
This really illustrates how poorly ableton optimizes multicore processors when playing back sessions. Pro tools performs way better in this dept and you see a larger difference, and logic as well.
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Dude, finally someone doing a practical test with an actual project file, and ableton too! Can't tell you how many tech youtubers I've seen duplicate one-note MIDI tracks with no plugins on them, saying "wooow, so it can handle 200 tracks" 🤦🏼♂lmao, how many tracks is this btw? It'd be interesting to see at what point these each max out, maybe a huge project with a full mixed track/vocal mix/master etc. The Macbook Air seemed like it was keeping up, so I'm considering just getting the Air, but the new MBPs look beautiful
Yeah the Air is incredible! If you get the Air, def get 16gb. Peep the video at 0:34 for the track details!
@@b3naqua the 16gb macbook air costs 1400€ to me. The fact that the m1 pro 8 core costs only 500€ more left me undecided..
The most useful video I have seen on this topic! Using the specs of CPU speeds to show us real time projects and how they compare!!!
To my eyes there is hardly any difference performance wise in this test.
I mean MacBook Air uses just 5% more of the available CPU power? (35% vs 30% on M1 Pro 10-core version).
Will be very interested to see how they compare when Ableton Live 11.1 is released with full M1 support.
Great to see that MacBook Air performance is excellent. And it has no fans to think about in a studio environment…
I got a new MacBook Pro 14inch with 32 gigs of ram, 2tb ssd, and 8 cores. I am a high performance user, but I could not rationalize buying the 10 cores. Even besides the money factor, you are getting somewhat better battery life with the 8 cores and as most of my work does not require a few extra seconds for speed, I figured it would be better to save the $300. I was running logic off an old, but decked out i7 chip Mac (which apparently has 4 cores), and it was usually ok (believe it or not). I figure 8 will be great, and 10 would probably be overkill. Admittedly a lot of my work is in programming and only some of my work is in Logic Pro, really only if I were a exporting dozens of tracks a day I’d get the 10 core model
For 99% of users the 13” M1 is more than enough power. I was waiting for the new ones coming out but got sick of waiting and got the 13” MacBook Pro M1 and had no problems with it. The screen can be a bit small sometimes but if I’m at home I plug it into an external 27” monitor. The extra ports would be nice but I’m sure people are still going I use a dongle instead of having wires sticking out all over the laptop.
Yeah the 13” is a beast!
I’d really like to see this same comparison but with pushing ableton way harder with more vsts and effects etc! I’m curious if the performance difference for playback is more significant with more intense workload or still the same only 5% better efficiency for playing back big project files.
That would actually be getting to the heart of the matter yes. A live, production situation where you're having to drop in and out of the session with a mixed workload (VSTs, hardware, lots of vocals work and overdubs etc etc) that all have to done at a very low buffer settings for latency reasons. I think though there would be far less difference here because these types of compute loads are are limited by single core performance. You can't for example distribute a channel strip with all its associated sends across multiple cores rather it has to all go on one core. This is true for every DAW. More cores will give you the capacity to do more channel strips (new tracks with their own channel strips loaded I mean) but the lowest common denominator will always be single core performance. That will determine just how much you can load up your channel strips and you'll want to find out where the balance is (between buffer size and how much processing you need during live production). For mix/post this is all going to look a little different because the requirements are different. You can raise the buffer for one which will alleviate the pressure a lot since low latency operation is not a requirement in post. The export test is kind of worthless to us because we print through hardware so you can't do an offline bounce anyway. And for any studio this is the least important performance indicator.
Honestly these videos are hilarious. As if 10 tracks and some vsts is pushing the computer. my 2018 mbp not even specced out can do 40+ tracks with hundreds of VSTs scattered. I want to see someone x3 that and show the performance.
@@RemmyMusic1 There are plenty of those kinds of videos out there. Avail yourself of them. 10 tracks and some VSTs could be pushing the computer. Try running 10 instances of U-he Diva on "Divine" at 32 buffer and then let's talk about 10 tracks not pushing the computer.
@@Screaming-Trees Great write up, thanks for the info. Do you think for music production (running demanding vst's) money is better spent on maxing out the processor or upgrading 16 to 32 gigs of ram?
@@josephstingley1961 Thanks. Ahm, I would say CPU if you're running things like Diva and other CPU intensive synths and plugins. The only time I'd consider RAM over CPU is if my workloads were sample heavy. And by that I mean large orchestral composition use-cases. The storage on these new Macbooks is incredibly fast and can stand in for memory if you run out. In most cases you probably won't even notice it. There is an Apple event just around the corner (Tuesday next week I think) so if you made it this far you might as well wait and see what they release. Everyone is speculating about the new Mac Mini with these M1Pro and max chips inside. This should lower the price point significantly over the laptops which are pretty pricey to get into and are also unfortunately the only entry point into these new chips. Who knows you might be able to snag both CPU and RAM :).
This is maybe the only useful comparison videos for the new M1 Pro machines :D straight to the point, useful tests and not the overpowered M1 Max machines with the ridiculous price tags. Thank you!
Hell yeah! Glad you enjoyed it!
Picked up the 14" base model from Best Buy on launch day to test as I'm waiting for my 10 core w/ 32 GB of RAM to come in. My advice is to have a solid understanding of the efficiency (or lack thereof) in software you're going to be running. I am a print and graphics professional and there are a few programs I use heavily that really haven't been optimized yet for M1. And basically run the EXACT SAME on my old i5 Windows laptop (heck, maybe worse). However, there are others like the Affinity products, which have been optimized. So really just fully know your programs before spending a bunch of money THINKING you're going to see performance upgrades across the board when you may only see a few....until more software gets optimized...
I would love to see a normal-light use battery comparison between the base 14" and the 10c/16g 14" M1-pro. Thanks.
yes please!
I think at this point Logic is much more optimised for M1. Would be fascinating to see the same test but on Logic...
True, I'm trying to get logic loaded up as I type this!
One thing to notice is the macbook air will run really hot if you produce for long periods of time. Sometimes it can become uncomfortable typing on the keyboard which is why I decided to upgrade to the 14".
As an absolute beginner with a modest budget this video helped me a lot. I think I'll be fine now just going with a base-model 2020 Macbook Air M1.
The performance isn't THAT much different from the newer model that's twice as expensive. Also, as a beginner I won't be doing that much intensive stuff in Ableton 11 so I hope I don't run into bottlenecks!
An extra $1000 seems to only shave off about 20 seconds in time when you compile your finished song lol
Yeah you should totally be fine w the 2020 MBP! I’d recommend getting 16gb ram to future-proof it a bit. Extra ram comes in handy for Ableton and a lot of other apps 👌🏼
I would say wait because m2 air is coming out (mid-late) next year. Work with what you have now as an beginner save extra money then get the m2.
I have found that Dolby mixes benefit more from the M1 pro/max versus the M1 the neural engine is a huge benefit in Logic Pro for Dolby mixes but you lose that benefit if you run Logic in Rosetta mode. Dolby mixes use nearly 5 times more CPU processing compared to normal stereo mixes and 2x more CPU compared to standard 5.1 surround mixes.
Interesting! Good to know. Thanks
Thank you for this video. I'm a beginner in music production and this year I got the M1 MBP 13" and I'm still in love with it. Not regretted. 😊
Awesome! The 13 inch MBP is still amazing 👌🏼
I wonder why my M1 pro is struggling. I do run an external monitor, might try see what it's like disconnecting that.
this was halpful, thanks for taking the time for making ableton specific comparison. i really only need the M1 Air, but really it is the two ports that bother me. I have UAD thunderbolt audio interface, 2 external screens, and just with that it is 3 ports. My current MBP 2018 has room for all of that, so will feel like stepping backwards. Suprised by the small difference between 10 and 8 core! 8 core seems more then enough. no client of mine needs the export a couple of seconds faster :)
The extra ports on the MBP are 🔥
Finally just the video I needed
yesss
Thanks for the tests. I’m interested to see how the m1 pro handles tracking with plugins with oversampling (i.e: neve preamp emulations etc) on ableton live beta 11 native m1 with as low buffer size as possible. I can’t find that anywhere. Would be nice if you can make such test.
To me, export times are completely unimportant, but it's easy to enjoy having more connectivity and more screen space. Still, though, this is almost an advertisement for the M1 Air more than anything, heh. To be able to get that kind of usable music production performance out of a computer that starts at $849 refurbished is insane, considering you can make up for at least some of its deficiencies by plugging in an external USB-C monitor that also is able to charge your laptop.
Agreed! The Air M1 is still a total beast.
Yes bro this is what I needed thanks God no one had ableton live version do more
Hell yeah glad you dug it!
Hey Ben! Thanks for comparing!
You’re welcome!
Nice one. Thanks. Can you please compare fan noise between both new 14inch ? I bet that the fans kick louder on the 10-core one on big heavy tasks to provide higher performance. That's a thing to consider for music production. Please let us know !
I haven't heard the fans go off at all on either MBP! The only time I heard a fan go off was when I was exporting a video in Final Cut Pro. Other than that, it's been completely silent on all of my M1 machines!
great vid was looking for something like this for so long thank you!
Glad you found it! Thanks for watching 🤘🏼
I’m going to be buying the base 14” with the 8 core cpu mainly for Logic Pro x production, mixing/mastering. Do you think it’ll be a smooth experience? Thank you
what software does people usually use on mac to record vocals? really feel like switching to a mac and am deciding between the air and 14'pro. also, is the 14'' really that thick and heavy in real life?
audio export is the less of the problem bro... i can definetly live with the fact that my mixdown will take 5 minutes or 10 more to be exported .. What reall y matters is the vst handling capacity ....what vst did u use? were CPU intensive? Omnisphere, pigments, arturia 5 collect, diva, massive x ... all those are vst to test because they are cpu intensive, please do another test if u can
I feel vaguely guilty pushing this since I hyped Live to you many moons ago, but man I have never regretted switching to Bitwig, and it's Mac Silicon Native as well. I can't imagine the havoc you'd cause with the modulators...
would LOVE this comparison BUT including the mbp 16 inch Intel from 2019 . 6 or 8 core . This is what I would be more curious about. These three are very new machines and very near performance wise as I see.
Thanks for the video! Would be cool to see you duplicate the tracks and see what it takes to overload these machines, and compare different buffer sizes. What I’ve found is that ableton will hang around that 30-40% cpu mark until you really start to push it, and then that’s where the differences become more apparent. For example my old 15” mbp would choke at about 40-50% cpu while my M1 air can push to 60-70% before you start to hear audio dropouts.
Interesting! I'm curious about seeing what type of track setup would actually start to bog this amazing machine down too.
Been using base 8gb RAM M1 Air for 3 years now. Been pretty good but with bigger projects (7+min 50+tracks) it’s not handling that well. It is throttling and is unusable, unable to finish the projects even at 1024 buffer size. Definitely at least update the RAM, but if you have longer sessions, get the PRO models. I’m updating to unbinnee M3 Pro and I can’t wait
100% agreed. 16gb is the minimum I'd go with for any M1 or above models tbh, esp if you're editing video/photo/music etc
Does this still hold true a year later for Logic Pro X/Ableton Live? I’m a musician looking to upgrade from my 2013 MacBook Pro. I’ve never really delved deep into home recording and finally want to,l. I’d love to be able to record my full band and do some solo recording, but I’m not a full on professional per se. Would you say the 10 core cpu 14 inch MacBook Pro is worth the extra cost, or settle for the base 8 core 14 inch MacBook Pro? Thanks!
I think you’d be ok w the base model 14” tbh, but if you have the $, upgrade it as much as you can
I have the 14 base and ableton is SOOO smooth.. What Matrix screensaver is that in the background>
Nice! The screen saver is a Matrix one I found on TH-cam.
@@b3naqua so its not a screensaver just a video running fullscreen?
Yeah
I know i'm a bit late, but the close performances are probably down to the mastering chain. As that one needs to be processed on one core either way, it's kind of the bottleneck of that project. If you'd delete the plugins on the master bus, the performance benefit of the 10 core model should be clearer.
Good info! Thanks
How is the fan noise ? Is it quiet when at full tilt as for music and recording audio it’s really important it’s quiet
No fan noise! The only time I heard a fan go off is when I was exporting 4K video once
@@b3naqua this is good to hear. What size of projects are you running, and at what buffer size? I'm curious because I use Ableton for home recording, and for live performance, so I need to keep as low a buffer size as possible, like 64 ideally. But on my 2014 15" MBP, that really limits how much I can do in my sets. And the fans are ALWAYS going. Right now, my solution to this is I've sequestered ye old MBP to the closet and long cables run around the room to my monitor/desk. I'm so traumatized by the fan noise that I've considering the new 16", simply because it looks like it's fans run much lower/quieter in the stress tests. Buuut I don't know if i'd ever be doing anything that would push the new machines to that point, so maybe the 14 would be fine. thanks!
Thanks for that instructive video. As a music producer, i hesitate between the 8C/32g and the 10C/16g (i can't afford to get the 10C/32g), and i want to keep my laptop for 5 years at least. What do you think?
Hmm I'd lean towards 8c/32gb ram personally. 32gb ram could make a huge difference for music apps. Either one of those options will be totally beast mode tho.
I'm in the same boat as you. Which one did you end up going for cuz I can't figure out if I should get any one of those options or just go base.
@@b3naqua Great!. The 8c/32g was my first idea. I'm pretty sure now thanks to you Ben.
Something that nobody is doing here. Compare the memory upgrade with moving from a cord to 10 core. I ordered 32 gig on my 8 core 14 inch MacBook Pro. I think that’s actually going to relieve more of a bottleneck than the CPU. I have a feeling the eight core for most purposes with 32 gig of RAM, will benchmark right in the realm or maybe even a little better than the 10 core with 16 gig.
That's one thing I was wondering myself. The 8 to 10 core difference doesn't seem too substantial, but the doubling of the RAM is something I suspect will have much greater an impact, especially with Ableton.
@@amostech5820 More Ram = less caching to the SSD. Makes the SSD live longer.
nice review bro! I have a question and cannot find online about the core distribution. I wanna get buy MacBook Pro 14 (2021) 8 core for music production and I see 6 WORK
2 EFFICIENCY, instead of 8 CORE , 4 WORK 4 EFFICIENCY at other M1s.
I don’t like how the air doesn’t have fans. My 2013 mbpr started running really hot after a few years of use and I’ve managed to keep it from melting itself using a fan control app.
Yeah having the fans on the MBP is nice.
It doesn't really need the fans. It's a low wattage chip. The pro is for people who need fans for sustained workloads. For regular consumers, it's nice to have a cheaper and quieter option.
Not having the fans means the computer doesn't rely on fans to keep cool. Fans are a moving part that get less efficient after a while. Your 2013 MBP started running hot because the fans wore out or got dirty and couldn't work as efficiently anymore. If anything, this means the Air will probably run optimally for longer, whereas the fans on the Pros might start to lose performance after a while.
@@danieltalebi1040 I just like to have the option to cool things down if it starts heating up. You know the more heat in your machine is just going to do more and more damage over time.
If you're looking at a 1TB MB Pro 14in....and have to choose between 32GB RAM / 8 Core or 16GB /10 Core.... is one better than the other?
I’d get more ram
My Guy Ben Aqua always delivers quality content!!! Never Stop Bro!
That's what's up 🙏🏼 love your vids too!
This is the content we need!
Yesss 🙏🏼
Went with the 10 core 16 gpu 16gb - Logic Pro producer.
Awesome setup!
Absolutely phenomenal breakdown
Glad it was helpful!
At First, thanks a lot for this Video, i was desperately waiting for someone dropping his opinion on the new macbooks with ableton. I am about to upgrade to the MBP 14" - either the base model or the one with 1tb of storage and 10 cores for 2750€(The one without the bigger ssd is just not available in germany). I also got a nord stage, so i am playing pretty much everything live and am reliant on keeping the buffer down to 64 samples max - do you think the base model could handle this without clipping, even in bigger projects?
get base model! I hope you've already got the mac till now..xd , so which one did you got? 8 core or 10 core?
I wonder if the amount of plugins/tracks you could run on each before they start to stutter would be much different?
Thanks for the vid. Ableton isn't optimized very well for multicore usage. That explains why ithe air is not far behind, logic and Reaper would show bigger difference than ableton and cubase..
truth
what was the battery difference between the 8 core and 10 core?
about the same
@@b3naqua thanks :) could you please do a light usage battery comparison? like web browsing, youtube, video calls, pages/microsoft word documents, etc.
hey Ben do you hear a difference between the headphone jack of the mac air and the 14"?
Not really. They both have really similar sound and overall characteristics. The 14 does have an updated adaptive amplification system tho that supports higher impedance headphones.
@@b3naqua danke
I would love have a 16 Inch mac book air with m2 chip... Omg no fans big screen big sound system and enough power for everything
It would be awesome if you could make another Ableton video with the Ableton beta for the M1 and exporting stems
That would be cool except the beta disabled most of my VSTs 😭 and performance isn’t rly that different from the normal version in my experience
I don't need portability so I'm gonna wait for the Mini, Max it out, and pay half as much as these MBP's.
Smart
your loss without a mobile porno machine 🤣
@@halfalligator6518 Ain't that what tablets are for? 🤣
how's the macbook air m1 for live ableton performance? just using wav sequences, 1 midi and 4 live instruments going in
With the amazing performance of the M1 Air, Don´t you think for what you do this new macbook 14" is too overkill?
To me, the MBP to me is the sweet spot between performance and functionality (extra ports, better display, etc). M1 in general is overkill for most people, but I will say the faster export speeds on the MBP are def welcome 👍🏼
@@b3naqua Thanks Ben!
@@b3naqua Another quick question haha, I make ghost producing for living, as well as some video editing and stuff I currently have a M1 Mac Mini and handles everything i throw at it, but lately i started to travel more and i was wondering what would be the best option for me: Get an ipad mini 6 or 11" M1 to companion my mac mini with LunaDisplay or a Remote Desktop, or sell the mini and get a m1 macbook air 16gb or get the air and the ipad idk im so conflicted. 14" macbook is out cause i cant afford it haha... What do you think?
@@cmgerner if you're wanting a more mobile setup tbh I'd sell the mini and get an Air M1 w/ 16gb + iPad mini 6. That would be a sick setup 🔥
Does macbook air gets very hot when using it for music production because there is no cooling system? That's one of my concerns other than the lack of ports. Right now during the sale season macbook air 16/512 is 1000$ cheaper than the new 14 one in my country lol. Performance-wise I think all of these are gonna surprise me because I still use a Dell laptop from 2010 😂
The Air can get warm but it hasn't ever really gotten hot for me. Sometimes it can get pretty warm when it's charging.
Man, I’m a Logic user. But I wish Logic looked as good as Ableton.
Have you seen a major improvement-with 10 core vs 8
I talk about that in this video: th-cam.com/video/PSkr18XGBS8/w-d-xo.html
What are the rams on these
big question are you using the ableton 11.1 beta optimized for M1, or regular ableton 11?
Regular. Check the video description for setup info
DANMN, thanks for the review!
Glad you dug it!
Hey bro! Please do 'pubg new state' test in both macbook M1 pro ( 8core vs 10 core ) please....for all rounder which mac between above mentioned CPU's u would recommend?!!
i would say 8core for me as its the cheapest and spend extra $ on fast external SSDs
Do it! The base model is insane.
Increasing track count should tell a different story
tru
I am looking for a video of Logic Pro's Integrated Dolby Atmos Mixing CPU Test.
the 10 core is more louder, noisy? than the 8?
same noise level from both
Bennnnnnnn! Awesome review as always.
Thank you Hans!
What’s about thermal throttling on the air, is that an issue?
Solid video and I appreciate it!
If anyone could give me some input I’d appreciate it.
I’m looking to get back into recording synth-based stuff.. some virtual, some hardware. I’ve been waiting for these pros to dive back in. Not sure if regular M1 would be more than enough, if I should go base 14” with 16gb ram, or upgrade to 10 cores or 32gb. Anyways. Are you familiar with Arturia V-collection? Their models of vintage synths has always had my attention. Also looking into Omnisphere. Idk if something like those (or those specifically) would bog down the computer. Are V collection and Omnisphere considered ram or cpu-hogging sample-based virtual instruments? Even the newest Reason too.. I’m sure you could load samples stuff, but idk how intensive various instruments are considered, let alone with several playing at once. What if I had 20 tracks of these v synths or sampled instruments recorded in logic with a handful of plugins on each track? .. Is that considered intensive or not so much?
I’m so out of the game, especially with midi and plug-ins. Only experience I have is hardware synths and running Reason 4 on a 2008 MacBook for playing live sets lol
Thanks! I'm familiar w the Arturia collection, but it's tough to say exactly how much these MBPs could handle, esp w all the different possible configurations. I will say tho, even the base MBP 14 handles some pretty chunky Ableton files pretty damn well, and Live isn't even M1-optimized yet. So Logic will be even better!
Thanks for the vid! Would be great to test latency with real time audio plugins such as autotune
are both of these M1 pros are in space grey?
Hi , great video🔥. I have a question about the 14 inch 8 core base model. I am a beginner when it comes to music production but I want to invest In this laptop as it has more to offer in terms of ports and screen resolution, and Im wondering if I was to run logic pro on it ,would it be enough to do music production with plenty of tracks and pluggins? And also would you recommend it for music production? I would basically be recording guitar and keys and using logic for drums and making full tracks/songs and hoping to get more advanced in music production.
Thanks Olan! Yes, I think the base model is awesome for music production, especially if you're just getting started out, or even for way more complex projects once you get the hang of it.
@@b3naqua Thank you so much for replying. I think I might go with the 8 core model. Great video and thanks again 👍
I use Affinity photo as well as photoshop and Lightroom. I was looking for this comparison. I would not be happy with any lag while doing adjustments. MBA base, MBP 14" Base or level up of each? I do not shoot video and a caveat, I have never used a mac..... I was also thinking about the Samsung Pro 360 (Stylus has it's appeal) plus 16gigs and a TB drive.
Photoshop runs really smoothly on these new MBPs, finally. Lightroom is pretty smooth as well, tho not quite as snappy as Photoshop, in my experience
Hi Ben, my company gives a special offer (-20%), but the choice is only between 14inch 8/14/16GB/521GB or 10/16/16GB/1TB. Delta $500. As I don't think I'll need the extra cores it's $500 for the 512GB more. What do you think after testing these machines?
I'd get the extra cores tbh. You never know when you might need that little bump in performance.
@@b3naqua In a tinge of mental derangement, I've ordered the 14inch 10/16/16GB/1TB in silver over the Base Model. 🙃🤒🤕😱It's Crazy, but with anticipation of getting it hopefully soon. Not even my OLED TV was such expensive. Anyhow, sometimes you gotta do crazy things. The fact that I'll get it with a 20% discount relieves the pain. 😁😀. Thanks for your advice.
@@seppsepp9699 20% off makes that a nuts deal, considering the power and awesomeness 🔥 congrats!
Great Job!!
Thanks 👽
Duuude. Every time I read your name I remember Acqua’s Barbie Girl music.
wrapped in plastic, it's fantastic
hey dude, i´m going to buy the macbook air after your video! Thanks for you comparison. Could you recomend me an usb hub for the air where i can plug my interface, midi keyboard and a external screen? THANKS! :)
I'd recommend this one: amzn.to/3xs1Mzm
I know traditionally audio dsp is mainly single core process, what makes M1 different? How does it take advantage of the multiple cores?
Hey bro, I’ve been asking people to compare the computer speeds at 192k for max quality, if you decide to do it thanks in advance.
Thanks for the video.
Dont forget the battery as well. M1 Macbook pro 14 lasts very long
True, tho I’ve had mixed results with battery life tbh. Sometimes it’s good and other times it’s like….that’s it? Lol
Awesome of you did you purchase AppleCare
Nope
@@b3naqua why not I’m split
@@b3naqua I am split between Apple care or a better processor m1pro with out apple care. If I get the base model I can afford apple care if I go with the 10 cpu 16 gpu 16 neural engine then = no apple care
I don’t usually get AppleCare cuz I try to be insanely careful w all my Apple products. But it’s smart to buy it to have a peace of mind if any accidents might happen.
@@b3naqua thank you
Not sure if I missed it, but is this on current Ableton 11 or Ableton 11 Beta for M1?
Ableton 11.0.11, not the beta. I forgot to mention that in the video oops! I'll add it to the description.
@@b3naqua Dope, thanks. I heard the M1 Beta version of Ableton makes a huge difference as well.
Are you using the beta ?
Nah the standard version. The beta is too buggy rn
@@b3naqua Ok. I would love to see that. Cause beta version is optimized for M1 running a universal binary not rosetta emulation. This way you can really have a idea what the m1 can do. That is why you are not seeing too much difference between machines. The newest version of the beta is a little more stable (not Much but more stable LOL)
I make dubstep and use dozens of wavetable synths, cpu intensive vst processing on all of them. Sometimes 100+ tracks. Do you think the difference will be larger here?
Yes. The test didn’t push enough. They’ll all use about same cpu if not pushed hard
As a musician who produces their own music without any major EDM-like production going on, would anyone have input on whether I should get a M1 mbpa (16/1tb), or a 14” m1pro mbp (16/1tb)? It would be a $625 price difference. Do all of the upgrades justify that? I’m looking to plug into a single external monitor anyway in clamshell mode.
The M1 air is a beast for its class (ultra book).
Hi Ben.
Nice video you have there.
I need your thoughts on the m1 first gen.
Here in Montreal Canada people are selling their 13 inch for quite cheap in order to swap for the New one i guess.
Now here it goes,,,, I found a almost New 30 cycles on the battery
13 inch m1 16gb 500gb ssd
for 1700 canadian dollars
New at the Store its like
2200 +15% tax.
Since you use the lower spec compared to the 13 inch iMac m1 you think its a smart Move to shoot for the 13 mi first gen for Light use on ableton
(trying to learn it) and use with traktor 3 djing?
Or should i Just cough the hard Cash 3000 and get the 14 or 16 base model with the 32 gb ram?
If i get the first gen would i be buying paper weight and Risk having to sell and spend more in the end or it Will be sufficient.
I buy Mac cause i buy once every 5-6 years.
I run a maxed to the Gill late 2012 without issues ever.
My only thought is to start learning how to produce some tracks if i can that is........
The 14 or 16 MBP will be more future-proofed and feature-rich, but if you're on more of a budget that 13 inch M1 is an excellent deal and should provide plenty of power.
What about ram? Still wondering if 16 or 32 would be the best for music production
The more ram the better! But 16 is awesome on its own, and 32 is even better.
I would only choose the pro because of the screen. Everything else is either meh or bad. More fan noise, heavier, less battery, more expensive.
Wondering if 16g of computer RAM is enough in music production？
Depends on how many simultaneous layers/channels your music has, but I’m able to run Ableton with 16gb pretty smoothly
M1 air macbook is all the speed i need.. 😂 Waiting for the nxt model to get this one at a better price.
Smart! The next Air is going to be 🔥
man thats barely a difference. thanks! 8 cores well enough
Glad it was helpful! Yeah, 8 cores is plenty for most people imo
hello, hasn't your macbook screen broken?
nah, the wallpaper makes it look like it is lol, but it's not
Is there a difference in performance for day to day tasks between the 10-Core M1 Pro vs the 8-Core M1?
Not really. Both are blazingly fast ⚡️
Great fng video 🙌 you get it
Thanks Wes!
16gb or 32gb ram?
16
The video is yet another proof that for music production the single core performance is way more important than the number of cores. The performance difference across the models is just negligible.
yeah it’ll be interesting to see how performance changes when Ableton finally had a stable M1-optimized version
New Video Uploaded and I be like: GO ASAP AND COMMENT (btw I listened to your music on Apple Music 🎵)
yasss notification squad 🙏🏼 thanks for peeping my music too!! I appreciate all the support!
@@b3naqua 😊
What about fan noise and battery differences between M1 pro cores?
Good Q! I'm working on some battery tests rn. Sub and stay tuned!
@@b3naqua I am curious to know about fan noise and battery life between 8 core and 10 core too
I posted a new video where I talk about fan noise and battery life: th-cam.com/video/PSkr18XGBS8/w-d-xo.html
Is an audio interface even needed with the new M1 pro if you’re just producing music?
yes, as a producer you are going to want to be able to plug in a multitude of microphones, something that is not possible without an audio interface. The new ports are nice though (or should i say re-born ports?...)
If you're plugging in any instruments, mics, etc, then yes, you'll need some type of audio interface, mixer, etc
This really illustrates how poorly ableton optimizes multicore processors when playing back sessions. Pro tools performs way better in this dept and you see a larger difference, and logic as well.
Yeah the new M1 version of Ableton is a bit improved, but not by much. It could def be more beast mode.
Now I know which M1 chip to go for!
My projects aren't that crazy so I think 13" MBP would suffice for me!
Yeah the 13” is awesome!!
I think the 13 and 14 are the same just paying for bigger screen. I have the 13 and it’s incredible
@@mushyyflapzz6365 that's what I like to hear! 🙏🏽
I’m just here for the shenanigans.
Same