Best Notebook for Music Production?

[Hwangman]

I'm trying to make my recording setup a bit more portable (currently using a 4 year old iMac). I've been looking online for laptop recommendations but I see a lot of varying opinions on makes/models/specs/etc.

I'm assuming MBP would offer the best performance? Any specific models I should look at? Are they set to introduce new ones this year w/different specs?

 

[r0k]

I'm trying to make my recording setup a bit more portable (currently using a 4 year old iMac). I've been looking online for laptop recommendations but I see a lot of varying opinions on makes/models/specs/etc.

I'm assuming MBP would offer the best performance? Any specific models I should look at? Are they set to introduce new ones this year w/different specs?

I tend to like the larger MBP line for things like this because there are more ports. There are separate audio inputs and outputs but if you are currently doing music mixing with a USB peripheral and don't need analog audio I/O then you could get away with a MBA. Another advantage of the MBP line is the ability to open up the notebook and put in your own HDD or RAM. If this capability isn't important to you and you can live without an optical drive consider the rMBP models.

As for new models coming out, check out the MR buyers guide (tab near top of screen on this forum between "Forums" and "Roundups". Based on MR predictions, now is not an especially good time to buy Apple laptops other than MBA as they are all mid to late lifecycle.

 

[Hwangman]

Thank you.

So the retina display models are newer/better displays, but worse for upgrades? Seems odd.