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Is rMBP 13" powerful enough?

appleminion

appleminion

macrumors member
Original poster
Mar 16, 2015
66
0
I want to get into music production using Logic Pro X - currently have the early 2015 13" rMBP (2.9 ghz i5, 16gb ram, 512gb ssd). I will be recording two tracks simultaneously, guitar and vocals and then will add in drums, piano, electric guitar and possibly bass afterwards. Is it powerful enough to run Logic smoothly and without overheating or should I exchange for the base 15" rMBP? Only have a week left to decide if I want to return.

I like the portability of the 13", size and weight but don't want to get into a situation where I regret spending $2k for it and lack the power for music production and should've gotten the 15" despite the heavier weight and being less mobile. I also have an external monitor at home so don't really need the 15" screen size - it would be more for the quad core and gpu power. Any insights would be appreciated.
 
You have one there???

appleminion said:
I want to get into music production using Logic Pro X - currently have the early 2015 13" rMBP (2.9 ghz i5, 16gb ram, 512gb ssd). I will be recording two tracks simultaneously, guitar and vocals and then will add in drums, piano, electric guitar and possibly bass afterwards. Is it powerful enough to run Logic smoothly and without overheating or should I exchange for the base 15" rMBP? Only have a week left to decide if I want to return.

I like the portability of the 13", size and weight but don't want to get into a situation where I regret spending $2k for it and lack the power for music production and should've gotten the 15" despite the heavier weight and being less mobile. I also have an external monitor at home so don't really need the 15" screen size - it would be more for the quad core and gpu power. Any insights would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Then try it out.... There is no better advice we can give, that you can get using it for what you do and seeing what you think of it.
 
Samuelsan2001 said:
Then try it out.... There is no better advice we can give, that you can get using it for what you do and seeing what you think of it.
Click to expand...

I don't have Logic Pro though... Is it possible to return it if it doesn't work well?
 
appleminion said:
I want to get into music production using Logic Pro X...Is it powerful enough to run Logic smoothly and without overheating or should I exchange for the base 15" rMBP?...I like the portability of the 13", size and weight but don't want to get into a situation where I regret spending $2k for it and lack the power for music production and should've gotten the 15" despite the heavier weight and being less mobile. I also have an external monitor at home so don't really need the 15" screen size - it would be more for the quad core and gpu power.
Click to expand...
I'm running Logic Pro X on a cMP not a MacBook. You don't need any GPU to display waveforms. But Logic really benefits from multiple cores. Not really for recording, editing or playback but when using digital effects (eg reverb etc) and software instruments. If you're going to be using Logic for mixing I wouldn't recommend less than quad core. But why even get a laptop? Why not find a 2012 i7 quad-core Mac Mini if you don't need the screen?
 
cinealta said:
I'm running Logic Pro X on a cMP not a MacBook. You don't need any GPU to display waveforms. But Logic really benefits from multiple cores. Not really for recording, editing or playback but when using digital effects (eg reverb etc) and software instruments. If you're going to be using Logic for mixing I wouldn't recommend less than quad core. But why even get a laptop? Why not find a 2012 i7 quad-core Mac Mini if you don't need the screen?
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Because I want the portability of a laptop to use when traveling, coffee shop, library, etc. I feel like I have to choose between either portability or power with the 13 vs. 15". Why can't they just have quad core 13". Sigh.
 
appleminion said:
I want to get into music production using Logic Pro X - currently have the early 2015 13" rMBP (2.9 ghz i5, 16gb ram, 512gb ssd). I will be recording two tracks simultaneously, guitar and vocals and then will add in drums, piano, electric guitar and possibly bass afterwards. Is it powerful enough to run Logic smoothly and without overheating or should I exchange for the base 15" rMBP? Only have a week left to decide if I want to return.

I like the portability of the 13", size and weight but don't want to get into a situation where I regret spending $2k for it and lack the power for music production and should've gotten the 15" despite the heavier weight and being less mobile. I also have an external monitor at home so don't really need the 15" screen size - it would be more for the quad core and gpu power. Any insights would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
It won't overheat, computers have fail-safes to prevent that. Will it it get nice and toasty, yes, it likely will.
 
snaky69 said:
It won't overheat, computers have fail-safes to prevent that. Will it it get nice and toasty, yes, it likely will.
Click to expand...

Do you think the 15" will get warm as well? Or will it stay cooler due to quad core?
 
appleminion said:
Do you think the 15" will get warm as well? Or will it stay cooler due to quad core?
Click to expand...

Generally more cores = more power = More heat.

My quad core 15" goes over 90C under load sometimes, though mine is an older Ivy Bridge model that is less efficient compared to today's Haswell CPUs.
 
appleminion said:
Because I want the portability of a laptop to use when traveling, coffee shop, library, etc. I feel like I have to choose between either portability or power with the 13 vs. 15". Why can't they just have quad core 13". Sigh.
Click to expand...

A quad core CPU will melt the 13" rMBP, because the thermal design of the rMBP is only designed for U-series Intel processors.
 
appleminion said:
I want to get into music production using Logic Pro X - currently have the early 2015 13" rMBP (2.9 ghz i5, 16gb ram, 512gb ssd). I will be recording two tracks simultaneously, guitar and vocals and then will add in drums, piano, electric guitar and possibly bass afterwards. Is it powerful enough to run Logic smoothly and without overheating or should I exchange for the base 15" rMBP? Only have a week left to decide if I want to return.

I like the portability of the 13", size and weight but don't want to get into a situation where I regret spending $2k for it and lack the power for music production and should've gotten the 15" despite the heavier weight and being less mobile. I also have an external monitor at home so don't really need the 15" screen size - it would be more for the quad core and gpu power. Any insights would be appreciated.
Click to expand...

Based on what you do, I'd recommend the 15" because of the quad core.

The 15" is still portable enough for if you actually use the extra power, it's worth carrying.

I don't do much of that. I mainly use my computer for mail, chrome, pages, notes, iMessage, etc.
 
Hieveryone said:
Based on what you do, I'd recommend the 15" because of the quad core.

The 15" is still portable enough for if you actually use the extra power, it's worth carrying.

I don't do much of that. I mainly use my computer for mail, chrome, pages, notes, iMessage, etc.
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The problem with 15" is finding a bag big enough to fit it lol. A typical messenger bag won't even fit the width of the laptop. :p
 
appleminion said:
The problem with 15" is finding a bag big enough to fit it lol. A typical messenger bag won't even fit the width of the laptop. :p
Click to expand...

There's tons on Amazon. I'd check it out. Pretty decent prices. Or get a case for it so you don't need a bag.
 
Then Buy it

appleminion said:
I don't have Logic Pro though... Is it possible to return it if it doesn't work well?
Click to expand...

You plan on using it anyway.

If the 13 inch isn't good enough then return it for the 15 inch you have 14 days to return (does nobody read their terms and conditions) no questions asked.

Then if you get the 15 inch it'll just be a download from the app store that you have already paid for
 
I have a 2015 rMBP 2.9ghz, 8gb ram. I do professional level recording with logic, reaper and sometimes garageband. There is zero lag. Multi-tracking is great, I did a session the other day with 11 mics on a drum kit, 11 tracks. No slowdown.
 
danistyping said:
I have a 2015 rMBP 2.9ghz, 8gb ram. I do professional level recording with logic, reaper and sometimes garageband. There is zero lag. Multi-tracking is great, I did a session the other day with 11 mics on a drum kit, 11 tracks. No slowdown.
Click to expand...

are you connecting to an external monitor when recording?
 
I think people really overblow music production now a days.

About a decade ago, having a computer powerful enough was more of a concern. You had single cores, ram was in much smaller quantities, and on board sound cards were atrocious.

Now you have dual cores with hyper threading, Atleast 4 gigs ram and onboard sound cards that leave the stand alone devices in the dust.

Anyway, to the point -

On my stock 11" air (2014) I can run the Helena Beats demo, have an extra piano (and playing arpeggios during the whole song), and still have 60% of the CPU idle at minimum. This is with an Internet radio station streaming, Safari open, a Facebook app open and all on battery power.

I really think for 95% of us, a recent stock 11" air would be enough, much less a MacBook pro...
 
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