New mac, which one?

[soduno]

I am about to buy a new mac. I am clueless what model would be the right choice for me, because of the specs and price. My thoughts has been buying a Macbook Pro, because I travel a lot from workplace to workplace (freelancer), so that would be preferable, but the price and specs, I aint sure about.

I have borrowed a used Macbook Pro 2015 8GB // 256 GB SSD from a shop, to test it out, but It is lagging whenever I use multiple programs, and it just feels weak (compared to desktop). I use my mac for Music editing (Logic + 10 tracks and VI's), programming (Photoshop & LAMP) and it's common that I both running at the same time (logic can be a killer). I also do, movies (watching) and writing.

Will a Dual Core be enough, or should I go for a Quad and raise the price to $2100+?

 

[deep diver]

I always max out all of the options for my computers while staying reasonably within my budget. I keep my machines for a long time (8 or 9 years), so I want to make sure my hardware is keeping up as much as possible. Even if you don't keep them that long, better to have too much computing resource than not enough.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I am about to buy a new mac. I am clueless what model would be the right choice for me, because of the specs and price. My thoughts has been buying a Macbook Pro, because I travel a lot from workplace to workplace (freelancer), so that would be preferable, but the price and specs, I aint sure about.

I have borrowed a used Macbook Pro 2015 8GB // 256 GB SSD from a shop, to test it out, but It is lagging whenever I use multiple programs, and it just feels weak (compared to desktop). I use my mac for Music editing (Logic + 10 tracks and VI's), programming (Photoshop & LAMP) and it's common that I both running at the same time (logic can be a killer). I also do, movies (watching) and writing.

Will a Dual Core be enough, or should I go for a Quad and raise the price to $2100+?

Go with the quad core. Also I'd look at 16gb of RAM.

 

[jaduff46]

I'm like @deep diver in my approach and also tend to max out things without being silly. As AFB suggests, getting the quad core, upping the memory and going with as much SSD as affordable should last you quite awhile and eliminate the risk of hard disk failure.

Best of luck.

 

[ZapNZs]

Have you verified through Activity Monitor whether the lagging is related to the CPU or RAM?

 

[tjwilliams25]

Logic is a CPU killer, especially with quite a few tracks. However, a quad core i7 processor should handle it beautifully because with hyper-threading it effectively doubles the core count.

Also, I would suggest trying out the new TouchBar MacBook Pros. The TouchBar isn't a must-have feature by any means, but the specs of the 15 inch one far surpasses my relatively beefy iMac that I bought a few years ago. I mostly do Final Cut Pro projects, but i dabble in Logic occasionally and I've been more than pleased with the performance.

 

[xbankaiz]

For your use case, I would suggest getting the 15" with the highest CPU option. I don't think getting the highest SSD config is the best idea. You have TB3 for that as you can get external SSD and connect to the machine with that.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I always max out all of the options for my computers while staying reasonably within my budget. I keep my machines for a long time (8 or 9 years), so I want to make sure my hardware is keeping up as much as possible. Even if you don't keep them that long, better to have too much computing resource than not enough.

I'm like @deep diver in my approach and also tend to max out things without being silly. As AFB suggests, getting the quad core, upping the memory and going with as much SSD as affordable should last you quite awhile and eliminate the risk of hard disk failure.

Best of luck.

Agree with you both as this is what I do as well; namely, I max out my computers (my current computer is an 11" MBA, with 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD and an i7 Core; it is four years old and still very nippy).

To the OP: I'd recommend maxing a computer out (in so far as that is compatible with your budget) as you will get more out of it and it should last you years.

Bear in mind the portability issue with a 15"; my first Mac was a lovely 15" MBP, but it was just too heavy for me to carry comfortably, - and I travel a lot for work - whereas the MBA form factor has met that need admirably.

 

[burgman]

I am about to buy a new mac. I am clueless what model would be the right choice for me, because of the specs and price. My thoughts has been buying a Macbook Pro, because I travel a lot from workplace to workplace (freelancer), so that would be preferable, but the price and specs, I aint sure about.

I have borrowed a used Macbook Pro 2015 8GB // 256 GB SSD from a shop, to test it out, but It is lagging whenever I use multiple programs, and it just feels weak (compared to desktop). I use my mac for Music editing (Logic + 10 tracks and VI's), programming (Photoshop & LAMP) and it's common that I both running at the same time (logic can be a killer). I also do, movies (watching) and writing.

Will a Dual Core be enough, or should I go for a Quad and raise the price to $2100+?

Quad obviously but which year/model is the next choice. How do you connect while working? Once you decide what ports are the best for your work then choose. Have you looked at Apple’s refurbished store, recently there have been a few 2015 15 inch models but they go quick. If you want to stick with a 13 inch for portability then that will require a switch to a windows machine.

 

[soduno]

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Logic is a CPU killer, especially with quite a few tracks. However, a quad core i7 processor should handle it beautifully because with hyper-threading it effectively doubles the core count.

Also, I would suggest trying out the new TouchBar MacBook Pros. The TouchBar isn't a must-have feature by any means, but the specs of the 15 inch one far surpasses my relatively beefy iMac that I bought a few years ago. I mostly do Final Cut Pro projects, but i dabble in Logic occasionally and I've been more than pleased with the performance.

I was curious, since you are talking about Logic and Final Cut, if you or any other have tried using much programs at the same time, like 10-12? How does the MPG 2017 cope with lag etc? Can it be felt at the MBP at all or does it just run smooth?
[doublepost=1514568990][/doublepost]

Quad obviously but which year/model is the next choice. How do you connect while working? Once you decide what ports are the best for your work then choose. Have you looked at Apple’s refurbished store, recently there have been a few 2015 15 inch models but they go quick. If you want to stick with a 13 inch for portability then that will require a switch to a windows machine.

I know this is not at all possible with the new MBP's, but with my old MacPro I connect through a Firewire 400 when I use logic in my small studio. I am about to upgrade DAW there soon, so I for now I am just going to use some converters (when I buy the laptop). Other than that, I don't have any special requirements. I use standard USB, DVI/Hdmi etc. All standard cables.

I had no idea that Apple have refurbished store. Could you please provide a link?
[doublepost=1514569406][/doublepost]

Have you verified through Activity Monitor whether the lagging is related to the CPU or RAM?

Unfortunately no. That would have been great to see. But my guessing is that the MBP that I bought at that time, was using a Intel Iris GPU with 15" retina display, and that the Intel Iris + 15" retina could have caused the lag.

 

[Bart Kela]

I had no idea that Apple have refurbished store. Could you please provide a link?

Just go to store.apple.com and search for "refurb" in your browser (Find, Cmd-F).

 

[ZapNZs]

Unfortunately no. That would have been great to see. But my guessing is that the MBP that I bought at that time, was using a Intel Iris GPU with 15" retina display, and that the Intel Iris + 15" retina could have caused the lag.

Unfortunately, you are what I refer to as a "power user" - I say "unfortunately" because that often necessitates pricier hardware. To my understanding, Logic is heavy on both CPU and RAM, and both can obviously slow you down when you are in your groove but the machine is not.

If it was a 15-inch retina you were using and experiencing lag with, it was a quad core CPU and 16 GB of RAM (this is the only configuration it ships with.) The 13-inch retina currently only comes with a dual core CPU and 8GB of RAM standard (with a 16 GB upgrade option.)

If you were having performance issues with any generation iGPU/dGPU 15-inch retina, any 13-inch will probably be woefully inadequate, and even a fully specced out 2017 15-inch might be insufficient for your needs, given it will have the same RAM amount and a CPU with only so much improvement over the 2015 Haswell generation. The much faster SSD can, to some extent, offset a RAM shortage, and the GPU, to some extent, can assist the CPU with certain processing tasks (I am not nearly smart enough to understand CPU offloading to anything other than the most basic extent, or how extensively individual Apps can utilize this feature.) The advantage is you of course have the 14-day return option, so if you purchase one you should definitely immediately try to push it to your workload's limit (and even beyond if you expect your requirements will increase in the short term.) If it is insufficient, then you have the option of returning it (although as you noted you need portability and already have a desktop, the iMac's 7700k/32GB RAM/much more powerful dGPU probably won't serve you any benefit for working on-site.)

Here is a fully specced CPU/GPU refurb 15-inch, with a 512 SSD
https://www.apple.com/shop/product/...-Intel-Core-i7-with-Retina-display-Space-Gray

 

[burgman]

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I had no idea that Apple have refurbished store. Could you please provide a link?
[doublepost=1514569406][/doublepost]

Sure, US Store: https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals

Scroll to bottom of Apple's home page and the link is there.

 

[soduno]

Sure, US Store: https://www.apple.com/shop/browse/home/specialdeals

Scroll to bottom of Apple's home page and the link is there.

Oh. I did not realise that the store isn't available in Denmark. Luckily there is some refurbished stores around.

At the moment they only have pre 2015 models for sale. There is one MBP Mid 2017 base config for sale with $500 to save, so In that case, I guess it makes more sense to buy a new MBP 15 with max cpu?

 

[kwikdeth]

a 2015 would probably be fine for you if you upped that RAM. I would never, ever regularly use Logic + VIs on a machine with 8GB RAM by itself, let alone multitasking with Photoshop. even with an SSD its going to bog when it goes into virtual memory, which it will, very quickly.

there have not been so many drastic changes or improvements to Logic in two years that the machine is somehow incapable of delivering adequate performance. the SSDs are fast. The processor is plenty fast. The bottleneck there is the amount of available RAM, especially if its an iGPU model which is going to steal RAM from the OS to handle graphics.

next time you have all that stuff open and running pop open Activity Monitor and check your usage/"memory pressure"... guarantee you will see very heavy pressure, or usage, or whatever term they're using now.

 

[burgman]

Oh. I did not realise that the store isn't available in Denmark. Luckily there is some refurbished stores around.

At the moment they only have pre 2015 models for sale. There is one MBP Mid 2017 base config for sale with $500 to save, so In that case, I guess it makes more sense to buy a new MBP 15 with max cpu?

The machine you borrowed I assume a 13 with a 6100 GPU so any 2016 or 17 will run rings around the 2015. Unless you are running dual 5k monitors ordering the highest clock i7 is overkill. For 2100 usd you don’t even get in the door on the base 15 inch machine. How much storage do you use? The 8th gen chips can’t be to far away.

 

[MRrainer]

Oh. I did not realise that the store isn't available in Denmark.

How the hell are people supposed to know you're not in the US, if you don't even provide that basic information in your profile?

 

[TekAdvice]

If you can try to get one with at least 16 Gb of RAM. Upgrading the processor never hurt. It definitely would not hurt now that you could lose up to 30% performance with the latest Intel Meltdown and Spectre issues. Lol. Hope it goes well. Cheers.