Pro Tools/Logic pro people

[jboyd710]

Okay, I need some answers. Looking to purchase a 15' macbook pro, either retina or classic. Going to be mainly on a desk and I do have another monitor I will be using. However, I am only considering two models, because of money I can either get the 15 cMBP (2.3 i7, 4GB, 500GB for 1799.99) or 15 rMBP ( 2.4 i7, 8GB, 256SSD for 2199.99) Now I will get education discount, and storage is not a huge deal I have externals. However I want to know what is going to be the best for me. With the classic I will definitely upgrade ram to 16GB and eventually replace the HDD with an SSD. I know pro tools benefits from ram and a quick SSD, but I want to know if I go retina will I be okay with capped 8GBs of ram?

 

[maflynn]

The 8GB should be enough, though the cMBP may make more sense since its upgradeable after the fact.

 

[jboyd710]

The 8GB should be enough, though the cMBP may make more sense since its upgradeable after the fact.

I was thinking the same, however I wasnt sure if performance would be better with a retina, i mean two thunderbolts, hdmi out would be really nice to use

 

[andeify]

You wont notice any difference in performance between the two in Logic Pro, unless Logic and all its plugins, instruments and samples were installed on the flash drive in the Retina. The classic seems to be more trouble free than the Retina.

 

[hammo123]

Over in the US there for $USD 2250.00 you could get a refurbed 17" MBP late 2011 2.4Ghz
http://store.apple.com/us/product/FD311LL/A/refurbished-macbook-pro-24ghz-quad-core-intel-i7
(plenty of grunt)
plus a Samsung 840 PROSSD & the 16GB of Ram ...with your externals you'd be on fire with Pro Tools...

That's the system I use & it Rips it up with any of my Audio software & loads of plugins

 

[nickandre21]

Used both on my friend cMbp and my rMbp with 16gb ram. I found it around 5% better on the retina maybe due to the ssd, not a whole lot of difference. You could take the cMbp and plonk in a 16gb ram in future if need be. The only huge difference came on fcp and aperture if you do not use it and are not hooked up on the retina display, safely buy the cMbp.

 

[3rdpath]

the ability to upgrade might be very important to you as your DAW software needs expand. more ram, bigger HD or SSD...it's nice to have options.

fwiw, macmall has a new 15", 2.7, 8gb, 1tb for $1999...which includes the anti glare screen upgrade. it's a smoking music machine.

upgrade the HD to 7200 and put a 7200 HD in the optical bay slot and for a couple of hundred bucks, you'll really be flying.