What Mac should I upgrade to?

[leopowpow]

I currently have a late 2011 macbook pro, 8gb ram, 1tb hard drive, 2.4 ghz intel core i5.

I bought it used about 2 and a half years ago and it has server me well despite its age, but i'm looking to upgrade to a more powerful mac.

I run logic pro x and it will overload relatively often because the computer is old and (i dont know much about computers, but i assume) not very powerful.

I'm looking to buy a new desktop mac (not new, just new for me), but im not sure which model to go for.

Can someone compare the mac mini and the imac for me?
thx

 

[iluvmacs99]

I currently have a late 2011 macbook pro, 8gb ram, 1tb hard drive, 2.4 ghz intel core i5.

I bought it used about 2 and a half years ago and it has server me well despite its age, but i'm looking to upgrade to a more powerful mac.

I run logic pro x and it will overload relatively often because the computer is old and (i dont know much about computers, but i assume) not very powerful.

I'm looking to buy a new desktop mac (not new, just new for me), but im not sure which to go for.

Can someone compare the mac mini and the imac for me?
thx

For music production, you need a CPU with a lot of cores and a minimum of 8Gb of memory (16Gb is a good spot) and it all depends upon how many samples and instruments that you are loading all and working at the same time. A rough rule of thumb is that you should dedicate at least 1 core / library/sample/instrument per track and so if you have 8 tracks or 16 track composition, a 4 core / 8 threads (CPU that offers multithreading) would be a good start and 16Gb of ram would also be a good start. A SSD would also be beneficial in loading the samples quickly.

If you are looking for a Mac Mini, then the 2012 Core i7 Quad core model would be a good start. You can upgrade it to 16Gb of ram, a SSD for speed and loading of apps and samples/libraries. The iMac version with the same Quad core processor is also available used. They are somewhat pricier than the dual core 2012 and 2011 model. Don't get the Mini 2014 models as they have the slower dual cores. Otherwise, you can get a new Mac Mini 2018 Core i3 which is a Quad core model and is reasonably priced. You can upgrade the ram to 16Gb ram and probably get a USB3 external drive and you will be done with it. The 2018 Core i3 single core performance is pretty quick and should help you speed up your bouncing time. Otherwise, the 2012 Mini is a good compromise in terms of performance and price. But keep in mind that it is an 8 year old computer, so you may not be saving much money compared to a 2018 Core i3 mini which is newer and can last you a bit longer. Hope this helps.