Nord User Forum

YouTube is flowing over with tests of the new M1 macs showing fantastic results. I have ordered the 16GByte RAM 2Tb disk version, so I am still waiting to get mine next tuesday - But I have seen tests with Logic Pro running so many simultaneous tracks that I will newer come close - and that was the 8GByte version, so Apple obviously make much better use of the new "shared memory" than in the X86 configurastion where 8 GByte would have been a serious limitation.

krupa809 wrote:Is the Apple Mac Mini just as powerful as a MacBook Pro?
I ask because I'm at a deciding point of whether to use an existing PC laptop I have (Ableton Live) or pursue Mac and using ProTools. The MacBook Pro is just so expensive!

The latest entry-models of the Mac line-up all share the same Apple M1 processor, which should be faster than the completely spec'ed MacBook Pro 16" with intel i9, if we look at latest testing and comparisons.
There may be use cases, where the 16" is still faster (heavy GPU loads), but for music production, the new M1 should be mind-blowingly fast...

I just found this...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_xp30oukwk

I'm sure in the future an optimized version of ProTools will be available, but it should already be working with Rosetta 2!

Have you also thought about Logic Pro? Logic is probably the best choice for the new M1 in regards to optimization...

dhbp-nord wrote:Not sure the Mac Mini's are upgradeable in way, the last couple of generations have not been upgradeable (RAM,SSD)

That's partly true, the 2012 Mac minis had upgradable RAM and SSD, 2014 only allowed SSD upgrades, and the 2018 only RAM upgrades.
The latest generation with Apple M1 does not allow for any internal upgrades, everything is built-in...
I'm very curious if a future generation of iMac or Mac Pro will still allow for these massive custom RAM upgrades or from now on 6000$ RAM has to be bought from Apple

NoDirection wrote:YouTube is flowing over with tests of the new M1 macs showing fantastic results. I have ordered the 16GByte RAM 2Tb disk version, so I am still waiting to get mine next tuesday - But I have seen tests with Logic Pro running so many simultaneous tracks that I will newer come close

Nice !!! If I'm honest, I've been thinking about getting a Mac mini until I need a portable laptop again for gigs, and selling (or even keeping) my 2016 15" MacBook Pro ... these days my MacBook is plugged into my monitor and closed, as if it was a Mac mini anyways
And these M1 Macs are 2.3x as fast as my 15" MacBook from 4 years ago, just on paper, maybe more in music production performance with Logic.......

https://youtu.be/DoaBk6o6WRg

According to Spectrasonics’ support page, they expect to release native versions in early 2021. So this is MainStage running in Rosetta!

I received my new Apple Silicon Mac Mini today. Great product - but beware that there could be hardware trouble. My not to old MIDI/Audio Interface Steinberg UR44 is not able to connect - and I read on their homepages that they are not promising drivers in the near future either - so that is something one must expect when you try out new products. But hope I dont need to buy a new Audio Interface - I really liked my UR44 until today.

Speaking of compatibility...

Focusrite Audio Interfaces are not yet officially supported either...
https://support.focusrite.com/hc/en-gb/ ... 0017407320

NoDirection wrote:My not to old MIDI/Audio Interface Steinberg UR44 is not able to connect - and I read on their homepages that they are not promising drivers in the near future either

I think at latest when more products are released with Apple M processors, they will have to hurry because a lot of (new) creatives, who have or might consider getting Steinberg audio interfaces, will be getting those M? Macs

I mean it’s not like manufacturers had 4-5 months to check compatibility with the Dev Kit and Big Sur Beta

Most people I know who depend on these machines for a living are AT LEAST one generation behind.

I updated my Mac to Catalina a few days before Big Sur was released.

Developers have a regular job as well — developing future products on a release schedule and supporting existing products with bugfixes or firmware updates. Their capacities don’t magically multiply just because a new platform is introduced that won’t be adopted by the music industry at large for another year at least.

analogika wrote:Most people I know who depend on these machines for a living are AT LEAST one generation behind.

I updated my Mac to Catalina a few days before Big Sur was released.

Developers have a regular job as well — developing future products on a release schedule and supporting existing products with bugfixes or firmware updates. Their capacities don’t magically multiply just because a new platform is introduced that won’t be adopted by the music industry at large for another year at least.

You’re absolutely right! I was a bit fast with my previous comment...

Actually, I was always about updating as fast as possible to try the new looks and features...
But now, as my MacBook is almost 4 years old, I’m considering keeping it on Catlina. I’ve cloned my entire hard drive to test Big Sur, though - to test everything, check the new looks... But I’m not sure if any update from now on won’t just slow my MacBook experience down, so I’ll probably keep everything as is as of now...

NoDirection wrote:I received my new Apple Silicon Mac Mini today. Great product - but beware that there could be hardware trouble. My not to old MIDI/Audio Interface Steinberg UR44 is not able to connect - and I read on their homepages that they are not promising drivers in the near future either - so that is something one must expect when you try out new products. But hope I dont need to buy a new Audio Interface - I really liked my UR44 until today.

Hold-on and be patient, they are "testing" https://helpcenter.steinberg.de/hc/it/a ... patibility (see HARDWARE link), so probably they can't yet promise a date but least they are working on it.