At the risk of opening a can of worms, it’s also worth asking whether you want computer operating systems as a hobby. I’ve spent significant fractions of my life focusing on Windows, Linux, and OSX. Partisans can make coherent arguments in favor of each platform, so let’s not go there. The important point is that each platform requires effort to use proficiently, and Windows and Linux require more effort for a good audio experience.
That’s fine if you want to noodle around in computer stuff, but if you want to make music, then stick with what you know.
For anyone who wants to open the can of worms, please head over to this thread:
Hopefully final thought: picking one OS is fine. Switching to another OS is fine too. Maintaining multiple OSes in parallel is still more work and cost. Which is fine if you want that, but be aware that you are drifting farther from music making if you do. (Again, I’ve done all three as well as others, and made a career out of it. So it’s not necessarily a bad choice, but it’s not the preferred route if you want to make music)
If you can wait a little, there’s pretty clear indications that the M4 version of the MacBook Air is just about to drop, which should send prices of older MBAs down even further.
Thanks for all these answers! I didn’t think I’d have so many opinions for Apple. I’ll look at what I can find in the EU for less than €1000. €600 would be ideal!
My use:
No VST or one or two reverbs
Ableton and MaxDSP tools only
Feedback routing and other routing between tracks
I don’t do super heavy projects
Regarding the OS; I use MacOS at home and Windows at work; for the same tools. Each has its advantages.
It’s true that Ableton is at home on Mac OS so it’s probably easier to have everything in Apple.
Otherwise I would look at MSI and Thinkpad Lenovo, but I don’t find their touchpad super qualitative.
No, ThinkPads are all about the trackpoint IMO. The trackpads don’t compare with Apple’s at all.
I think you’re making the right choice keeping the music-related stuff Apple, I’d wait and see what the new Airs will bring though. It might drive prices of the old ones down a touch as mentioned earlier, if nothing else.
im using a Thinkpad E16 Gen 2 AMD for mine. its Ableton 12 intro im running but i often use a lot of external plug ins and that. doesnt break a sweat but thats for if youre into windows. if you dont mind, just get a used m2 macbook pro. but if u wanna upgrade your storage and ram, thinkpads are great
If you are not going to do anything too CPU-heavy like ypu said, i was using a Surface Pro 2 to do that kind of stuff. Its probably way lower than $500.
The screen is detachable so you can also use it like an ipad too. I have a newer laptop now but i still use it to program drums now for fun.
A refurbed M1 air 8/256 from 2020 with some wear is $580 in Sweden. I think Im gonna get one myself soon for the same purpose as yours. Maybe one with 16gb ram but thats over 300 bucks more so maybe not.
An Air from 2020 M1 sound good indeed but arround 680€ in France (and not from Apple Refurb). I see an Macbook pro M1 on Apple Refurb for 979€.
But if i can get an Air M1 under 700€ i guess it’s OK !
Apple silicon is great but its relative speed over x86 architecture is overstated in this thread imo. The M1 made a big leap ahead of x86 processors when it was first released but intel and AMD have made a lot of strides since then. The big advantage of Macs right now is definitely power - wayyy more battery life on those laptops.
That said, if you don’t plan to use it for games and you’re already used to using the Mac OS, I think a MacBook Air seems totally reasonable
Necessary? Well that probably would be if you wanted to some for of artwork to, such as draw etc with a stylus on your laptop. I’d recommend a samsung pro 360. It’s got an excellent low latency stylus. Wacom drivers i think. Carrying around an extra monitor isn’t necessary for that either
I vaguely remember there being some mention of a difference in performance/speed in the base model M2 but was apparently alleviated in models with a larger SSD. Or something like that. Idk, i had the M1 Pro and then the M2 Air (with the larger SSD preinstalled) and i much preferred the MBA M2. It was an absolute workhorse for me and i never ran into any issues whatsoever using it daily for audio. Only recently swapped it for an MBP M4 and although its great i really neednt have bothered as performance-wise theres no difference for my needs. TLDR M2 Macbook Airs are the tits
I have no idea, I just recall reading that on some topic here. Somebody said something like M1 chip could handle sound on two parts of the chip and M2 only on one. M2 works fine for me.
