16GB RAM 512 SSD 2.7 Quad Core i7 15” Screen Touch Bar I bought this top-of-line MacBook Pro from Apple in 2016 for over $3,000 and the specs on the brand new ones barely have this one beat (some brand new ones are actually slower). AppleCare+ for Mac Every Mac comes with a one-year limited warranty and up to 90 days of complimentary technical support.AppleCare+ for Mac extends your coverage to three years from your AppleCare+ purchase date and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage protection every 12 months, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other.
- 2016 Macbook Pro Music Production Setup
- Macbook 2016 Pro
- 2016 Macbook Pro Music Production Guide
- 2016 Macbook Pro Music Production Software
- 2016 Macbook Pro Specs
Who would say no to a MacBook air for music production? If you are a MacBook lover in general then give me a high five because we are gonna talk all about using a MacBook air for music production!
![2016 Macbook Pro Music Production 2016 Macbook Pro Music Production](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/8FzMR-7Icn8/maxresdefault.jpg)
The Best MacBook Air For Music Production Tips
Let’s be real, when it comes to appearance, super performance or brand Apple is one of the top brands in the market!
Now the real question is which Apple laptop is the best for music production?
personally, I have been using MacBook air from a few months so I will be sharing with you a brief review and things that you will find it helpful when thinking of using a MacBook air for music production.
My comparison will be between MacBook air and a regular laptop of similar price range and let’s also pick a MacBook PRO.
Why Macbook Air Rocks
Here are some benefits of using a Macbook air compared to a Non-Apple laptop: I love the fact that it is Slim and lightweight for daily travel.
Let’s appreciate the battery life: 10-11 hours battery backup on normal usage. Now if you compare them to any premium laptop Apple touchpads are awesome, smooth and responsive. Don’t you think?
Okay, the audio quality on macbook air speakers is good, but let’s be true, it’s not as loud as a MacBook Pro’s speakers. Skype call coming up? Another thing is that Apple front camera works the best in low light which is best for low light skype calls!
SSD Power: despite the low power processor apps launch very fast on a MacBook air due to SSD. I also love the metal body construction that gives it a nice finishing touch.
Mag safe charger can be very helpful if you are really careless plus you’re working on an important music production project.
The ambient light sensor that adjusts brightness automatically is a nice feature although many people are not aware of this feature!
If you happen to keep your Air closed or you just drop it somewhere idle you will find out that the battery has dropped less than 3 or 4 % even tho you checked back after 2 or 3 days.
This could be the best part: Mac OS, contains some pretty needed apps like a calendar, To-do’s app, notes, Quicktime, Mail app etc. Hassle free OS
Something that many people face with non-apple laptops is the heating issues. there are no heating issues on a MacBook air laptop.
But If you are working on really BIG and I mean BIG projects let’s be real here, MacBook air won’t be able to pull it off. In that case, I recommend the Macbook Pro for several reasons.
The Air is perfectly capable of being used as a music production device, but within the size & price range, the Pro has some luxuries that make it a better experience to work on day after day.
While the 15″ macbook pros offer even more benefits in terms of power and upgradability let’s compare them and see what you can learn from it:
Tip #1 Think of the Retina screen resolution:
Having this screen to me was worth the price difference between the Air and Pro alone, and the biggest deciding factor for me.
At 2560-by-1600 native resolution, the retina screen operates at 1680 by 1050 scaled resolution for my DAW, which allows me to see more of the workspace as compared to the current Air, which operates at 1440 by 900.
Screen real estate is very nice to have when working in Ableton – being able to see more tracks and channels helps a lot in managing projects.
How do you download word on a macbook air. A macbook air can be a great fit when we talk price here but you could get external monitors to help with the screen resolution!
Tip #2 Check which CPU and RAM specs is best for you:
The Air is a lot less powerful in terms of specs. There is a noticeable difference between a 1.6ghz Core I5 and 2.6ghz Core I5 when it comes to using VSTs and effects in my music production.
The same can be said of 4gb and 8gb ram – I would not recommend anything less than 8gb for a studio computer. No joke!
I say this because I have maxed out both before while producing. For the price of upgrading an Air from 4gb to 8gb ram, it’s more cost effective to go for the Pro, which has 8gb standard, as well as a better CPU and screen.
So think about the CPU when it comes to a mcbook air for music production. Are you willing to upgrade if yours is less than 8gb ram?
Tip #3 Don’t overlook the power of the Size, Weight and Battery life!
The advantages of the Air is its portability. It’s so lightweight that makes music production easier and on the go most of the times.
The extra hours of battery life and slightly lighter weight is nice to have over the Pro, but for a studio environment when you’ll be plugged into the wall, I find it doesnt make too much of a difference, especially when the weight difference between the two models is around half of a pound!
If you are a person that travels a lot the macbook air for music production could be the way to go.
But if you’re stuck in your studio in the long run, the Pro has by far the better price/performance out of the two.
The lightness and thinness of the Air is something to behold, but for a few hundred dollars more, I recommend making the jump to a computer that can handle a lot more of your production needs.
Macbook Air, while very good for the purpose it is designed for. It is light. efficient, portable notebook type device but if you’re a music production guy it is not really suitable for use with a very resource demanding application such as Logic Pro.
Of course, you could use it but depend on how complex your arrangements are, the number of tracks, the type of plugins or even the number of audio tracks etc.
Have in mind you would likely soon run into it’s limitations.
Conclusion
All of them will work but finally, the decision is on your workload.
2016 Macbook Pro Music Production Setup
The large your projects the more powerful your setup should so you can either start with a Macbook air which is cheaper but works well for basic projects then when you see things get heavier you consider migrating to a pro that works for logic pro , cubase , Protools etc… a MacbookPro with minimum 16GB & a 4core processor is advised.
If you can afford a MacPro or a iMac (if you want something portable skip this one) at the least … it can be a greater fit.
Macbook 2016 Pro
There you have it, Macbook Air For Music Production Tips!
What is your pick, macbook air for music production or Macbbok Pro?
2016 Macbook Pro Music Production Guide
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See ya, Cosby!
I will try to be as un-biased as possible in this article, but I will still share my own opinion about the mac vs windows issue.
The never ending debate, what system is best to use for music production or creative production? Depending on who you are asking you will get different answers.
The simplest answer is, buy the system you are most comfortable with, and the system that works with your DAW. However the answer isn’t always that simple, and I will try to outline some of the differences between both systems so you can make your own decision on what to choose.
If you want to use logic, you don’t have a choice, a Mac is the way to go for you. Other DAWs however, like Pro Tools, Ableton Live, Cubase, Reason, Bitwig and now even FL Studio is multi platform. This means you can use it on Windows, or macOS.
They work on both systems.
You may have been told that Macs are best for music production. I don’t have any scientific numbers to back that claim up. But it is true that at least in the 90-ies Macs mostly occupied music studios around the world. They still do today in professional studios.
This article however, is not really for you that works in a professional music studio. You already know what tools you have to use to get your invoices paid. This article is more geared towards the hobby producer. Or semi-professional.
![Pro Pro](https://d.ecumenicalnews.com/full/15624/630-0/macbook-pro-2016.jpg)
Why choose chose a Mac?
As I mentioned earlier, if you want to use Logic you have to get a Mac. You also have Garageband which is free. Its a stripped down version of Logic. Any GarageBand project you make can be opened in Logic if you decide to upgrade later on.
If you buy a Mac, you have everything you need to start up with music production right out the box. You don’t have to buy any software in addition to that to get started.
Macs have often been the computer of choice in creative industries, and they are known for its stability and ease of use. If you need to work with others it is a high probability that they use a Mac as well.
Macs have often been the computer of choice in creative industries, and they are known for its stability and ease of use. If you need to work with others it is a high probability that they use a Mac as well.
When you get a Mac most of the system is ready to go from the box. You may have to install some plugins yourself and connect an audio interface. Most of the time this process is painless and you are ready to go fast.
Macs are generally more expensive than its PC counterpart, but with a Mac you get the complete package with quality materials and excellent build quality. Many people agree that this is worth paying extra for.
macOS is considered to be a stable and excellent operating system. It is perfect for audio work with its stable and proven Core Audio system.
Macs also tend to get less viruses and malware, although it exist but its much less of a problem compared to Windows.
If ease of use, a stable OS, painless connectivity and build quality is important for you. A Mac may be the way to go if your budget allows it.
Why choose a PC?
A PC is cheaper, you get more raw performance out of your system for less money spent.
A PC is upgradeable, a Mac nowadays isn’t.
A few years ago, you could buy a lower specced Mac and upgrade some of its parts later on. This saved you some upfront costs. You could upgrade the RAM, or when your hard drive filled up with time it was possible to replace it with a bigger one. Or an SSD.
Nowadays when you buy a Mac, you have to get the correct specifications when you order it, its more or less impossible to upgrade it afterwards. Although todays Macs look good, have excellent build quality, and it feels like a tank. Its impossible to upgrade them.
Everything is soldered on the motherboards, even the hard drive / SSD, and memory.
With a PC, you can start out cheap and add or upgrade the hardware later down the line. You don’t have to go out and buy a completely new system from scratch to upgrade your RAM, hard-drive, CPU, display, etc.
With a PC you can decide for yourself whats more important for you. Do you want to game on your system during some downtime? Great, get a decent GPU and gaming is very much possible.
Doing this, may require that you know a thing or two about computers. But building your own computer isn’t that hard and nowadays there are plenty of youtube videos of PC building for beginners.
What do I use?
I use a Windows PC for most of my production. The biggest reason for this is because I need the raw CPU power for many of my projects. Many projects use a lot of soft-synths, which are CPU heavy with their unison / detune. Getting a Mac with a good CPU is possible, but its extremely expensive and I can’t justify the costs of that right now.
2016 Macbook Pro Music Production Software
Also I do some occasional gaming and its just better to play World of Warcraft on a PC.
I also record videos of music production, doing screen recording and playing back a project in real time on a Mac would require me to buy a highly specced out system and thats economical suicide for me at the moment.
I need to be able to swap out my hard drive when it fills up without having to buy a new computer, or hang a dongle on the outside of my computer. I want to be able to upgrade my memory without having to replace the entire motherboard.
At some time, I may want to use Macs again for music production. Mostly because I like their os and ecosystem. But how the roadmap looks like now. It just isn’t possible for me.
2016 Macbook Pro Specs
In closing: I cant tell you what to buy. Thats a decision you have to do yourself. I hope this article helped you in some way and good luck with your music production!