MacBook Pro 2017 model with 256 GB SSD and i7 processor will be a great option. As I don’t think Touch Bar and Touch ID will that much effective. And I won’t recommend 2012 model anymore as it won’t get updates and slowly you will start facing problems in it due to older version.

 

incoming Mojave is compatible with MBP mid-2012, so it's still a reasonable buy imo, unless using let's say Logic Pro X, which tends to favor only recent 2 MacOS versions max

 

So in other words you like to burn your money for no apparent reason
(only joking but it seemed worth it mate)

 

actually I did get it for incredible price, pristine condition, even nowadays performance unmatched for the price (i7-3520M is slightly better in performance than let's say recent gen i5-7200U, and there is no new laptop with 16GB ram around 750€ in my country),

specs I got:
MBP 13" mid-2012
i7-3520M (2.9GHz, 3.6GHz boost)
16GB ram
500GB Samsung 840 EVO
some 1TB HDD instead optical drive

btw since then I built few other hackintosh rigs, so I merely use the laptop for just recording

 

Just a side observation.
In the 2012 MBpro's I didn't notice a difference in performance between the i5 and i7 for audio applications. i7's can handle slightly higher clock speeds and hyper threading which is video production type stuff. I remember tests done on this at that time saying the 13" was as sufficient for audio and had mine ever since. There were heat issues caused by an OS update from Mav to the next which required a swap to SSD drive.

There aren't any foreseeable impediments to making this machine obsolete and having all of the available ports on this model have been amazing. The only thing that has caused problems with older macs (2009 and earlier) updating to the new OS's is minor stuff like wifi issues, but all seem fixable with patches or installments.

 

The one you didn't buy.

 

i would agree on this. if its a dedicated machine and you need power, there is no discussion if money is an issue.

in my case though I use the 13 inch as a general use machine for graphics and audio but more for sketching ideas and testing things, when I have something worth finishing and mixing I got to my stationary. I love the mac laptops (not stationaries) for the finesses small details that make it a joy to use them, its the sum of lots of details, screen and that darn touchpad, its from another galaxy, it reads my mind

but if I needed a laptop for only music making and if I needed to mix in it, then I would get much more with a window machine if money and mental sanity is an issue, if not, then I would get a maxed out macbook pro, but only then.

 

refer me to the relevant post if I missed something..

but does it matter which version of OSX you run on a mac vis a vis "liberated"
software such as we enjoy? I have been thinking of getting a macbook or ipad for portability,
and some music appz that are not available on Win platform.
Since I am not an OSX aficionado I am curious if one version or another is preferable to load up..
then disable updates .. if possible.

and what of the whole "jailbreak" aspect..
is that of the past.. or something to still consider..?

 

Last edited by a moderator: Jul 10, 2018

I'm really keen on this myself right now, its too cheap and easy not to try. There is a chance this is the shit..

 

MJLT2 ,,,best so far .. no hassle really strong and fast

 

First, if you're used to Win/Mac audio software and you don't want to accept feature and workflow limitations, think twice before deciding for an iPad. I'm using both platforms extensively, and I have to say that while composing or even producing music on an iPad is possible, it really feels different compared to Win/Mac software.
IMHO the trick is to use the right tool for the purpose.
Capturing ideas, doing basic compositions, playing around with loops, live looping, tweaking synths - yes, that works great on an iPad.
Doing deeper stuff like physical modelling, track/FX/MIDI/modulation routing, wave and MIDI file handling, using thousands of samples in your own library ... forget about that on an iPad.
It's not a space issue (and an 128GB iPad is below $400 now), but the way these files are handled in most apps.
On one hand, some apps are very intuitive to use because of good touch support, but on the other hand, you often stumble across file exchange, inter-app-operability, a workflow requiring too many intermediate steps and compatibility issues that the thing sometimes appears as an unfinished ecosystem built by mediocre-paid developers that have a hard time fixing issues, developing new features, and having to adapt to the rapid changes Apple does with each new major iOS release.

As for jailbreaking, I would say these good times are over.
My main reason for jailbreaking until iOS9 was the possibility to do unlimited file exchange between different music apps, I even did an automatic file upload/download script between my Mac (Ableton) and the respective app's file folders over WiFi so the workflow was a bit more fluent.

For recent iOS versions, you *mostly* only get a semi-tethered jailbreak that has to be repeated every time you reboot your device.
It's possible but too much hassle for my taste.
The new "Files" app introduced with iOS11 is a joke too, still far away from your Win Explorer or Mac Finder capabilities.

BTW, I also think that a 2012 Macbook Pro is still a great machine, for CPU power without heat throttling, connectivity, keyboard quality and serviceability. For most of us using soft synths I would recommend giving priority to CPU clock frequency over CPU core count.

 

somewhat problematic is the whole "ecosystem" of MacOS,
every year there's a new major version release, which more or less introduces something which often causes compatibility issues (for ex. block of third-party kernel extensions in High Sierra, hence why AVID official latest supported build is 10.13.3 and not latest 10.13.5),
some of the changes may cause problems when doing certain tweaks as well,
on the other hand, when you buy a new Apple Mac device, oldest OS version you can install on it is the MacOS version it's supplied with,
so it's basically better to build a hackintosh and install whatever MacOS version you wish - yet it's officially prohibited by Apple to install MacOS on non-Apple hardware/device,
I'm running El Capitan 10.11.6 on all my devices now, as it seems to be most versatile and reliable build, still widely supported by devs

 

Assuming you decide not to upgrade with every iphone os update, how problomatic is this in terms of working through the issues initially or with software setups?

 

i still enjoy my MBP2012 with a 13" screen. I stuffed it with more ram and replaced the HD with a SSd. Its speedy enough for most tasks. Obviously its not able to handle what my main studiopc is able to handle, but thats the point of it.

also, these days i NEVER use my ipad for working with music. or just to "play" music. Its probably just me getting old?

 

Apple just released new Macbook pros, 13" available with quad core now

6 core i9 4,8 Ghz
32 gb DDR 4
4 TB SSD 3,2 GB/s
4gb gpu

 

wtf the ssd alone is 3200 bucks

 

6699$ for topped 15" version