I was looking to get a good laptop for music production and video editing.Someone is offering me a second hand Macbook M2 2023 edition at a really decent price, on the other hand I also have my eyes on a laptop with Ryzen 7 5835u processor that is available at a cheaper price.I have never worked on a macbook before and I have been told that it is possible to install windows 11 on Macbook M2 with Parallels.Now, I am a little confused because on Windows system I can try software(thanks to the sister site) before buying without any compatibility issues, however, I am not sure if I can do the same with Parallels windows installation as ARM compatible software is required for running on it.I am seeking advice from members using the Windows 11 with Parallels on a Macbook M series processor;what kind of experience did you have?Which device should I go with?

 

If you need to use windows softwares for video/audio ... forget about Mac M.

Yes, you (may) run them into virtual machine.
BUT you will loose TWICE :
-virtual machine level (Parallels)
-conversion from X64 apps to ARM (because win ARM emulate X64)

Two emulations stacked ... pure nightmare for performances, especially latency for audio.
YES, you can run Excel or any light Windows software that way.
BUT you will never run any serious video / audio X64 win app with double emulation.

So the question is : do you need Win x64 softwares ?

 

https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-compare/apple-m2-vs-amd-ryzen-7-5825u

The M2 chip outperforms the Ryzen chip in almost all metrics. Not to mention that Ryzen chip is a Zen 2 chip - 58(2)5u.

If performance per watt, battery life, sheer power, and quality touchpad/screen is what you need, the Mac is the way to go.

If you simply need something that is going to run windows software, the Ryzen laptop is the way to go.

I hate Apple, but they make damn good laptops with their M series chips. Too bad they're so overpriced.

Because you know the person you're buying the MacBook from, you also have a better idea of how the device was taken care of so that's a bonus too.

 

If you've worked with Windows so far and have been comfortable with it, you should stick with Windows. Modern Ryzen CPUs are on par with Macs. Windows and Ryzen are cheaper than Apple—they always have been and will remain so.

Stick with what you know, and why bother with two operating systems just because a friend made you a tempting offer? There's also a lot more and cheaper software available for Windows because Windows users are in the majority.

 

Really valid points dear.I guess I would take the Ryzen path...

You got me there, I was really tempted by his offer

 

Try to get a faster AMD Ryzen, the base clock speed should be at least 3.3 to 3.4 GHz if possible.

 

As PulseWave mentioned, you should aim for a better Ryzen chip if you want performance similar to the M2 mac.

The problem is that we're comparing a Zen 2 Ryzen CPU and an M2 Apple CPU in this case.

If you were comparing a high end 7000-9000 series Ryzen chip to the M2, I would be more split in terms of what I think is best. The newer Ryzen chips are more energy efficient (so better battery life which is more similar to Apple chips), and also have better integrated graphics which will be good for video work.

What is the model of the Ryzen laptop you're looking at? That makes a HUGE difference in terms of port selection and quality of components like screen, touchpad, etc.

Does the Ryzen laptop have any upgradeable components? (SSD, RAM, WiFi Module)

Also, are you going to be working on the go, or more of a laptop/desktop setup at home? These 5000 series Ryzen chips have a much different power envelope when working on battery power vs. plugged in to an outlet.

If your software is both macOS and Windows compatible, you are going to get better performance on the Apple laptop between these 2 options.

 

As PulseWave said, stick with whatever you know; I am using windows since i first touched a keyboard; bought an intel macbook a few years ago for cheap; yes, its smooth, its nice, its different, etc... i played with it for the first week and since then its gathering dust; i still catch myself trying to use it and but it really is just a toy for me.

Edit: And... trying to work with emulation is close to impossible (for me that is)

 

Go with the ryzen, I've had 2x M2 MacBook's and ended up being terrible for music production, worked great at first then no matter if I froze tracks or not it was constantly crashing on ableton, reaper and logic. I'm back to windows with no problems at all

 

neither of those. stick with windows , any new ryzen 7 will do the job. especially that you never used a mac/macos, you'll save yourself from endless frustration

 

Why would you buy a Mac to even think about Windows? Don't buy the Mac. You can get some more OS reinstallation practice that way.

 

That sounds more like an audio driver, plugin, or hardware issue if all 3 daws "constantly crash".

I use 3 (one is a hackintosh, 1 is an M1) macs and 2 windows 10 PCs for professional work, Ableton, Logic, Reaper, Davinci Resolve with complex audio aggregate devices and have never had consistent DAW crashing issues that I havent been able to figure out on either platform.

Ironically, Windows 10 has had more crashes than macOS even on my hackintosh (Ironically considering I built my own EFI with minimal experience). In college we only used Macs and we never had a crash while working. I think my windows crashes may have to do with my shitty ASUS TUF mobo.

Your experience is definitely not the norm. Sometimes software gives you crash reports that you can analyze. This is definitely not a "macbook terrible, windows laptop good" case.

Edit: Oh lmao, that's your first post on AS. Yeah imma take that post with a heaping mound of salt.

 

Depends on what you're doing on the computer. I didn't find the transition from macOS to Windows difficult. Obviously it helps to have some technical knowledge, or ability to troubleshoot, but I'm not that smrat and it wasn't hard.

 

The main issue here is that although Windows for ARM exists, actual ARM support is still quite limited in Windows software today.
The best bet might be to run a virtual ARM Windows version and let that do the x64 <> ARM translation but that will eat a lot of performance, eliminating the Apple Silicon advantage and making it slower than the Ryzen 7.
So I'd basically go for an Intel x64 compatible CPU if the Windows apps don't support ARM and don't exist on MacOS.
On MacOS, almost all music and video apps support ARM because developers have no choice but to support it when releasing Mac apps today.

 

Good old question. PC or MAC.
I use both platforms in recent years but I've spent most of my life on Windows.

First things first, Windows Arm is a big no: I wouldn't even consider that idea in my work, FOR NOW.
Who wants to invest in a platform when its promises are bigger than its available functions. Simple as that.
It only exists just because Microsoft wanted to stay relevant and create buzz and hype after Apple. Their agenda is different and doesn't even care for ARM now, that's about it. Unlike Apple, Microsoft doesn't even force companies to port their apps to arm therefor most companies will ignore the platform.

Imho, Core Audio is much much stable and flexible than Asio Wrappers, day and night. For example; if you are out of inputs and have an old interface dusting in closet? connect that too and merge two or more audio interfaces as one and use that as your input device within OS level to record. Midi Studio is awsome to setup lan bluetooth midi devices etc.

TL;DR:
If your apps are not available in macOS, go Windows. Simple.
If you game on that laptop, forget everything and get a Windows machine.
If you make music or creative stuff while travelling, also no gaming: macOS (better hinge system, quality parts, efficient yet powerful cpu gpu, stable os to work for years)

In this era of technology, both laptop will serve you more than enough. At the end of the day, you don't wanna use a machine you don't even like for hours everyday.
So pick the one that your heart wants.
If you don't know what you want, then consider availability of your plugins, apps or games if you play on both platform and try to decide around these priorites, this can help you decide on your purchase.

GLHF

 

This is going to sound tongue in cheek, but I'm serious:

• If you're genuinely hesitating between a Mac and a PC - just go for the PC. I worked on PC for years.
  You'll appreciate switching to Mac that much more down the road, when and if you ever get there.
  
  
• What matters most if the quality of music you make and/or the enjoyment it procures.
  (As far as video is concerned, unless it's for TikTok, your specs are on the light side.)

 

I forgot to mention that the windows machine has an 8GB AMD Radeon GPU as well ...but I am curious whether it's good enough for video or not?

 

So, these happen to be the deciding factors.

Thanks a lot everyone who participated in the discussion and helped me decide.I think I will consider getting a Ryzen, since most of the stuff I use is available on windows and using Windows 11 ARM version on Macbook would have been troublesome with added processing disadvantages.

 

that extra cheap software for windows is mostly trash...and more window users are online crying about their setups for whatever reason. and window users being the majority has nothing to do with anything.

 

Reading your 1st post @OrchFan, it is pretty simple, I think. If you insist on using Windows, buy a Ryzen 7 laptop, but Mac M2 hardware is better and faster, so if you're willing to learn how to use MacOS (not really demanding IMHO) you will be rewarded with a better performing computer for audio and everything.

When it comes to PC laptops, they are usually not very upgradeable, same as Macs. You can usually upgrade only RAM and SSD, but 32GB should be comfy enough if you're not making huge orchestral projects. However, you can't upgrade either on Mac and bigger SSD could be useful, although you can use external one, but it will never be as good as an internal one, especially for sample libraries.

I would go with Mac, personally. But that's me. I would install Debian Linux on it and use WINE to run Windows plugins.

Does it have to be a laptop? It's much better to have a desktop computer for music. You can do with it whatever you like except carry it around, of course.

Cheers!

 

Last edited: Jun 29, 2025 at 11:42 AM