2.5000 $ (8 Core), 6.000 $ (14 Cores) to 7.0000 $ (18 Cores)…

 

I can currently see genuine offers (in my country) of ~1600$ for used 8-Core Xeon with 32GB ram and 1TB ssd, 8GB Vega gpu

 

I don't understand this thread, I tried but it makes no sense at all. You had an M2 MacBook Pro and returned it because of battery life, EMF problems and a small screen?
16 gig of Unified Ram and a 500 gig system drive on even a 13" M2 is a really powerful system. Get a Hub and plug in your peripherals. I'm calling bullshit on this one. I have a 2021 14' MacBook Pro M1 Pro.. the best investment I ever made in a laptop.

 

makes no sense whatsoever - a 2013 Pro is already maxed out at Monterey for MacOS (I know because I have one) so you wont be able to install any future OS without major hacking.

Plus even the 12 core Xeon is about 1/4 the total CPU power of the latest M2 Pro Mac Mini as that's the Pro I have.

 

I really cant understand too, i work alot on M1 mbpro 13" 16 GB 1 TB with a nice hub where i can plug
first TB port: HUB multiconnection with a Gigabit Lan +HDMI 4k screen, 3 usb A 3.0 and much more incl. a connection with a 4 TB pcie ssd and the master converter audiocard (Apogee Symphony Desktop);
second TB port: External Chassis Sonnet SE IIIe with 3x octo uad cards and an Apollo 4x + Apogee Symphony Desktop...
Im looking for M2 pro because an additional TB port is ok for the power dupply...and the 13" display when im out of the studio is really too little for my old eyes!
I can mix heavy sessions without never go over the 50% of the cpu (thnx UAD) and all is fast like hell..the only one problem is the HUB that is hot like a nuclear reactor ;) i guess 4 TB ports are ok...a mini M2 pro should be enought for lot of ppl here...

 

Did you even read the first post? That's the part that makes no sense. OP is complaining about a M2 Macbook pro from Costco. (which I, like others; read the post as a PC user creating a "discussion thread" to watch the ensuing hijinks in the first place). So whats left? A Pro or a Studio, both of which he cannot get new with 1500$. So if going with an Intel, you'd have enough for a second-hand Pro. iMacs and Minis have always both been a step down from the MBP in price and usually in stock performance. Why suggest what is a downgrade in machine from what he took back to the store?

My Macbook Pro is updated to Monterrey and it's nothing special as far as MacOS goes. I had to wait about 2 months for a Motu driver for my 828ES for Monterrey. Catalina breaks the Access Ti2 plugin. So I will be more than happy with my Pro on Mojave with Logic being able to handle ~100 channels of 24 bit audio like it's at idle, for a long time still. I can't fit my Powercore PCIE into my laptop, nor can I run 32bit plugins without any "hacking".

 

Last edited: May 3, 2023

The only thing worth using a Mac nowadays is Logic Pro. I see no other reason honestly.

 

How do Mac owners deal with the limited storage? I'm assuming most people opt out of spending literally $2,000 extra just to get a 4TB SSD or something. But then your only option is using external drives, right? And I'm assuming if you use an external Thunderbolt Drive or USB Drive to install your plugins and libraries on you're kind of losing the advantage a Mac is supposed to give you, right? By advantage I mean the fact that most everything is directly on the chip which minimizes latency and maximizes performance. At least that's what I assume makes Macs attractive. I've never used a Mac or external SSDs before though, so I'm just speculating. But for example, I own East West Hollywood Orchestra which by itself is almost 1TB in size. How do you deal with libraries of that magnitude on a Mac without going insolvent?

 

He's not PC user, he tried to get into Macbook, but can't deal with 13" screen which is understandable, had other issues and is looking for alternative, he's replacing 2017 5K iMac, he's long Mac user that doesn't want to use PC, he doesn't need 64GB of RAM or anything you seek for in machine, you keep pushing your own preferences and he never even expressed any of the concerns you had.

Going from M2 Macbook Pro to M2 Mini isn't step down, it's pretty much same machine in different form, he even wanted to go M1 route as an option, which really isn't, because M2's cost the same, there's no point anymore.

2013 Trashcan isn't stepping up from iMac that he got, he will overload single core even faster, no mater if there's 12 or 24 of them, single core is weaker and he relies heavily on single core, have machine already that got better single core performance than one you suggest and that's pretty much it, rest is just your own preferences that have nothing to do with his thread or what he wants.

He's actually really cool and talented guy that have years of experience behind his back, we stayed in touch and pretty much got deep into all this so he can make informed decision, went over every point that was raised, found actual benchmarks and tests, so it's just not "because I say so" arguments.

 

Think loading library from an external drive is non issue really, everything else is on main drive that actually benefits from being there, doubt anyone will drop essential plugins on external drive, those stuff doesn't take that much space, libraries that do in most cases can go on external one, Omnisphere can, Kontakt too, Logic own stuff and probably others also, so it's kinda non issue in that regard.

 

Last edited: May 4, 2023

And how do you know this? Read above posts stating that the Macbook Pro he bought from Costco with reasons to return it.

Battery life complaint? Plug it into the wall. Small screen? Fold it up, put it into an arc stand; and connect an external monitor.

Electro shock complaint? If true, this is probably some sort of problem outside of the Macbook. It's probably just in the chair. An 8GB Air is a downgrade from a 16GB Macbook pro, no matter how much you wish to validate your purchase. Tell Apple their pricing is wrong, if not.

 

Last edited: May 3, 2023

He's Mac user, so that's the reason he doesn't want PC, he expanded further on everything, why he returned it and so on, it's pretty wild where all this is going, just because he didn't find that Macbook good buy to replace his 2017 iMac, he made a mistake and wants alternative, guy asked for help, he's long time user of this forum and few of the other big ones, he's not here to troll anyone, wants genuine help. Right now he is in process of moving and was in the middle of packing as this thread was opened, but still was active and considered all the suggestions, I'm in touch with him from day 1 and we kept investigating further what are his options.

 

Last edited: May 3, 2023

Prior to the release of the Studio, if you wanted a more powerful Mac than a Macbook Pro, your only real option was the tower Pro.


There is nothing "wrong" with entry level models. But the general rule with any Mac purchase is to buy the most machine you can afford, because they are almost all non-upgradeable after purchase. You will get 5 years of fully supported OS and Applications. By the end of that 5 years, your Mac will be "Slow" again because programmers take advantage of more and more resources as time goes by.

 

Getting the top-of-the-line stuff never pays off because months later the price drops and a new top-of-the-line is released. I think you are right . . . get what's needed and don't look back. Considering that I will use a minimum of tracks and not many plugins . . . . any of the M series will be a huge step up from my i5 2017 iMac.

 

I'm wondering if I could make this work . . .
iMac (4.5K Retina, 24-inch, 2021) - Apple M1 Chip 8-Core CPU, 8-Core GPU - 8GB Memory - 256GB SSD
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Online Price1,449.99$

Less450.00$-

Your Price
999.99$
Shipping & Handling Included*

 

Utterly laughable Bullshit Macbook Pro is a far better option for a laptop in every respect.

Hubs (thunderbolt) Like PC Users.. I have a 500 gig in my Macbook Pro and its fine..

I have a Great Powerd Hub, A thunderbolt Dock and several Hubs all hanging off my Macbook Pro that sits on a laptop stand. I have the Best of both worlds. Powerful enough for my main daw workstation and portable for moving around.

I still don't understand this thread, it's complete BS.

 

Dunno buddy, I could, it's the same thing as my M1 Air, maybe run your most complex project on your current iMac and see where you stand with everything. I did that too and realized I just need CPU boost to avoid freezing few Diva's, but I'm really modest user, right now have 164GB's of internal storage free, still can't max out 8GB's of RAM and still use the same plugins, which are even more optimized for M1, including my DAW, started using them even on max quality and oversampling with whole mixing/mastering chain, everything still in MIDI.

 

if you are looking at bestbuy, that model imac is $200 cheaper with the M1 7 core GPU instead of the 8 core model. It's also 200$ more to double the size of the SSD. 250 gb internal ssd is usable but depending on your plugins, it can require some file administration time pretty quickly. if you have a good external usb drive it won't really matter. it is a $200 upgrade from 8gb to16gb RAM on Apple website; and ~$500 to do the same thing with a Mini.

 

Last edited: May 4, 2023

Again this shit…
Off course you never used a mac in a professional way, with original software and so on…I can add lot of extra things for example one that is for sure a must..the best Apogee converters are only working on mac, i don’t want to spend time on stupid comparison with cpu and os, but there is a reason why all the pro studios in LA NY LONDON and so on are using mac. I will never say honestly to use a pc, but use what you like more to use and feel to be the best for you, in the end for a home hobby is enough a tablet and a decent audio card class compliant.

 

He's mostly complaining about the small screen something which a Pro aint gonna fix either without buying a separate external screen and if he's going that route might as well go for a new M2 mini for much better power than your 12-core Pro.

As for performance - I suggest you check the M2 Geekbench multi-core benchmarks mate because the latest M2 Mini is still quicker (albeit barely) than the 14 inch MBP he took back, although why the $1500 budget when you cant get a MBP for remotely near that is another question so assume he must have had the lowest spec MBP.

https://browser.geekbench.com/mac-benchmarks#multi-core

I personally sold my TI2 Polar the minute I realised Kemper didn't GAF about the Access user base and have no intention of updating the Virus Control, leaving you shortly with a non-integrated synth which was exactly why I bought it, which is not Apple's fault but rather pure laziness from a vendor still selling the synth new knowing they've given up supporting it. I've got my Pro and my MBP on Monterrey - no issues on either other than thats where MacOS ends for the Pro.

32-bit app shit needs leaving in the past where it belongs.

 

Last edited: May 4, 2023