Aug 16, 2018 - Today we're looking for the best computer for music production and recording. Three most popular software out there right now in Pro Tools, Ableton and Logic. One of the best laptops for making music if you want a Mac.
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I'm looking to buy a new laptop to use with Ableton and can't seem to figure out wether to buy windows or mac. At the moment I'm using an iMac Desktop computer (i5, 16GB, 250SSD) and I already know the specs I'm hoping for in a laptop (Quad Core i7, 16GB Ram, at least 500SSD). I'm also using an Apogee Duet and would preferably like a Laptop that has both USB-A and USB-C so I can use my Push 2 and other midi controllers. My main questions are. Will using a Mac desktop computer and a Windows laptop cause any potential problems? And is it smarter to build a Windows laptop with these specs and save $1500, or to just spend the $4000 on the later model MacBook Pro that has these specs? Does producing music on a Mac make much of a difference compared to a PC?
To me, using Ableton on Windows or Mac didn't make a difference. The latency with a Fireface UCX was a bit better on the Mac. What I'd be careful with is the thermal design of the laptop, in particular if it is small and light.
The question is if cooling is sufficient to allow sustained maximum CPU performance. You don't want thermal throtteling to kick in, as this causes cracks and stuttering in the audio.
Manufacturers don't explain the thermal design in their specs, so you either need to find a review during which thermal design has been tested, or test yourself. And be aware of the influence of the ambient temperature.
I am generally anti Mac. However my Windows laptops would always drop their usb connection and be unable to reconnect without switching Ableton off and on. I have had a Mac Book Pro 2013 for about 5 years and had zero problems. Works the same everytime.
Just as fast as it ever was. Battery still great.
Since the price hike I was seriously considering going back to windows. But my kids all have windows laptops and I am forever troubleshooting. So when the time comes. I think I will probably shell out the big money for a new MBPro. My MacBook Pro has lasted 5 years, was pretty fantastic, and is still going strong.
Now I recently built a desktop windows computer, I think it’s a lot better but I’m also gaming on that computer. Mac seemed to limit me personally, but I never got a virus or anything on that laptop. Windows I’ve had some problems but nothing I couldn’t fix with a general knowledge of computers and google/ableton support. Ableton crashed on my Mac quite a bit, but that could be due to the plugins I was using, and the fact that it was 5 years old. Both will treat you well, but I built a super powerful desktop pc way cheaper than getting a new MacBook Pro, and way more powerful.
I haven’t used ableton on windows enough to know anything about crashing, but so far I haven’t had a single problem with crashes (Had an index issue but that was a super easy fix). Plus the sound card I got makes everything sound pristine.
That’s just my experience though, I’m sure everyone has their own, and I would take into value everyone’s opinion. I just made the switch from a 15” mbp 2012 retina to a 15” surface book 2. My main concern when I move machines is never hardware related so much as it is workflow related. With a touchscreen and a third party app called my toolbar, I’ve been able to drastically improve my workflow via touchscreen shortcuts. So things like cut, paste, insert time, insert midi clip, duplicate, etc etc which would have taken me 2-3 buttons now takes me one tap. So until Mac comes out with a touchscreen laptop I’m very firmly sticking to windows.
Still hate the OS though. For me, using ableton is the same on both.
You pick a mac for the superior (in my eyes) OS. Some things come with that, like in my experience easier/better screen recording. I'm missing a few (free) Variety of Sound plugins from my Windows days. The mac will be more expensive, but the type of USB port and such I think should not take much thought in your decision process. No, music making is pretty much the same. It's everything else that tends to suck on Windows. Ok managing iTunes' library is unclear to me sometimes but what the heck.