MacBook Pro 14 buying advice - music production/photography

[Sunshower]

Hi all!

I am currently looking at picking up one of the new stock model 14" MacBook Pros and wondered which would be best for my needs. (I need a stock model as I am paying for it monthly on 0% finance and these are the only two available beyond speccing up some very expensive 16 inch model). I can afford both monthly payments, but the possibility to save monthly outgoings (£20pm) would of course be a big help.

My use: I am a hobbyist music producer (Ableton), using a mixture of plugins and live audio instruments - no crazy orchestral suites or huge projects, but the headroom would be nice. I also edit photos on the side in PS/LR, and play some lighter games but nothing too crazy.

My current laptop is a 13" 2015 MacBook Pro, 16GB RAM, 512 SSD, Dual Core 2.9 i5 - it was good for about 2 years and then I started hitting the limits of the processor - My main bottleneck has been the dual core CPU, with the RAM being enough and the SSD being tight, but manageable. It's knackered now and needs an upgrade.

I am settled on the 14" form factor - the size and weight are pretty much identical to my current laptop which I find just right, but the added inch to the screen is bonus when making music. I could save money and buy a MacBook Air outright and probably be okay, but the ports, screen, power, audio etc on the 14" all add up to being worthwhile.

I imagine the 8/14/16GB/512SSD base model would be more than enough for the next 2-3 years and would be a huge step up from my current laptop. But, I like to hold only my computers for around 5 years if possible, and the 10 core CPU and 1TB SSD would likely future-proof my investment (the extra 2 GPU cores are likely unnecessary but come as part of the stock model.) My thinking about getting the 10/16/16GB/1TB model is I would be spending £500 extra over two years, which is a lot of money based on my income and I could still reach its limits at some point. I know too that the 8/14 has slightly better battery life, lower fan speeds and temperatures - all which I would appreciate.

(I am aware of the new MacBook/MacBook Air M2 coming sometime next year, and a possible 14 inch M2 MacBook Pro which would likely both work well, but we have no firm date on their release, and I need a new computer ASAP)

Any comments beyond the poll would be much appreciated too - thanks!

 

[Dj OnE-Chuck]

It’s always a tough decision to buy a computer that we want to keep for more than a few years. Both configuration should be fine for a few years. Do you think your income will be higher in 2-3 years? If so, maybe buy the 8 core, enjoy it!

In 2-3 years, this laptop will probably have a good value. You could sell it and go banana with what would probably be the 2nd or 3rd version of these MacBook Pro.

But in the end, I don’t think you‘ll make a mistake buying either configuration.

 

[lclev]

I too think you won't go wrong with either configuration. For what you do and what you were working with you will see a huge performance increase. IMO - I would go for the M1 Pro 10/16/16GB/1TB if you want to future proof for more than 2-3 years. If not go for the M1 Pro 8/14/16GB/512GB.

I have the 14" M1 max 10/32/64GB/1TB. I do a lot of video editing mostly HD but 4K is becoming more prevalent and I wanted to future proof.

 

[wilberforce]

I also had a 2015 13” MPB, and now have a base 14”.
The 14” is so much more powerful and faster than the 2015 13”, in comparison I doubt the 10 core will make much difference vs the 8 core.
The main difference is 512GB vs 1 TB SSD. Only you can decide if you will need or want more internal storage. Remember not to fill an SSD more than about 90% - else it will slow down and not have the extra space for caching and swaps.
I think people often spend way too much on ”future-proofing” - which is impossible anyway, and has a very low long-term return on the amount spent. It probably should be called future-hoping. Just don’t skimp on upgrades that you are pretty sure you are going to need soon.

It is unfortunate you cannot finance the base 14” with 1 TB SSD, because that clearly is the most cost-effective build that meets your needs.

 

[3SQ Machine]

I use my 16" M1 PRO for Logic. It's great. No extra RAM beyond 16gb needed (and I came from 24gb). This is only thanks to Apple Silicon as Intel RAM requirements are larger. Did notice a few spiking cores with some plugins, but if you're running a '15 you're probably already good at learning how to reroute your plugins if needed.

Since I don't use Ableton, you should probably check Gearslutz or some music-specific forums to make sure your RAM requirements will be OK, or for any other issues. It looks like Ableton is optimized for Apple Silicon, which is a huge plus -- BUT some of your plugins may need emulation which could hit performance.

Since Logic is native Apple Silicon, RAM issues are less important for me and my needs. I also didn't need 1TB because I only need 100GB local and run external NVME SSD with on-demand cloud access to my entire project library if needed. However, in hindsight I probably would have spent the $200 for double the headroom--it's a really fast internal SSD.

 

[Fishrrman]

For audio production, I reckon the base model will do just fine.

BUT...

Do you KNOW that all your current audio apps and plugins are compatible with both the m-series CPUs AND OS Monterey???

A common problem with the audio production segment is one buys a new Mac and discovers that one's existing apps/plugins won't run on it...

 

[SHKLMRE]

my first MacBook Pro was 256gb. I had it for 5 years. Next one (2018 15”) was a 513gb. I had it for 3 years. I had about 50gb free by the time I was done with it. I do video and photo editing myself, so of course I use external storage but I like keeping recent files local. I just got a new 16” and originally bought the 512gb version, but after transferring all of my files it didn’t make sense for me to only have 50gb free on a brand new laptop that cost over $2k. So I went and got a 1tb version. For me, having the extra internal space is great so I don’t have to worry about plugging in my external every day.

It also seems that I’ve doubling storage for every laptop I go, so I am very happy with the extra space.

 

[Sunshower]

For audio production, I reckon the base model will do just fine.

BUT...

Do you KNOW that all your current audio apps and plugins are compatible with both the m-series CPUs AND OS Monterey???

A common problem with the audio production segment is one buys a new Mac and discovers that one's existing apps/plugins won't run on it...

Thanks - I do know which plugins work so should be okay.

 

[Sunshower]

I also had a 2015 13” MPB, and now have a base 14”.
The 14” is so much more powerful and faster than the 2015 13”, in comparison I doubt the 10 core will make much difference vs the 8 core.
The main difference is 512GB vs 1 TB SSD. Only you can decide if you will need or want more internal storage. Remember not to fill an SSD more than about 90% - else it will slow down and not have the extra space for caching and swaps.
I think people often spend way too much on ”future-proofing” - which is impossible anyway, and has a very low long-term return on the amount spent. It probably should be called future-hoping. Just don’t skimp on upgrades that you are pretty sure you are going to need soon.

It is unfortunate you cannot finance the base 14” with 1 TB SSD, because that clearly is the most cost-effective build that meets your needs.

This is very true - the 8/14/16/1TB would be my ideal build but I’ve struggled to save enough to buy it outright and have been without a useable rig for a long while now - frustrating how Apple configures it’s stock models, but I’m sure it’s smart for profit.

 

[kp98077]

never!! buy the most expensive house on the block

 

[Sunshower]

Thanks everyone for their responses! I am now working on my new MBP 14, 8/14/16/512 base model I bought outright for £1,500 with VAT discount. Seemed smarter to buy something I could actually afford rather than add an extra monthly payment to my outgoings. Decided too that as 512SSD is more than enough now I can always get an external SSD in a few years if necessary. I set this one up from a clean install so it's running as new.

It's quite an incredible upgrade over my 2015 for those interested and well worth what I paid. The full sticker price of £1,900/$2,000 is a hard pill to swallow for this spec but if you can get it between £1,500-£1,700 I think it's a nice sweet spot.

 

[kp98077]

Will the 10 core drain battery quicker or run hotter? Anyone know?