Has anyone tried out the 2015 Macbook?

[KrisHeinold]

Looking to purchase a smaller screen laptop for easy travel. Currently have a 15inch macbook pro. Was wondering if anyone has gotten their hands on the 2015 (new) Macbook. I don't record on my laptop really anymore besides here and there in live situations. If anyone has gotten their hands on one, have you tested pro tools on it? I would just be doing firewire recordings off of a sc48 so it wouldn't have to handle anything too extreme.

[nst7]

I don't know if this would work, as it may not be powerful enough, and these new M Processors may or may not be compatible with Protools. Also, there is no USB-C to Firewire adapter, only to USB.

You may be better off getting a 13" Macbook Pro if you want something smaller.

[KrisHeinold]

Originally Posted by nst7

I don't know if this would work, as it may not be powerful enough, and these new M Processors may or may not be compatible with Protools. Also, there is no USB-C to Firewire adapter, only to USB.

You may be better off getting a 13" Macbook Pro if you want something smaller.

Yeah you may be right. I started searching the different adapters i would need to make it work and there aren't many, or, too many would have to be used. I did see some dock solutions that have multiple inputs so that may be an option.

[Sardi]

I have an 11' MBA that I bought solely for DJ use. I ended up installing PT11 on it just to play around and I was quite surprised how well it performed. You can't get much on the screen, but if you can deal with that it works great.

What a lot of people forget is that these current low end laptops are FAR more powerful than the the original C2D MacBooks/laptops and I (and others) have done lots of work on those in the past.

Just don't expect to run a lot of modern CPU intensive plugins. But, you'll be fine tracking/mixing a session on it - screen real estate aside.

[KrisHeinold]

Originally Posted by Sardi

I have an 11' MBA that I bought solely for DJ use. I ended up installing PT11 on it just to play around and I was quite surprised how well it performed. You can't get much on the screen, but if you can deal with that it works great.

What a lot of people forget is that these current low end laptops are FAR more powerful than the the original C2D MacBooks/laptops and I (and others) have done lots of work on those in the past.

Just don't expect to run a lot of modern CPU intensive plugins. But, you'll be fine tracking/mixing a session on it - screen real estate aside.

Awesome thanks for the input. I wouldn't ever really mix anything on it, just use it as a board tape recorder and/or virtual sound check. The only concern of mine would be the chips throttling when the laptop gets warmer. But the max track count would be 32 tracks (thats all you can record at once over firewire)

[Sardi]

I've never tracked that many channels on mine, but here's a tip.

Apple offer a 14 day no questions asked refund. Buy the machine (and a TB - FW converter) bring it home and put it through it's paces for a week. If it performs well, keep it. If not, return it.

I actually did this with my MBA as I wasn't sure how it would hold up. Ended up returning it and getting a refurb that was a bit cheaper. Either way, Apple still got my money!

[KrisHeinold]

Originally Posted by Sardi

I've never tracked that many channels on mine, but here's a tip.

Apple offer a 14 day no questions asked refund. Buy the machine (and a TB - FW converter) bring it home and put it through it's paces for a week. If it performs well, keep it. If not, return it.

I actually did this with my MBA as I wasn't sure how it would hold up. Ended up returning it and getting a refurb that was a bit cheaper. Either way, Apple still got my money!

Yeah that isn't a bad idea. One way or the other apple will get my money haha! I'm surprised there hasn't been more talk about the macbook, but i guess the smaller processor has really scared people away from it.