Do you have any experience running Pro Tools on MacBook Pro 2015 retina?

[mogan]

I have never owned a MacBook Pro, now I am planning to buy one. The specs are Pro.2.2 Ghz, 16 Gb RAM, Intel Iris Pro, 256 Gb, 15.4" , retina...etc

I work with Pro Tools 9, maybe someday I will upgrade.

Does Pro Tools run correctly on a MacBook Pro 2015 retina?

Is Intel Iris Pro compatible?

[Darryl Ramm]

The one thing you don't mention is what will kill this.

The OS X version on that MBP is not compatible with Pro Tools 9.

If you need to run on that MBP you will likely want to upgrade to Pro Tools 12.

Given how fast the internal PCIe SSD is in the current MBP I would max that drive out to 1TB, and hopefully avoid needing external drives.

[mogan]

Thanks Darryl

Regarding the OS, I got this from Avid Site:

PT 9.0.6 - 10.6.x (Snow Leopard), 10.7-10.7.4 (Lion)

PT 9.0.5 - 10.6.X (Fully Qualified), 10.7 (Public Beta)

PT 9.0-9.0.3 - 10.6.x (Snow Leopard)

PT 9.0 and 9.0.1 - 10.6.2-10.6.6

So, yes, I could upgrade to Pro Tools 11 or 12, or downgrade from Yosemite to Snow Leopard to stay with Pro Tools 9 (if it´s possible)

Now, let´s say the OS issue is solved, do you know if Pro Tools (9,10, 11 or 12) runs fine on MacBook Pro 2015 retina ? Sorry to insist, but I need you to confirm this, it´s a lot of money.

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by mogan

Thanks Darryl

/snip/

Now, let´s say the OS issue is solved, do you know if Pro Tools (9,10, 11 or 12) runs fine on MacBook Pro 2015 retina ? Sorry to insist, but I need you to confirm this, it´s a lot of money.

I know what you are hoping to do _will not work_.

You cannot downgrade this MBP to get what you need. I'm described to you exactly what your problem is going to be. Oh lets ignore that and think of other things...

The MBP is a great platform for Pro Tools, assuming you have sized the system/configured it suitably for what you want to do... which we cannot guess. But understanding compatibility start with software compatibility, including OS and all your plugins and your interfaces/drivers. You cannot just ignore that stuff or just guess you can fix it by downgrading OS X versions.... not unless you check and *know* you can do that downgrade (in this case you cannot).

So your question to yourself should be how much work will it take you to upgrade to Pro Tools 12 and the computer. Are all your plugins compatible? Can you test that now (with a demo of Pro Tools 12 on a different computer, etc.). How do you de-risk all that upgrade/computer migration (don't do it in the middle of a project...). If you want useful help from others on DUC about sizing a computer for Pro Tools then you really need to provide information about your sessions/workloads, sample rates, # tracks, plugins used, what interface you use, whether you are working with video, how heavy VI workloads etc. Otherwise any comments about the suitability of a computer for what you want to do with Pro Tools are pretty useless (beyond that a MBP Retina often is/might be a great Pro Tools computer).

[mogan]

I see, I will upgrade as you say.

As this new MBP retina is not approved by Avid, I wanted to know if it will work, now I know, thanks to you, Pro Tools 12 will/should run fine on it.

Even though, it´s surprising nobody seems to own both.

Thanks again Darryl

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by mogan

I see, I will upgrade as you say.

As this new MBP retina is not approved by Avid, I wanted to know if it will work, now I know, thanks to you, Pro Tools 12 will/should run fine on it.

Even though, it´s surprising nobody seems to own both.

Thanks again Darryl

Many people do use Pro Tools 12 on current and near current MBPr. MBPr is a very common platform for Pro Tools if there were major issues you would see folks here rightly screaming about it.

Avid does not do a good job keeping their supported platform information up to date. It is unfortunate, but I suspect they have other problems that many folks here would rather they work on... like fixing know bugs/stability issues.

Given how the MBPr hardware is not really user upgradeable I would tend to max out any system. Especially that super-fast SSD as already mentioned. I'd also go for the fastest clock CPU, it all adds money (you are looking at over $3k) but the end result is a MBPr that will may be much more usable and last you a year or more longer. Buying an user upgradable PC I'd be much more conservative on initial configurations.

[mogan]

My knowledge on computers is average, when you say "fastest clock CPU", do you mean getting, for example, 2.5 Ghz instead of 2.2 Ghz?

Can you say how many RPM is super-fast SSD?

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by mogan

My knowledge on computers is average, when you say "fastest clock CPU", do you mean getting, for example, 2.5 Ghz instead of 2.2 Ghz?

Can you say how many RPM is super-fast SSD?

The fastest is the fastest, for current MBPr that is 2.8 GHz/4 GHz (turbo Boost). Just go into the online Apple store and configure the MBPr and pick the fastest options there. Configuring a custom built Mac thorough the Apple online store will get you all the options that a retail Apple store or reseller will not have. Again the reason to max these systems out is they are closed non-upgradeable and already expensive, so the question is it worth throwing more money into something already expensive or not.... for me it would be, and I'd need things like maximum 3D graphics performance for other reasons.

SSDs don't spin, that is the "Solid" part in Solid State Disk (SSD). The PCIe SSD in the MBPr is connected by multiple PCIe lanes that are all much faster than the SATA III (6 Gbps) interconnect used in most other laptops HDD or SSD. You end up with sequential IO read performance over 1.2 GB/sec (1,200 MB/sec) compared to the sequential IO of ~200 MB/sec for a 7,200 rpm laptop HDD. The increase in random IO performance is even more spectacular (but all good SSDs have realtively great random IO performance). It is just night and day, the only way you get close to the internal SSD performance of the MBPr standard SSD is with external Thunderbolt PCIe based SSDs like the ~$1,000 1TB Lacie Little Big Disk Thunderbolt 2. So like I said, max out that drive to 1TB... a DAW is all about getting audio on disk, with this internal SSD most users are able to avoid needing an external audio/session drive for Pro Tools.

[VRW]

Basically Darryl has covered it all, as usual.
Just wanted to bring in my personal experience additionally.

I changed my music recording system about 4 months ago and bought a 2014/15 MacBook Pro Retina 2,5GHz i7, 16GB Ram,
512GB Flash drive for the use with PT11/12.
I would have loved to get the most powerful variant which was what Darryl has suggested previously but I was quite limited
by my budget and I found a pretty good offer in the store I used to buy all my Apple stuff from.

So I went for it which was the basic configuration of the strongest available 2014/15 MBP... the 2,5GHz, 16GB Ram, 512GB SSD
and I have to say although the custom built 2,8GHz, 1TB SSD would be great to have, the basic model does a wonderful job with PT12.

Because I have a lot stuff to store (samples, programs, old PT+Logic sessions, tons of audio etc.) I additionally bought an external 3TB
7200rpm HHD with Thunderbolt/USB3 connection for $299.- which has been really useful too so far.
I can use the internal, superfast 512GB Ram Flash drive to record to (this does work perfectly) if I want and have all other stuff on my
external but even to record to the 7200rpm HDD (via Thunderbolt) works flawlessly. So with a limited budget this is not a bad solution finally.

What I wanted to say was that you can use the basic 2,5GHz i7, 16GB Ram, 512GB SSD for any Pro Tools 12 work as well, it will work
flawlessly, given you are limited by your budget like I was and even if you will need some extra stuff (like my external for example whatever),
you will be able to stay below $3k yet getting a really powerful, professional PT12 system.

On the other hand if you are not that limited money-wise simply get that custom built variant with the 2,8GHz i7, 16GB Ram, 1TB Flash drive
Darryl has suggested already because this is the most powerful MBP you can buy at the moment and you never will run into any power issues
using PT with it anymore for sure.

This is the basic 2014/15 MBP i7 model and you will see you will be able to customize it to 2,8GHz, 1TB SSD yourself. The basic model will be
$2499.-, the custom built unit will be $3199.-
http://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/ma.../A&step=config

It´s not that much of a difference, so again, if you can afford it, get the 2,8GHz but in the case you would be limited by your budget, there´s
no need to worry as the basic 2,5GHz, 512GB Flash drive will do a great job with PT12 as well.

Btw this was the external I got additionally. Would have preferred a SSD but needed a lot storage space and got a limited budget, so this was a
reasonable solution for me personally. It performs pretty decent with PT12 though, no issues at all.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Lacie/9000492U/

Whichever variant you decide to go for, make sure to use the latest, fully updated version of Mac OSX Yosemite and the latest update of Pro Tools
12 and you will be good to go. Further don´t forget to do all the optimization stuff before installing Pro Tools and make sure your audio interface
does work well with all the stuff as well (check the compatibility/system requirements and get the latest driver).

Pro Tools optimizations for OSX Yosemite.
http://avid.force.com/pkb/articles/t...Optimize-10-10

The very best of success to you, VRW

[mogan]

Darryl and VRW, your posts are really useful, I have so much to learn about the Mac world.

Yes, my budged is really limited, VRM option is closer to my possibilities, although the MBP I mentioned is 2.2 Ghz instead of 2.5 Ghz, I will see If I can afford the latter.

I will buy an external HD or SSD to record to and let the internal one for programs.

I believe an external one is better than creating a partion, isn´t it?