Deciding on Computer Upgrade Path...

[JFreak]

Talking about performance of non-sample-based plugins. It seems the design of Apple Silicon is good for realtime performance, but of course if your sample library is 50GB then it is 50GB, nothing is gonna change that


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[arche3]

Apple can shrink your sample library by half. The half that disappeared is under the bed of the apple fanboys

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[JFreak]

Originally Posted by arche3

Apple can shrink your sample library by half. The half that disappeared is under the bed of the apple fanboys

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Where i the handpalm emoji

Years back good VI's like Synthogy Ivory had (and still have) about 50GB sample library but can operate on 4GB memory because their sample caching has been developed cleverly. Now that 128GB memory is not out of this world, VI's are not needed to optimise for memory use. So that is the problem right now. If a VI needs 16GB memory to operate, 8GB hardware is not going to fly.

So we need to wait either more optimized VI plugins or more memory on Apple hardware. Not very hard to guess which comes first...

[Sparky1]

Originally Posted by The Weed

AFAIK, no Mac can be backdated to an OS that is before the OS it shipped with. So if you purchase a new Mac today and your software needs an older OS than what it comes with, you're out of luck. The only time that isn't true is if you purchase a refurbished Mac, which may come with a newer OS than originally, then you could backdate the OS, but only as far as the original OS it came with.

I thought I was reading that the Intel based MacBook Pro's could still load Catalina and possibly Mojave...?

Do you know if this is true for these?

I know that the M1's won't accept older OS versions...


Thanks,


Sparky

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Sparky1

I thought I was reading that the Intel based MacBook Pro's could still load Catalina and possibly Mojave...?

Do you know if this is true for these?

I know that the M1's won't accept older Os versions...

With every Apple hardware the oldest OS version you can install is the one when the model was introduced. Just do yourself a favor and go to everymac.com which have all the specs you need.

[Sparky1]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Hmmm, you do have some things to consider:
1-Do you really need to use a laptop? Choosing a desktop will likely give you more power for less money.

Are you referring to the iMacs? The Mac Pro's are serious $$$$$

Originally Posted by albee1952

2-If you buy a new computer for recording, why not dedicate the new machine to ONLY recording and use the old laptop for everything else. That would allow you to keep the audio computer "lean and mean".

Food for thought

Yeah - I've kinda pondered this option... though my dilemma would still remain - and new 16" Intel with 64 GB ram or an M1...


Sparky

[Sparky1]

Originally Posted by JFreak

With every Apple hardware the oldest OS version you can install is the one when the model was introduced. Just do yourself a favor and go to everymac.com which have all the specs you need.

Thanks for the site - will check it out...


Sparky

[hurdy gurdy]

Originally Posted by albee1952

Hmmm, you do have some things to consider:
1-Do you really need to use a laptop? Choosing a desktop will likely give you more power for less money.
2-If you buy a new computer for recording, why not dedicate the new machine to ONLY recording and use the old laptop for everything else. That would allow you to keep the audio computer "lean and mean".

Food for thought

That's sort of what I did a bit ago. 2018 Mac Mini lean and mean frozen with Mojave/PT. 2018.7 (another drive Catalina/PT. 2020.11). Then a '17 MacBook for everything else (some audio too ). M1's are/will be great but I'm going to wait until more audio compatibility. As mentioned yes, Mac's now difficult to no go backward compatible other than the OS it originally came with and on up.

Seasons Greetings!

Leonard

[Sparky1]

So... doing more research - it turns out that the current 16" MacBook Pro's were originally shipped with Catalina....

Big Sur is loaded as the current OS - which apparently means I can at least load Catalina

This will only work until the next MacBook Pro update - which people are expecting int Q1 of 2021

So that kinda answers my question... New MacBook Pro it is...

Sparky

[Stephen Bond]

Apple silicon is clearly the future. Compatibility is the issue. I, like others thought it would take years, especially considering many plugins aren't Catalina ready yet

However, to see M1 systems running (unsupported) Pro Tools and Waves and other plugins already at a blistering pace makes me think it really shouldn't take too long.

There's a good few venerable plugins I don't wish to loose but the promise of Apple silicon is so good that I'm willing to sacrifice a few casualties along the way, just as I had to before coming from TDM to RTAS only.

I'd keep an old system on hand just in case you really need to access something which becomes 'legacy'.

Stephen