M2 Thoughts?

[Darryl Ramm]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

I've always opted for the MBP over the Air because it brought something I felt was necessary, but looking at these new Airs I don't think I can justify the MBP any longer.

MKBHD would agree with that. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjGMeMrH73I Apple seems to have a weird overlapping lineup here.

But even with 24GB RAM I'd be careful wanting an Air for serious use, and a long life.

Single external monitor, no cooling fan, limited internal SSD vs higher end MacBook Pro might make or break things for some folks... still don't understand what the low-end MBP is really there for now. I kinda am guessing the MBP product line was/is supposed to be getting an M3 at some time, but that got messed up.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by Darryl Ramm

But even with 24GB RAM I'd be careful wanting an Air for serious use, and a long life.

I've never had more than 16GB in a laptop and never felt constricted, but I don't use laptops for heavy audio or video work as some do. For a portable PT rig I suppose I'd look at this differently and perhaps the Air wouldn't be the best fit.

[inf0l]

Take the following with a grain of salt, as it’s only an unverified rumor from a couple of analysts:

Yes, there are supply chain issues, and the way Apple is (supposedly) tackling it is by keeping base models on the current 5(P)nm manufacturing node whereas higher end models (being a smaller percentage of total units) will be using TSMCs 3nm process.

For iPhones:
Non-Pro will stay on 5nm (A15+?)
Pro will be 3nm (A16)

Macs:
M2 stays on 5nm
M2Pro/Max/Ultra will be 3nm (with whatever new IP comes with A16)

I guess we’ll see once they are released…

[Phil O'Keefe]

Originally Posted by Eric Lambert

I've always opted for the MBP over the Air because it brought something I felt was necessary, but looking at these new Airs I don't think I can justify the MBP any longer.

For my needs, the M1 Air has been working out just fine, but it’s not my main audio computer - I just wanted something that would let me do occasional basic editing on the go, and that I could use to track a live gig if I wanted to. It’s fine for that. If I was using it as my main audio computer, I’d want a 16” Pro or Max instead. The entry model 13” MacBook Pro really doesn’t make much sense to me… I’d rather have an Air.

The M2 is about what I was expecting - an incremental improvement and not a revolutionary one. Will the M2 serve as the building block for the M2 Pro, Max, and Ultra? I suspect so, but maybe they will do the 3nm versions for the Pro, Max, an Ultra instead, which would be nice. Time will tell, but the former makes more sense to me than the later, based on the way Apple did things with the M1 architecture. That may be a disappointment for the people who are waiting for the rumored Mac Pro, but even if it doesn’t get the 3nm SoC, I’m sure Apple has something in mind that will make the next Pro even more impressive than the Mac Studio. I guess we’ll find out this fall.

At any rate, I’m glad I didn’t wait for the M2 Air.

[tonejunkee]

Waiting for the M3 Air, 15 inch with silicon-native-everything. silent, cool and light






..

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by tonejunkee

with silicon-native-everything

If you're referring to software, that's going to be a long wait at the pace we're seeing.

[K Roche]

So here is a video with some leaked performance tests for the current 5 nm M2 chip

https://youtu.be/hawCmzxnIK8.


In this video he explains why he thinks the next generation of 14" and 16 " MBP's Probably spring 2023 will feature a 3 nm chip

https://youtu.be/-AnLVFt7mvA


I think the real question is will we see a new Mac Pro by the end of this year as originally promised ,, and if so what chip/s will it feature ?????

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by K Roche

So here is a video with some leaked performance tests for the current 5 nm M2 chip

https://youtu.be/hawCmzxnIK8.


In this video he explains why he thinks the next generation of 14" and 16 " MBP's Probably spring 2023 will feature a 3 nm chip

https://youtu.be/-AnLVFt7mvA


I think the real question is will we see a new Mac Pro by the end of this year as originally promised ,, and if so what chip/s will it feature ?????

That's a great question. I bet they won't release new MacPros until there's something exciting inside. These current M2s don't appear to be that thing, but 3nm M3s would be.

[TurboD]

I have had a Mac Studio for a couple of months now (ordered as soon as the store went live after the WWDC announcement). It's the baseline M1 Max with 32GB RAM and 1TB HDD and it's been a beast of a machine so far. With more M1-compatible plugs getting released every day it's becoming a joy to work on, even with Pro Tools being insanely laggard with their M1 native support themselves.

I wonder how long it's going to take before we really don't need any more power. It's surely not too far away until we can record everything we want at 2x sample rates and process everything quickly the way we want.

[Eric Lambert]

Originally Posted by TurboD

I wonder how long it's going to take before we really don't need any more power. It's surely not too far away until we can record everything we want at 2x sample rates and process everything quickly the way we want.

I sure hope you're right about that. It seems like whenever we get screaming fast new computers, developers quickly find ways to eat all that power. I've been saying "this will last me!" for several decades. I'm still mad that my 32 MB SampleCell cards are no longer adequate.

Joking aside, I have noticed that piano libraries have more or less peaked when it comes to file size. They're massive, but only growing in small steps, and those steps aren't adding a whole lot. The latest/greatest library I bought was actually slightly smaller than the previous "best" that I had.

So... maybe we're beginning to reach that point afterall.