Pro Tools on an M2 MacBook Air

[smokeydan]

I'm trying to decide between an M1 MacBook Air - which is qualified - and the newer M2 Air - which several articles suggest should be good but I don't think any of the authors have actually used it with Pro Tools and it isn't officially qualified yet - Does anyone here have actual experience running Pro Tools on an M2 MacBook Air? Any issues?

Many Thanks

Dan

[JFreak]

Probably no. I have been waiting for my fully loaded M2 air since the launch day, and now it seems I may have it next week.

M1/M2 difference is very subtle. One good point is M1 models have better storage performance than M2 256GB and 1TB capacities. Another being M2 memory maxing at 24GB and M1 maxing at 16GB.

[thin ice]

Originally Posted by JFreak

One good point is M1 models have better storage performance than M2 256GB and 1TB capacities.

Is this true? I thought it was just the 256GB internal drive that had a compromised speed to watch for.

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by thin ice

Is this true? I thought it was just the 256GB internal drive that had a compromised speed to watch for.

Yes. 256GB and 1TB are single chip, 512GB and 2TB are double chip.

[Teej]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Yes. 256GB and 1TB are single chip, 512GB and 2TB are double chip.

What is the source for this? I can find references to the 256GB model, but I have never heard the claim the 1TB model has slow performance relative to the 512GB/2TB SKUs.

Thanks

[JFreak]

Google didn't find me the source I am referring to, but Apple only uses 256 and 1024 GB chips and motherboard has room for two. Do the math.

[thin ice]

It's not possible to post the link, but there is a conversation on reddit with a speed test attached. Quite poor that Apple would sell an upgrade that detracts from performance.

[Teej]

Originally Posted by JFreak

Google didn't find me the source I am referring to, but Apple only uses 256 and 1024 GB chips and motherboard has room for two. Do the math.

Math is great, I'm looking for the source that proves Apple only uses 256GB and 1024GB chips. There is plenty of evidence of the former, I haven't seen any evidence of the latter yet. I asked for evidence, the reply was evasiveness and a vague insult.

Originally Posted by thin ice

It's not possible to post the link, but there is a conversation on reddit with a speed test attached. Quite poor that Apple would sell an upgrade that detracts from performance.

Speed test is a roundabout way of determining the number of chips used. Simply look at the logic board and see, are there two flash modules or one?

This, in combination with a speed test, will determine if a) there are one or two chips used and b) if there is an impact on performance.

We know from visual inspection and from speed tests that the 256GB M2 models use single SSD chips and are speed-compromised. It's not unreasonable to ask the claims relating to the 1TB models to be backed up with the same standard of evidence. Otherwise it's "trust me bro."

[Teej]

I've also found the reddit thread, which contains rebuttals from people showing full expected performance figures from 1TB M2 models.

A speedtest alone is not enough, all that shows is performance is reduced. Without visual confirmation there is only one flash module, it's pure speculation as to why the speeds are so slow on that particular machine.

So far you guys are going to have to provide much better evidence, because I can also provide you with evidence to the same standard. I saw a screenshot someone posted showing full expected speed on a 1TB M2 model. There's my evidence. Trust me bros.

One side is wrong, and none of us have provided enough evidence to say one way or the other.

[thin ice]

I'm not really trying to prove anything, but just a wary customer not wanting to be caught out on a new machine in the future. I was surprised when I read the claim the 1tb machine could be worse than a 512.

It is an odd situation, that simply opting for a different size hard drive would impact on the machines performance. The swap memory function adds quite a bit of performance too when RAM size is limited on some models.