M1 vs M1 Pro vs M1 Max

[huzzam]

Originally Posted by marcnyc

Thank you for all your answers guys.
Pro Tools is the main thing I do so I need PT to work well. I know it does so on M1 but not on M1 Pro/Max. I just hate to buy an M1 when there is already a Pro/Max out there and my biggest concern is going from working on a 14" all the time to a 13", I hate that idea...

I believe the instability people are seeing with the M1 Pro/Max has more to do with the new OS, Monterey, than it does with the new chips. I have an M1 Macbook Air, and on Big Sur (the OS it shipped with), Pro Tools and most plugins were working quite well for me, aside from a few minor graphics glitches. This includes plugs from SoundToys, Arturia, Valhalla, Waves, and Fabfilter, all of which I rely on heavily.



Then one day, being a fool, I upgraded to Monterey, and things have been much less stable, with several plugins failing to load (AIR Instruments especially, can't remember what else) and just general instability.


Unfortunately, the newest machines can only run Monterey, so you can't downgrade them to Big Sur. However, I suspect Avid will support Monterey officially soon, even if it still runs under Rosetta (which seems likely, given the scale of the M1 transition). Historically (the last few years) they've released a December release which brings support for the latest OS.


All this to say: if you don't need absolute stability right now on your new system, you could pick up an M1 Pro now and limp along as Avid & everyone else get their act together, knowing that your experience will continuously improve. Or, you could wait until everyone is reporting all clear, and buy whatever's out then. Or if you decide to pick up an M1, do yourself a favor and don't upgrade to Monterey yet...


~peter in athens

[Ginridge]

Hi all, I've just purchased the 16" MacBook pro with the M1 Max chip and am awaiting arrival in the next few weeks. I realize that this chip is not currently supported by Mac OS, and have an older 2015 MacBook pro running Mohave which I intend to upgrade PTs in and use until Mac and AVID work out all the details. I own the last fully purchased version of Pro tools (PT12.7) and purchased an upgrade license to move to a higher level when the new computer is ready, but need to upgrade on the 2015 in the meantime in order to stay functional until that happens (I've heard a good year). Is there any reason I should NOT upgrade to PT 2021? Sweetwater tech support says it OK, but anytime I upgrade there are unexpected consequences they miss ahead of time. If not PT 2021, what would be a good compatible version w/ Mohave? Thanks!

[Eric Lambert]

Subsequent versions of the M1 architecture have not seen dramatic, practical changes. The M1, yes, but, so far, not the latter editions. As others have pointed out, it's the OS which is tripping people up. Upgrading from Big Sur to Monterey on an M1 is all that's necessary to see these effects. Upgrading from M1 to M1 Max (all else being the same) will feel more imperceptible. M2, 3, 4, X, etc. will be similar in this way since they'll be building upon the same basic concept(s).

[Obsidian Dragon]

Originally Posted by Ginridge

I realize that this chip is not currently supported by Mac OS

I just want to point out that this statement is incorrect. The Apple Silicon chips (M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max) are all supported by MAC OS. Big Sur and Monterey supports the M1. Monterey supports the M1 Pro and M1 Max.

Perhaps you meant to say that Protools is not currently written to run natively on Apple Silicon chips running Mac OS.

[marcnyc]

Originally Posted by huzzam

I believe the instability people are seeing with the M1 Pro/Max has more to do with the new OS, Monterey, than it does with the new chips. I have an M1 Macbook Air, and on Big Sur (the OS it shipped with), Pro Tools and most plugins were working quite well for me, aside from a few minor graphics glitches. This includes plugs from SoundToys, Arturia, Valhalla, Waves, and Fabfilter, all of which I rely on heavily.



Then one day, being a fool, I upgraded to Monterey, and things have been much less stable, with several plugins failing to load (AIR Instruments especially, can't remember what else) and just general instability.


Unfortunately, the newest machines can only run Monterey, so you can't downgrade them to Big Sur. However, I suspect Avid will support Monterey officially soon, even if it still runs under Rosetta (which seems likely, given the scale of the M1 transition). Historically (the last few years) they've released a December release which brings support for the latest OS.


All this to say: if you don't need absolute stability right now on your new system, you could pick up an M1 Pro now and limp along as Avid & everyone else get their act together, knowing that your experience will continuously improve. Or, you could wait until everyone is reporting all clear, and buy whatever's out then. Or if you decide to pick up an M1, do yourself a favor and don't upgrade to Monterey yet...


~peter in athens

Thank you for that answer Hazzam. That’s where I’m at.

[maxcarola]

Hi,
I decided to take a risk and I now have a Macbook Pro M1PRO with 10 core, 16 Gpu and 16Gb ram.
I am successfully running Pro Tools 2021.12 and all tha basic plugins are working fine (vers.21). The plugins that are not working are the version 18, unfortunately. I hope to see an upgrade of those one too.

I didn't try elasti audio yet, but I will post my experience as soon I do.
Waves vers. 12 and 13 working fine, All McDsp V6 ok, All Massey and Plugin Alliance ok, Eventide, Softube and Soundtoys ok. Mostly all plugins are working fine except the vs18 of the avid stuff.

I have occasionally some stop due to slow response of some plugins and ram problems occasionally that can be solved changing the buffer to a different number.

[thin ice]

Originally Posted by maxcarola

Hi,
I decided to take a risk and I now have a Macbook Pro M1PRO with 10 core, 16 Gpu and 16Gb ram.
I am successfully running Pro Tools 2021.12 and all tha basic plugins are working fine (vers.21). The plugins that are not working are the version 18, unfortunately. I hope to see an upgrade of those one too.

I didn't try elasti audio yet, but I will post my experience as soon I do.
Waves vers. 12 and 13 working fine, All McDsp V6 ok, All Massey and Plugin Alliance ok, Eventide, Softube and Soundtoys ok. Mostly all plugins are working fine except the vs18 of the avid stuff.

I have occasionally some stop due to slow response of some plugins and ram problems occasionally that can be solved changing the buffer to a different number.

I have just come from a very similar HD3 system you list in your signature. Now I am using a Mac Mini M1 along side the old Pro Tools setup. It was a 2nd hand machine just to see how it performs and I intend to move to either a 27 iMac when they come out, or a more powerful Mac Mini.

The M1 came with Monterey, so I thought I'd build that OS and see what happens. I am only mixing at present, but it seems at least as stable as PT9HD over 3 weeks.

Comparing some large sessions with 140 tracks at 88.2k that were on the edge with the old Mac Pro and 3 cards, it easily runs them. Of course I have a few plugins that are not present, which are mainly the Avid reverbs and compressors from the Complete Bundle.

This might not be perfect just yet, but it shows you what the new Silicon Macs can do and I don't what to go back.