Upgrading to a Macbook Pro

Want to talk about music hardware or software that doesn't include Reason?
Post Reply
kajito
Posts: 48
Joined: 27 Feb 2018
Location: SALT LAKE CITY UTAH USA
Contact:

27 May 2023

Hiya,

I'm about to replace my 5-year-old Dell XPS 15 9570 running Win 11 Pro with a new 14-inch MacBook Pro M2 Pro Chip 10‑Core CPU and 16‑Core GPU/ 16GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage. Is anyone using a similar Macbook Pro configuration if so how does it perform with Reason 12? I was thinking of upgrading to 32GBs of memory and 1TB of SSD but that is way over my budget. I use plugins and NI virtual instruments a lot but I don't use too many tracks. The latency is horrific on my Dell and the system is way too sluggish to run Reason. What I hear from others the specs quoted should be more than enough to run Reason but I just wanted to get your feedback. Thanks!

User avatar
dvdrtldg
Posts: 2386
Joined: 17 Jan 2015

27 May 2023

You'll be fine with those specs. I'm on a 16 inch MBP with 1TB storage, but apart from that the processor and the memory are the same. Absolutely no problems at all

RobBarnett
Posts: 115
Joined: 15 Jul 2015
Location: Wirral, UK

27 May 2023

I'm on a MBP 16" M1 32Gb 1TB and it runs great for me. I have used half of the 1TB space though and really only have reason, MS office, Logic Pro and VSTs/Refills and song files installed. You could use an external HDD if you run out of space.

User avatar
jam-s
Posts: 3036
Joined: 17 Apr 2015
Location: Aachen, Germany
Contact:

27 May 2023

kajito wrote:
27 May 2023
Hiya,

I'm about to replace my 5-year-old Dell XPS 15 9570 running Win 11 Pro with a new 14-inch MacBook Pro M2 Pro Chip 10‑Core CPU and 16‑Core GPU/ 16GB unified memory 512GB SSD storage. Is anyone using a similar Macbook Pro configuration if so how does it perform with Reason 12? I was thinking of upgrading to 32GBs of memory and 1TB of SSD but that is way over my budget. I use plugins and NI virtual instruments a lot but I don't use too many tracks. The latency is horrific on my Dell and the system is way too sluggish to run Reason. What I hear from others the specs quoted should be more than enough to run Reason but I just wanted to get your feedback. Thanks!
Sounds like you might have forgotten to disable powersaving for the CPU. Dynamic CPU clocking (which is the default setting) really screws up any low latency audio application.

mmmartin
Posts: 8
Joined: 21 Mar 2019

27 May 2023

The M* Macs are phenomenally economical with their memory usage. And even the original M1 CPUs really fly. You said you don't use too many tracks so you might be OK with just an 8GB MacBook Air. There are rumours of a 15 inch MacBook Air being announced on 5th June.

User avatar
Re8et
Competition Winner
Posts: 1512
Joined: 14 Nov 2016

27 May 2023

The new Mac Mini M2 is said to be more powerful than first gen MacBook Pro M1...

User avatar
jfrichards
Posts: 1306
Joined: 15 Jan 2015
Location: Sunnyvale, CA

27 May 2023

I just got a Mac mini M2 with 512 from Costco for $120 off the Apple price. It's amazing. So fast it's shocking, even with Reason 12 fully loaded with tons of devices. And it's the size of a personal pizza, or my Focusrite Scarlett 18i8. Running into a giant new Samsung monitor, it's better than the iMacs I've been on for decades.

kajito
Posts: 48
Joined: 27 Feb 2018
Location: SALT LAKE CITY UTAH USA
Contact:

27 May 2023

jam-s wrote:
27 May 2023
kajito wrote:
27 May 2023


Thanks bro for the suggestion. I methodically went down the list of this Windows tuning audio guide which suggested disabling power savings for the cpu and usb. https://support.native-instruments.com/ ... /209571729
I even went into the BIOS and disabled turbo mode and a few other settings that could possibly disrupt audio playback.
I do get better performance and low latency when I disable USB-C, network adapters, and antivirus software but still not enough juice.The highest execution in LatencyMon was the Windows driver Wdf01000.sys All my drivers are up to date.

After spending a ridiculous amount of valuable time on this issue I finally decided to throw in the towel a just get a new laptop which will be the 14" M2 Pro 10-Core CPU/16-Core GPU/32GB Unified Memory/1TB SSD. It's overkill for my audio production needs but I also use my laptop for video editing.


Sounds like you might have forgotten to disable power-saving for the CPU. Dynamic CPU clocking (which is the default setting) really screws up any low-latency audio application.

kajito
Posts: 48
Joined: 27 Feb 2018
Location: SALT LAKE CITY UTAH USA
Contact:

27 May 2023

dvdrtldg wrote:
27 May 2023
You'll be fine with those specs. I'm on a 16 inch MBP with 1TB storage, but apart from that the processor and the memory are the same. Absolutely no problems at all
thanks it confirms what I've been hearing from others with a similar configuration.

kajito
Posts: 48
Joined: 27 Feb 2018
Location: SALT LAKE CITY UTAH USA
Contact:

27 May 2023

RobBarnett wrote:
27 May 2023
I'm on a MBP 16" M1 32Gb 1TB and it runs great for me. I have used half of the 1TB space though and really only have reason, MS office, Logic Pro and VSTs/Refills and song files installed. You could use an external HDD if you run out of space.
thanks!

kajito
Posts: 48
Joined: 27 Feb 2018
Location: SALT LAKE CITY UTAH USA
Contact:

27 May 2023

jfrichards wrote:
27 May 2023
I just got a Mac mini M2 with 512 from Costco for $120 off the Apple price. It's amazing. So fast it's shocking, even with Reason 12 fully loaded with tons of devices. And it's the size of a personal pizza, or my Focusrite Scarlett 18i8. Running into a giant new Samsung monitor, it's better than the iMacs I've been on for decades.
Thanks, man that's good news. Yeah, I considered getting the Mac mini M2 Pro but I don't have an external monitor and I need the portability of a laptop since I'm always moving around.

EdGrip
Posts: 2343
Joined: 03 Jun 2016

28 May 2023

I think 16GB will be fine.
I think 8GB is a foolish amount, with any kind of future proofing in mind, and I don't think Apple should offer it.

I'll probably go for 32GB when I eventually try a Mac. I think I'd be fine with 16GB, but I'm used to having 32GB and I might suddenly get into making videos or something one day.

Post Reply
  • Information
  • Who is online

    Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 6 guests