Macbook VS. Macbook PRO

Rea · 3rd August 2006

Hi,
trying to decide which one to get,
price difference is pretty big.
im going to use it for full on production using logic while away from my studio with plans to perhaps make it my main machine also in the studio.
whats the pros and cons that might not be clear from the apple spec sheet.

anyone has experience? tips? also should i wait abit? is there a main upgrade coming up soon?

thanks!

Rea.

macyu · 3rd August 2006

Whichever you get, it seems like a very good idea to max out the RAM (2GB) so you might want to factor that cost in as well.

OS X by nature is more memory hungry than before, and the production style with Logic where you might use several EXS instances, and perhaps Space Designer would definitely eat away at available memory.

3rd world order · 3rd August 2006

macbook pro IMO is all about the firewire 800 port... i wonder how well one fw400 port deals with a hard drive and a few 24 bit interfaces...

that's the question i'd like to hear the answer to

CaptainHook · 3rd August 2006

So did i get shafted with my Macbook Pro only having 1 firewire 400 port??
Ha. Firewire 800 is only on the 17inch models, not the 15's. :(

From what i've read, the big difference is the graphics card.

Pro has dedicated 128meg ram (or 256 with the 2.16Ghz models) on the video card and MacBook has 64meg SHARED with the main memory.

So for graphics and video editing, the pro is definitely a better performer.

For music?

I dunno. I've heard only the Pro's can be upgraded to 7200 internal drives which i'm
sure would be a must for larger track counts etc.

Or you'd want FireWire 800 like suggested although i've gotten away with some crazy large sessions running off 400. :P

But there's not much else different in the specs..
The MacBooks are a pretty heavy hitter from the looks.

pabloman · 4th August 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainHook

So for graphics and video editing, the pro is definitely a better performer.

That's not what I've heard. The macbook has similar performance in CPU-heavy applications like music, video and graphics editing. The Pro is actually better for games with 3d graphics. Final Cut performs the same on both machines, given that they're equally spec'ed, according to a few tests that I got from a thread from www.macrumors.com
The macbook also lets you change the harddrive with any 2,5" S-ATA drive on the market, without opening up the case and voiding the warranty.
Both are wonderful machines, but performance wise in audio and video-editing applications, the are about the same out of the box.

3rd world order · 4th August 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by CaptainHook

Or you'd want FireWire 800 like suggested although i've gotten away with some crazy large sessions running off 400. :P

But there's not much else different in the specs..
The MacBooks are a pretty heavy hitter from the looks.

if this is true its good to hear...

are you running a fw hard drive with your interfaces? what interface? what software, etc?

i want a macbook for running protools and ableton live... probably with a fw drive and digi 002... anyone running this setup???

enquiring minds wanna know.... i dont care about grafx or screen size.

ersheff · 4th August 2006

I've done 16 tracks @ 24/44.1 to an external firewire drive AND with 2 interfaces running as an aggregate device all off of the single firewire port on my ibook G4. No clicks, no pops, no problems. Unless you see yourself tracking more than 16 tracks at a time to a laptop, I would go with the Macbook. If you need the top of the heap, then just go all out and get the 17". For audio, I don't see the machines in between those two as having anything necessary.

goldphinga · 4th August 2006

ive got a powerbook g4 550. 512 meg ram.it runs 60 tracks of audio with logic 6.3.1 10-15 exs 24 samplers plus plugs, a 24 bit motu interface and 2 glyph firewire hardrives (off one firewire 400 port)

people complain their systems are underpowered but im getting serious projects done with this setup. its a 4.5 year old computer now but it still kills it.

rectifier · 4th August 2006

only reason I haven't picked up a macbook yet were initial reports of absurd amounts of heat coming out of them meaning you couldnt put them on laptops. IS this true?

monobeat · 4th August 2006

yup heat is a big big big issue. but there is a simple solution.

ilap from the company irain.

i just got my 15 inch macbook pro dualcore 2gig. and have been happily scoring a film with approximately 60 exs instruments and a few verbs and video in window on the same screen, and have absolutely no visible lag on the processors!

its a true joy.

cheers, warner

frixion · 4th August 2006

I'm torn between these MacBooks.

First I really wanted to get the smaller MacBook for it's portability, but now I'm more into the 15,4" MacBook Pro.

But I will wait till end of autumn, maybe new MacBooks will come?

Phil

amost · 4th August 2006

Quote:

The macbook also lets you change the harddrive with any 2,5" S-ATA drive on the market, without opening up the case and voiding the warranty.

you mean as opposed to the MacBook pro?

pabloman · 4th August 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by amost

you mean as opposed to the MacBook pro?

correct!

krs · 4th August 2006

The MacBook is very powerful. Just did a session in Logic with a heavy HD Quicktime - still only stock 512 RAM. Rock solid lack free performance. I can't imagine needing much more horsepower than this...

ThetaAlpha970 · 4th August 2006

You should definitely wait to buy an Apple laptop! By the end of this month, Macbook Pro will ship with Merom, Intel's new Core2Duo processor with 64-bit support and a moderate speed increase. Also, Apple is known for making a number of revisions to their hardware as well when this happens.

With that said, I am running very well with 2gigs or RAM and a 7200rpm 100gb HD on my Macbook. There are monor glitches with the computer, but generally everything is ok. Using bootcamp, I am able to access both the best of the MIDI world and best of the audio world!

Hope this helps.

Don S · 4th August 2006

Quote:

Originally Posted by ThetaAlpha970

You should definitely wait to buy an Apple laptop! By the end of this month, Macbook Pro will ship with Merom, Intel's new Core2Duo processor with 64-bit support and a moderate speed increase. Also, Apple is known for making a number of revisions to their hardware as well when this happens.

With that said, I am running very well with 2gigs or RAM and a 7200rpm 100gb HD on my Macbook. There are monor glitches with the computer, but generally everything is ok. Using bootcamp, I am able to access both the best of the MIDI world and best of the audio world!

Hope this helps.

I agree - wait as long as possible before buying. At least until the next generation of macbooks come out. I'm sure they will fix the heat issue. A friend's machine fried itself! It won't stay on for more than a couple seconds. He can't even retreve data off the HD. Apple has it and is working on it. Just wait a year if you can.

Rea · 5th August 2006

another important(to me) thing is the casing.
since im using my powerbook g4 for studio work/live stage gigs/ office work/ mini cinema etc. etc. it had the pleasure of falling and crashing on the un suspecting floor more then once... i think the aluminum case is very important element. any comments? id love to find a shield that would reduce my expense by 1k. also, what about the screen? the macbooks have this glossy screen that im not crazy about. and also, will the macbook's proccessor be replaced with merom aswell?

Don S · 5th August 2006

Rea,

Yes! My powerbook took a couple swan dives from the board to the floor. And thank GOD - still works perfectly as I would imagine a PC laptop would be on it's way to the city dump or at best a repair shop! Titanium is the way to go. Have they intergrated that design yet?

3rd August 2006	#1
Rea Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2003 Location: New York Posts: 587 Thread Starter	Macbook VS. Macbook PRO Hi, trying to decide which one to get, price difference is pretty big. im going to use it for full on production using logic while away from my studio with plans to perhaps make it my main machine also in the studio. whats the pros and cons that might not be clear from the apple spec sheet. anyone has experience? tips? also should i wait abit? is there a main upgrade coming up soon? thanks! Rea. __________________ Rea, duMBeat Studios, NY

3rd August 2006	#3
3rd world order Lives for gear Joined: Sep 2005 Location: hell, michigan Posts: 2,797	macbook pro IMO is all about the firewire 800 port... i wonder how well one fw400 port deals with a hard drive and a few 24 bit interfaces... that's the question i'd like to hear the answer to __________________ 3WO - Mixing Without Tears "Some think I should teach men the way to heaven. But I would rather teach them the way to hell so they'll know how to go around it..." -- Niccolo Machiavelli

4th August 2006	#10
monobeat Gear maniac Joined: Nov 2004 Location: berlin, germany Posts: 150	yup heat is a big big big issue. but there is a simple solution. ilap from the company irain. i just got my 15 inch macbook pro dualcore 2gig. and have been happily scoring a film with approximately 60 exs instruments and a few verbs and video in window on the same screen, and have absolutely no visible lag on the processors! its a true joy. cheers, warner __________________ www.monobeat.com www.myspace.com/monobeatmusic

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3rd August 2006	#2
macyu Gear Head Joined: May 2005 Location: Tokyo, Japan Posts: 67	Whichever you get, it seems like a very good idea to max out the RAM (2GB) so you might want to factor that cost in as well. OS X by nature is more memory hungry than before, and the production style with Logic where you might use several EXS instances, and perhaps Space Designer would definitely eat away at available memory.

3rd August 2006	#4
CaptainHook Frequency Wrangler Joined: Mar 2003 Posts: 471	So did i get shafted with my Macbook Pro only having 1 firewire 400 port?? Ha. Firewire 800 is only on the 17inch models, not the 15's. :( From what i've read, the big difference is the graphics card. Pro has dedicated 128meg ram (or 256 with the 2.16Ghz models) on the video card and MacBook has 64meg SHARED with the main memory. So for graphics and video editing, the pro is definitely a better performer. For music? I dunno. I've heard only the Pro's can be upgraded to 7200 internal drives which i'm sure would be a must for larger track counts etc. Or you'd want FireWire 800 like suggested although i've gotten away with some crazy large sessions running off 400. :P But there's not much else different in the specs.. The MacBooks are a pretty heavy hitter from the looks.

4th August 2006	#7
ersheff Lives for gear Joined: Nov 2005 Posts: 507	I've done 16 tracks @ 24/44.1 to an external firewire drive AND with 2 interfaces running as an aggregate device all off of the single firewire port on my ibook G4. No clicks, no pops, no problems. Unless you see yourself tracking more than 16 tracks at a time to a laptop, I would go with the Macbook. If you need the top of the heap, then just go all out and get the 17". For audio, I don't see the machines in between those two as having anything necessary.

4th August 2006	#8
goldphinga Lives for gear Joined: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,383	ive got a powerbook g4 550. 512 meg ram.it runs 60 tracks of audio with logic 6.3.1 10-15 exs 24 samplers plus plugs, a 24 bit motu interface and 2 glyph firewire hardrives (off one firewire 400 port) people complain their systems are underpowered but im getting serious projects done with this setup. its a 4.5 year old computer now but it still kills it.

4th August 2006	#9
rectifier Lives for gear Joined: Oct 2003 Location: Belgica Posts: 1,756	only reason I haven't picked up a macbook yet were initial reports of absurd amounts of heat coming out of them meaning you couldnt put them on laptops. IS this true?

4th August 2006	#11
frixion Gear maniac Joined: Oct 2005 Location: Vienna, Austria Posts: 192	I'm torn between these MacBooks. First I really wanted to get the smaller MacBook for it's portability, but now I'm more into the 15,4" MacBook Pro. But I will wait till end of autumn, maybe new MacBooks will come? Phil

4th August 2006	#14
krs Lives for gear Joined: Jun 2004 Posts: 882	The MacBook is very powerful. Just did a session in Logic with a heavy HD Quicktime - still only stock 512 RAM. Rock solid lack free performance. I can't imagine needing much more horsepower than this...

4th August 2006	#15
ThetaAlpha970 Gear maniac Joined: Jul 2006 Posts: 250	You should definitely wait to buy an Apple laptop! By the end of this month, Macbook Pro will ship with Merom, Intel's new Core2Duo processor with 64-bit support and a moderate speed increase. Also, Apple is known for making a number of revisions to their hardware as well when this happens. With that said, I am running very well with 2gigs or RAM and a 7200rpm 100gb HD on my Macbook. There are monor glitches with the computer, but generally everything is ok. Using bootcamp, I am able to access both the best of the MIDI world and best of the audio world! Hope this helps.

5th August 2006	#17
Rea Lives for gear Joined: Aug 2003 Location: New York Posts: 587 Thread Starter	another important(to me) thing is the casing. since im using my powerbook g4 for studio work/live stage gigs/ office work/ mini cinema etc. etc. it had the pleasure of falling and crashing on the un suspecting floor more then once... i think the aluminum case is very important element. any comments? id love to find a shield that would reduce my expense by 1k. also, what about the screen? the macbooks have this glossy screen that im not crazy about. and also, will the macbook's proccessor be replaced with merom aswell?

5th August 2006	#18
Don S Lives for gear Joined: Apr 2004 Location: Virginia Posts: 1,376	Rea, Yes! My powerbook took a couple swan dives from the board to the floor. And thank GOD - still works perfectly as I would imagine a PC laptop would be on it's way to the city dump or at best a repair shop! Titanium is the way to go. Have they intergrated that design yet?