Which MacBook Pro best ?

[Paulformer]

Hi

Looking for some advice on buying a new MacBook Pro to use with DP 8 with plugins, samples etc. Any help would be very much appreciated.

I'm going to get the retina 15 " which comes with some as you buy options.

First question is about the SD drive. I'm pretty sure that the 512 GB sd drive will be enough as I will be running EWQL play and Machfive 3 samples off a external drive - unless the new consensus with these machines would be to run the samples off the internal SD drive (making the 750 SD Drive a better choice). But I've always understood that external SD drives for the samples is best ? Does anyone know with these new machines if it's still best to run the samples on a external drive?

The second question is about the processor speed. I will be getting the 2.7GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.7GHz unless I upgrade it to 2.8GHz Quad-core Intel Core i7, Turbo Boost up to 3.8GHz [Add $250.00] Does anyone think Running DP 8 with lots orchestral Samples and Plugins would significantly benefit from the added speed ( $250 worth?)

In any case I'll be getting the most RAM I can, which will be 16GBs.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Paul

Ive been using a MacBook Pro 17 inch Early 2008 2.6 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Memory 4 GB with DP 5 through 7 so I'm sure I won't be over loading and have to be freezing so many tracks with the new system in any case (I hope. )



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[Shooshie]

I just ordered two Macbook Pro's with 16 gb RAM, 768GB solid-state storage, retina displays, and the fastest processors. I think they were something like $3,500 apiece, and if I'm not mistaken, that's the most powerful configuration that Apple currently offers in the MacBook Pro, and I'm pretty sure it'll handle whatever you need to do with it.

Note that there are Thunderbolt RAID options if the small internal drive is scary to you. (and it should be; you need much more in the way of storage for VI libraries, not to mention large audio projects. Those kinds of things should come down in price in about 2 years, but they are available now.

Shooshie

[dbl]

Odds appear very good-to-certain that Apple will announce new portables next month at its developer conference. Should be worth the wait.

[Shooshie]

Odds appear very good-to-certain that Apple will announce new portables next month at its developer conference. Should be worth the wait.

Oh yeah, that's a given. When I spend a lot of money on Apple computers, you can be sure that a looongggg awaited update is just around the corner! It never fails!

Shooshie

[MIDI Life Crisis]

That was my concern too. I waited and waited for the new Mac Pros but they never appeared so I sunk some $$$$ into a used 8 core and it was exactly what I needed. Not that I wouldn't like a new Mac, but I sure saved a bunch of money. I don't know that I'd do the same with a laptop, but I would certainly look at another used MP if the need arose.

[kgdrum]

+1 agree
there probably will be new macbook pros coming soon............ with that being said 2 weeks ago I bought a mbpro 2012 2.6 quad i7 with 8gig and the better video card for $1799($400 less than the normal list price)MicroCenter has these on sale in the store.
It has thunderbolt, fw800, an optical drive I can remove & so I can put in a 2nd drive and I can add ram later if need be.
the retina makes me nervous if ram goes bad after Applecare expires or the fact that you can't add a 2nd drive.
They also have 12 months no interest with their store card,so I couldn't resist any longer.
Seemed like a pretty nice deal.

[Paulformer]

Thanks for the info.
Yes I think I'll wait till they're rumored to announce an update to the MacBook pro line on June 10th. Even if I don't get a new announced model the announcement should bring down the price a bit on the remaining old stock ones in authorized apple stores.
There's a good deal in a chain of stores called"Simple Computing"up here in BC Canada where if you buy a new Mac with AppleCare thorough them you can trade it in within 2 years and get 50% of the original price you paid towards a new mac thus always staying pretty well on top of things. I think I'll go that route this time and that should take care of any retina's lack of part replacement issues too.


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[James Steele]

Yes I think I'll wait till they're rumored to announce an update to the MacBook pro line on June 10th.

I sure hope there's a new Mac Pro in store for us by then!

[Michael Canavan]

Betting time.

My guess is a new Mac Pro is announced. it's probably going to be almost half the size of the current Mac Pros, and new macbook pros. My hunch is Mac Pros though. It's the WWDC and it's aimed at developers, but they also like developing on laptops these days...


Of course the only thing I don't need a refresh of is the tower!
So here's hoping the new i7 chipset that just came out is being announced in the macbook pros!

[Shooshie]

With Thunderbolt and an external RAID unit, they could essentially make the Mac Pro the size of the Mac Mini, or close to it. PCI could undergo another form-factor change, either offsetting it to another box like the RAID unit, or completely changing its form, turning it into something the size of a USB flash drive (the kind that are barely larger than the USB plug itself).

In fact, with Thunderbolt, I'm wondering if we might be on the brink of a modular approach to computing, where you can string together as many processors as you wish to buy, add a PCI box, a RAID box, and internal RAM with each CPU, to make basically any sized Mac Pro that your heart desires, and all in the space of a shoebox or smaller. Even iPads, iPods and iPhones could plug in to be part of the architecture of this computing network system, and appliances throughout your house could be an actual part of it, rather than mere WIFI clients. A laptop would be part of it, and rather than owning a desktop and a laptop, you'd just have this network into which all form factors could contribute, all a part of it, with no need for big, discreet devices that merely talk to each other. They would be, in a sense, organs of the same body.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I don't think that's what we'll see announced in June. Still, it's time to see something amazing.

Shooshie

[MIDI Life Crisis]

The other thing to consider with a MP v. a Mini is that with a MP you can have 4 internal drives. Yes, you could have those as external drives with a MINI and TB will give you the speed you need to access that (and more) externally for music and video. But I do like having quatro internal drives in my MP. Still, there's a lot to be said for the space savings with a Mini.

New paradigms to consider... it's nice to have options!

[James Steele]

It's going to feel weird to me to go to a smaller form factor than the traditional MP towers we've had to this point. It'll will feel like when I gave up my analog mixing board. I got cold sweats the first couple of days!

[mikehalloran]

Af few hardware makers are announcing new PCIe cards including Focusrite. This points to a new Mac Pro, rumored to have only two slots in the new version.

Back to the OP, an i7 is more important than the speed of the chip due to the way if handles floating point processing. For some DP functions, it is a good deal faster than an i5. I have observed this. For functions involving disk access, there is no difference - that's where having an SSD gives you the advantage.

[cbergm7210]

This points to a new Mac Pro, rumored to have only two slots in the new version.

As two of my four slots are taken up by graphics cards (4 screens) I wonder how this will fare with folks that need the screen real estate.

[mikehalloran]

As two of my four slots are taken up by graphics cards (4 screens) I wonder how this will fare with folks that need the screen real estate.

Thunderbolt.

The MacBook Pro and iMac have two TB ports. It would surprise me if the New Mac Pro gave you fewer display options than a laptop or iMac.

Apple says that video monitors cannot be daisy-chained to other monitors unless they are both Apple TB monitors - then you are limited to two per port. I am not clear if they are the first or last two on the chain.

Even though Apple TB displays can be daisy chained in theory, not all current Macs work properly if you do. I have heard that will not be an issue with the new Mac Pro. We shall know soon enough. I think.

http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5219#dispnum

DisplayPort monitors are partly TB compatible and can connect with the right adapter. They must be the last component in the chain and cannot daisy-chain off of a TB monitor. So, only one per TB port.

I have no idea how monitors work with TB hubs.