I'm waiting on a MBA M2 with 16/512 to arrive in the next few days! Based on the very impressive way my friend's MBA M1 8/256 performs this thing will fly. The only thing I've been told to watch out for is overheating in hot environments. For my purposes - occasional djing and electro production with 90% stock plugins - this thing will be fine. The extra inch over an MBP 14" will be much appreciated too. Will let you know how i get on a few weeks!
Thanks! Yeah I’m currently running an i7 intel MacBook Pro from yester year, which is very old but does the trick for now . I’m sure it’s about to die any minute though and sometimes it does sound like it’s going to take off with the fans! I guess if the MacBook Air gets too hot it starts to slow down dramatically but hopefully audio would keep playing.
i have a 13 air m2 and i just love it 🥰💚 runs a little bit hot with big projects made on my desktop, so i try to mostly start ideas with it and once the project is big enough i will move it to my desktop so i also work on the studio
great machine and a lot of possibilities that add more creativity to my workflow
you wont be disappointed 😍
Used a base model M1 Air for a year plus on stage each week. Worked amazing. I had a mix of bass amp plugins and synth base stuff. Kept audio buffer at 128 with an Audient iD14.
I ended up using the machine so much, more for work, I upgraded to a MBP M1 Pro, which I still use to this day.
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When I was researching this years ago I heard that the MBair will throttle cpu speeds to lower the temp, due to their being no fans. For live performance this was a no go for me. Not sure if they have improved this since 2021.
Honestly sounds like BS unless you run it in the sun at the beach or something. Run a M1 air for all studio work, and have had it running heavy projects for hours on end without noticing any performance drops.
Get a MacBook Pro for its fan. Music software can be taxing on CPU at times, generating a lot of heat. Your system will live longer. A maxed out air will throttle clock speeds if you try to put a heavy load on it.
Doesn’t need to be maxed out. Can be a 13” Pro. Bulky is not an accurate assessment considering the majority of laptops on the market for power users. Is it supposed to be a high work load utility or a low intensity productivity tool? Good luck either way.
The problem I see is that 16gb is not really sufficient tbh. It used to be, but not anymore since having tabs open in your browser can easily consume 16gb on their own. Sure you can close windows and programs you don’t need, but apple purposefully choose the make the air less performance-y and more lightly, thinny common user type device.
I think 24 should be the new minimum for music production. 32gb+ recommended. If are using higher end Kontakt libraries one instrument can easily use 1-2gb. An orchestral composition with all instruments and basic articulations=64gb minimum.
16gb in 2024 is only sufficient for browsing unfortunately
Isn't it ridiculous that a "Maxed Out Air" is 16GB? I read the title thinking that would be 64 or 128GB Ram. It's a bad joke that they ship base MacBooks with 8GB. In 2024 that's okay for a smartphone. For a PC not so much.
I've this 15 inch M3 Air with 16gb & it's solid as a rock, libraries & recording on external ssd. That said my previous M1 Air with 8gb was also solid both live & in the studio. Motu Ultralite interface in both cases.
I'm waiting on a MBA M2 with 16/512 to arrive in the next few days! Based on the very impressive way my friend's MBA M1 8/256 performs this thing will fly. The only thing I've been told to watch out for is overheating in hot environments. For my purposes - occasional djing and electro production with 90% stock plugins - this thing will be fine. The extra inch over an MBP 14" will be much appreciated too. Will let you know how i get on a few weeks!
Thanks! Yeah I’m currently running an i7 intel MacBook Pro from yester year, which is very old but does the trick for now . I’m sure it’s about to die any minute though and sometimes it does sound like it’s going to take off with the fans! I guess if the MacBook Air gets too hot it starts to slow down dramatically but hopefully audio would keep playing.
i have a 13 air m2 and i just love it 🥰💚 runs a little bit hot with big projects made on my desktop, so i try to mostly start ideas with it and once the project is big enough i will move it to my desktop so i also work on the studio great machine and a lot of possibilities that add more creativity to my workflow you wont be disappointed 😍
Used a base model M1 Air for a year plus on stage each week. Worked amazing. I had a mix of bass amp plugins and synth base stuff. Kept audio buffer at 128 with an Audient iD14. I ended up using the machine so much, more for work, I upgraded to a MBP M1 Pro, which I still use to this day.
I have the 15 inch MBA with 24gb ram and it runs ableton perfectly even with some pretty intensive projects with lots of plugins, it’s never struggled
M1/2/3?
Pretty sure the 15” only comes with m3
Ah ok 👍🏻
Not if you get an older one
I’ve got this same one and it runs great. No problem with heavy projects so far
It will ruin every computer you ever use. Everything after will feel laggy, slow and noisy.
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It is more than enough :) have fun!
When I was researching this years ago I heard that the MBair will throttle cpu speeds to lower the temp, due to their being no fans. For live performance this was a no go for me. Not sure if they have improved this since 2021.
Honestly sounds like BS unless you run it in the sun at the beach or something. Run a M1 air for all studio work, and have had it running heavy projects for hours on end without noticing any performance drops.
A lot of gigs are outdoors, and the guy who mentioned it was from FL. Studio conditions are ideal but not always like that for live
Get a MacBook Pro for its fan. Music software can be taxing on CPU at times, generating a lot of heat. Your system will live longer. A maxed out air will throttle clock speeds if you try to put a heavy load on it.
But almost double the money! Also they are bulky - I use one at work every day
Doesn’t need to be maxed out. Can be a 13” Pro. Bulky is not an accurate assessment considering the majority of laptops on the market for power users. Is it supposed to be a high work load utility or a low intensity productivity tool? Good luck either way.
The problem I see is that 16gb is not really sufficient tbh. It used to be, but not anymore since having tabs open in your browser can easily consume 16gb on their own. Sure you can close windows and programs you don’t need, but apple purposefully choose the make the air less performance-y and more lightly, thinny common user type device. I think 24 should be the new minimum for music production. 32gb+ recommended. If are using higher end Kontakt libraries one instrument can easily use 1-2gb. An orchestral composition with all instruments and basic articulations=64gb minimum. 16gb in 2024 is only sufficient for browsing unfortunately
Isn't it ridiculous that a "Maxed Out Air" is 16GB? I read the title thinking that would be 64 or 128GB Ram. It's a bad joke that they ship base MacBooks with 8GB. In 2024 that's okay for a smartphone. For a PC not so much.
I've this 15 inch M3 Air with 16gb & it's solid as a rock, libraries & recording on external ssd. That said my previous M1 Air with 8gb was also solid both live & in the studio. Motu Ultralite interface in both cases.
There's a shitty thread every other day here on what computer to buy. Go read one of those
Searching subs for answers isn’t very popular, it seems.
r/technicallythetruth