Show me your Apple?

[BBFG#]

Researching Apple.

Wonder if I might get some Apple users to list their systems to give me a feel at what musicians really need and what can be expected. I don't need information about iPad or from DJs and hopefully we can sidestep the mac vs. pc to get just the information about real world ownership of Apple by musicians?

Please list:
Desktop or Laptop.
CPU make and model.
RAM Size/Speed.

Your DAW and any CPU intensive plugin you run with it.

If this turns into a debate of the 'which is better or best'... going nowhere, I'll lock it.

[chk071]

Is it also allowed to name the Apple you WOULD buy? Macbook Pro then. About the only Apple computer which i'd buy. I'd probably go with a non-Retina display though. Not sure about the scaling in some applications or plugins.

[BBFG#]

Is it also allowed to name the Apple you WOULD buy? Macbook Pro then. About the only Apple computer which i'd buy. I'd probably go with a non-Retina display though. Not sure about the scaling in some applications or plugins.

Certainly. But please list the actual configuration and their specs too. At this point, Retina display seems to be the least important of the information I'm trying to gather though and I think they are listing it almost as standard on their upper systems now anyway.

What I'm most interested in is the CPU. Whether it is i5/i7/Xeon; number of cores and model number (to compare benchmarks). And RAM... amount you have and the amount the machine maxes out to.

Apple lists the CPU family and cores, but stops short of actually telling you which CPU it is.

Obviously, if forced to bite the bullet and buy direct from them, the thing I would do is buy the best CPU possible with the cheapest drive and RAM that is easy enough to upgrade myself at a substantial savings - while getting more than they offer.

[el-bo (formerly ebow)]

Obviously, if forced to bite the bullet and buy direct from them, the thing I would do is buy the best CPU possible with the cheapest drive and RAM that is easy enough to upgrade myself at a substantial savings - while getting more than they offer.

just make sure that the model can be user-upgraded. i ended up buying a 2nd-hand, 2012 pre-retina model which still allows for user ram/hdd upgrading

[do_androids_dream]

Apple lists the CPU family and cores, but stops short of actually telling you which CPU it is.

This site should be of use to you.

http://www.everymac.com/

[BBFG#]

Thanks.
After reading through those specs, it makes me wonder what an Apple that used the best and most current components, instead of what they bought on a dump, would be like.

Guess that's why they do their best to not be specific.
But still searching and researching.

[tremolounge]

I have a 2010 Mac Pro (actually made in 2011) that I bought used a couple years ago and have no plans to upgrade any time soon. My projects (songwriting and mixing) don’t get into high track counts, and I’ve never come anywhere near maxing out my CPU (so far!). Also, I love the UAD Mk2 plugins (comps & EQs), and using them takes some load off the Mac CPU.

It’s this exact model:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/m ... specs.html

6-core single Xeon 3.33 GHz CPU
16GB RAM (from OWC) — 1333 MHz DDR3
ATI Radeon HD 5870 video
28” Viewsonic monitor
250GB Samsung 840 EVO SSD boot drive
1TB WD Black sample drive
1TB WD Black audio recording drive

2 - UAD-2 Solo PCIe cards (I'd like to replace these with a single Quad next year)

DAW is Logic Pro X, with a MOTU 828mkII audio interface (Firewire)

Possible future upgrades: maybe go to 32GB RAM, and as SSD prices come down, replace the sample drive with a 1TB SSD. Neither one of these is pressing; I’m happy with my system as it is.

[do_androids_dream]

Thanks.
After reading through those specs, it makes me wonder what an Apple that used the best and most current components, instead of what they bought on a dump, would be like.

I completely agree. Given the amount they charge it's shocking the low end stuff they fill their boxes with.