Macbook pro 16 inch 2019 + universal audio arrow. Worthy investment?

[1jordyzzz]

First and foremost. It's a new year. Happy new year everyone!

So this year, I've planned to take my music career to a whole new level.
That means moving out of my hometown to the capital, and also investing in new gears.

Since mid-2019, I've planned to upgrade my main laptop / workhorse. Mine is currently an MSI laptop with 7th gen i7, GTX 1070, 16 gigs ram, and all the good stuff. No thunderbolt though.

To convince my future partners, clients, etc that I am being serious about this, i'm planning to get a new macbook as my main workhorse. A 16 inch, i9 macbook pro to be exact.

To pair the macbook, i also planned to get the universal audio arrow interface.

My main focus on music will be producing jingles, march, pop music and stuff, rendering youtube videos, and also will be using it as a sequencer for live situation. maybe also DJ-ing.

1. Is it a worthy investment? I think in my country it's worth equivalent to 3000 something dollars. So i don't want to make bad investment. Remember, i need to get the hype of using macbooks. So not just about pure performance.

2. Is the universal audio arrow good? Especially for use as a sequencer. Can i run a click track from outputs separated from main? I notice it only has main and 1 headphone outputs.

Thanks for your help

[BertKoor]

To convince my future partners, clients, etc that I am being serious about this

This is the most silly excuse, fully cut loose from reality.

If you can make good music (or dope tracks) with a 10 year old HP Pavillion, more power to you!

My main focus on music will be producing jingles, march, pop music and stuff, rendering youtube videos, and also will be using it as a sequencer for live situation. maybe also DJ-ing.

That ain't focus. Focussing means concentrating on just one thing.

Is it a worthy investment?

Do you get work done significantly faster with it? I say no. So you do not save time, never earn it back. Au contraire, switching from windows to mac will cost you loads of time to get aquainted.

the hype of using macbooks

There is no hype. There are just some losers throwing money at overpriced tools.

Better spend the money on ProTools, a RME Babyface and nice clothes.

[DJ Warmonger]

To convince my future partners, clients, etc that I am being serious about this, i'm (...) 16 inch

Fixed.

This post is beyond ridiculous. I've always thought Mac customers must show some sort of magical thinking about gear, but this is an evidence of clinical case.

100% agree with BertKoor.

[mgw38]

For whatever reason these Apple vs Mac discussions always turn into name calling threads. There are many good reasons why you would prefer one OS over the other. No reason to get personal.

However, hype is not a good reason to buy a Mac. I am also not quite sure what that hype is supposed to be. On a professional level, I never met anybody who chose their primary computing ecosystem out of hype. If that is how you make your business decisions, you are not going to stay in business for very long.

The 16 inch MacBook has a couple of interesting options if you max it out. It has a 64GB Ram option which you do not yet see that often on a mobile device. And I think it is the only laptop that you can max out with 8TB if M.2 SSDs. But those option are very expensive, so unless you have a real need for that it is more than likely a waste of money.

[tehlord]

To counteract the immediate and predictable Apple hate/confusion -

1) Yes, it's an investment...sort of. A $3k Macbook will still be worth $2k in a year. A $3k laptop (PC) will be worth $1k in a year.

2) As a live performance tool, go Mac. PC laptops are (generally) less reliable for that sort of thing, although not as much as they used to be.

3) In terms of 'impressing' clients', this is a red herring. This is just you trying to justify the spend.

4) To argue with myself about point 2) - You'll only need to spend $2k on a PC laptop to get the same performance as a $3k Macbook.

5) You'll need to factor in the cost of dongles with the Macbook, this can add up fast for a TB only machine.

6) You're overthinking this, nobody really cares.

[Cinebient]

I would say it depends also more on the tools you might use. F.e. what DAW and plug-ins or if you use any iOS devices in your set-up (here macOS has more to offer).
I personally like the (mostly) plug and play without driver issues and i´m bound to Logic. I also use iOS devices and unique iOS apps and it is easy to connect mac and iOS as midi/audio device etc.
Otherwise i would go PC because it is fact you pay for the brand but i my case i can live with that.
I also hope for more iOS apps coming to mac and i see there more interesting things as in the plug-in only windows world coming....
But as usual everything is a personal thing and all answers here might be useless anyway.
If you feel better with a mac.....just go for it and not rethink your choice. You just waste time where you could be creative.

[fmr]

To put thinks simple:

1. If you are money conscious, and not rich, DON'T GO Mac. It's not just the initial price. You most likely will start to feel the need to expand your Mac in few years, only to find that you simply CAN'T DO THAT. Also, you will most certainly need to spend more in a good hub to expand your ports if you go Mac (a good hub can add like $300 to the whole system cost).

2. If money is not a problem, and you really like Macs (it seems you have no prior experience with them, though), then go for it. Usually, the OS is more streamlined, and as long as you resist to update right from the beginning (keep your OS always one version behind, at least), you will probably have an easier to maintain system, and very reliable system.

3. Start your decisions by deciding what software you will use (that's what I usually advice). Some programs run indifferently in both platforms, some are cross-platform, but perform better in one than in the other, some are exclusively on one of the platforms. Then, after decding what software you'll base your systen, choose the platform that better suits it (again, of money is not a problem).

[1jordyzzz]

Thank you for your responses. I appreciate it

Somebody said i'm overthinking this. Yes you are totally true

Another said that buying apple for hype is bad. Well, depends on where you are i think. In my country, it helps to impress your client. Much like recording studio uses big speaker to impress client, while in reality they are actually using a nearfield monitor.

Money is not a problem. I just want a system that performs well and reliable.
Do you think buying a used mac and new PC is better? i can afford both with the cost of 1 macbook pro 16 inch.

Currently i use Cubase 10, but considering the place where i will be moving, i might switch to PT / Logic AND also Ableton for live situation.

By the way no answer about the universal audio arrow. Is it good?

[Ploki]

There is no hype. There are just some losers throwing money at overpriced tools.

Better spend the money on ProTools

funny

but i generally agree with what you said

This post is beyond ridiculous. I've always thought Mac customers must show some sort of magical thinking about gear, but this is an evidence of clinical case.

100% agree with BertKoor.

he's not a mac user
and we don't

Thank you for your responses. I appreciate it

Somebody said i'm overthinking this. Yes you are totally true

Another said that buying apple for hype is bad. Well, depends on where you are i think. In my country, it helps to impress your client. Much like recording studio uses big speaker to impress client, while in reality they are actually using a nearfield monitor.

Money is not a problem. I just want a system that performs well and reliable.
Do you think buying a used mac and new PC is better? i can afford both with the cost of 1 macbook pro 16 inch.

Currently i use Cubase 10, but considering the place where i will be moving, i might switch to PT / Logic AND also Ableton for live situation.

By the way no answer about the universal audio arrow. Is it good?

it's not bad buying shit for hype, but i doubt a 16" macbook pro will work like that.

Cubase 10 is a perfectly capable DAW that works on both systems, if you don't have a good reason to switch platforms AND daws, you'll only lose time relearning them.
there's no reason to use one over the other.

Universal audio arrow is fine.
RME Babyface already mentioned has more connectivity and historically unparalleled drivers.

[fmr]

RME Babyface already mentioned has more connectivity and historically unparalleled drivers.

^^^ T H I S ^^^

[antic604]

Currently i use Cubase 10, but considering the place where i will be moving, i might switch to PT / Logic AND also Ableton for live situation.

Interesting topic. So far I've learned that the country you live in determines the laptop you should be using and now that a city you live in dictates a DAW. I suspect the neighborhood will be somehow connected to preferred instrument & FX brands? Looking forward to how this develops!

[PieBerger]

Currently i use Cubase 10, but considering the place where i will be moving, i might switch to PT / Logic AND also Ableton for live situation.

Interesting topic. So far I've learned that the country you live in determines the laptop you should be using and now that a city you live in dictates a DAW. I suspect the neighborhood will be somehow connected to preferred instrument & FX brands? Looking forward to how this develops!

Where you live must be something special if you have to own 3 DAWs to get any work done

[antic604]

Where you live must be something special if you have to own 3 DAWs to get any work done

I own five, actually. And have not finished a single track in 2019. But I had lots of fun, which is more important to me

[1jordyzzz]

Thank you for your replies.

I've now decided to buy a used macbook pro, and will be using a windows desktop as a workhorse.

All you say is true, and maybe i'm a bit ridiculous. Or maybe i'm assuming too much.

And as some people have said in this thread, i think i will invest in RME Babyface pro.

Thank you all.

[plexuss]

No. I have been an Apple customer for 39 years, I started with an Apple ][+ system in 1981. It cost $3000US and my grandmother bought it for me. Now I use a 2010 Mac Pro 12 core and 2012 15" MBP. That's it for Apple for me. The MBP's from 2008-now except the 2012 15" and the 2013 Retina machines, all have critical design problems. Apple will not be of help. See youtube videos by Louis Rossmann. He repairs macbooks and has numerous videos covering issues with the electrical design of these machines. the 2013's have the SSD's. Only the 2012 uses dinosaur discs. I prefer to have storage space so I opted for the 2012. That's it. There are no other MBPs worth buing. Same story for the 2010 Mac Pro. Unless Apple changes it's ways, I will be moving to Windoze. Logic is a pig. Reaper is way faster. I just learning Reaper now with the plan to migrate to windoze. Apple has lost it's way. I wouldn't spend a dime on new hardware with them.

But Apple still has that fashion caché that other brands don't. If you need to impress your impressionable stakeholders with your fashion sense, then yes perhaps Apple will have value for you. It certainly won't be in the features and especially performance, where a windoze machine will be faster, more capable and much much cheaper.