Apple announces new Mac Mini, Air + 13" MBP featuring their own M1 chip.

[Atlatnesiti]

Using it with absolutely no issues at all - Mac mini, 16GB and 512 RAM.
This mini managed to replace my 2019 27" iMac.
HUGE improvement in performance even under Roseta emulation mode.
Love it

[Atlatnesiti]

Not sure that qualifies, but mixvibes Remixlive is now M1 compatible/native (universal) and so is drumbo as au in Logic Pro and Live11
We definitely need more instruments rather than FX
Way too many FX processing apps in comparison to instruments
All appreciated of course

[ghettosynth]

I'm hoping that they release an M1X mini later this year.

[chagzuki]

What are people's experiences with the limitation of 2 ports on the macbooks? Is it easily solved with use of hubs, or does that run into problems? An audio interface, external monitor, and whatever else seems like a stretch for just two ports particularly with one used for charging, though I imagine careful selection of peripherals and accessories makes it feasible.

[Ploki]

What are people's experiences with the limitation of 2 ports on the macbooks? Is it easily solved with use of hubs, or does that run into problems? An audio interface, external monitor, and whatever else seems like a stretch for just two ports particularly with one used for charging, though I imagine careful selection of peripherals and accessories makes it feasible.

I used CalDigit TS3+ i bought for my intel macs, and i bought OWC ThunderBolt 4 Hub additionally. Running screen, thunderbolt interface, thunderbolt nvme drive and bunch of other crap and its fine

[jancivil]

With OWC you can likely spend your way out of that problem, yeah

[Ploki]

With OWC you can likely spend your way out of that problem, yeah

it's an entry level laptop replacing i3/i5 macbooks that never had more than two ports.
the reason we're even discussing it in any reasonable production context is incredible - let alone the fact that it pisses on i9s and intel macbooks 2-3x its price.

[Bombadil]

Yeah. I bought the very basic Mini for my wife, and to test against my future requirements. 256gb storage, 8 gb RAM. Completely mindblowing, even using Intel plugs in native Logic, it out performs my behemoth of an iMac. I could get comfortably by with an M1 with 16gb RAM. The Mini has its own HDMI port and 2 USB A ports as well, so no expensive external hubs to get what I need working.

[Double Tap]

I picked up an Anker 13 in 1 to beef up the M1 MBP I've now got. That gives me enough ports to use an AI, two controllers plus the external monitor, wired mouse, SSD and I've still got a few other options.

But. In all honesty, although I'm very happy to have re-entered the world of Mac after a couple of decades out, the USBs are the thing I'm least happy about.

So the AI - a Traktor Audio 2 - often needs to be reconnected because I get a crackling sound. It came with a USB3.2 cable so I'm using a TB/USB4 adaptor. Could be that Native Instruments need to do something more to make it work properly with Silicon.

I've had a couple of glitch effects on my monitor, which mostly seem to be the result of a cable connection.

And when I insert either TB/USB4 connector next to the port, I can see sparks jumping, which either is entirely normal or maybe I've got a faulty machine. No idea which is the case. I have a suspicion it's faulty, but since no Apple stores are open in the UK at the moment, and otherwise it works fine, I've not done anything about it.

[Ploki]

do you use the grounding cable on it? always worth to try with both ground and without it.
the long cable for the PSU is grounded, the short plug thingie is ungrounded

[Double Tap]

do you use the grounding cable on it? always worth to try with both ground and without it.
the long cable for the PSU is grounded, the short plug thingie is ungrounded

Hahaha *nervous laugh* grounding cable? What's that?

(Do you mean the Apple PSU? I don't use it because I'm powering through the Anker. It only came with the main power cable and USB cable.)

[Ploki]

do you use the grounding cable on it? always worth to try with both ground and without it.
the long cable for the PSU is grounded, the short plug thingie is ungrounded

Hahaha *nervous laugh* grounding cable? What's that?

(Do you mean the Apple PSU? I don't use it because I'm powering through the Anker. It only came with the main power cable and USB cable.)

ah no worries.
i've noticed the sparks before... but i have a global power strip with switches so i plug it in before powering the hubs which power the mac.
I'll try powering it up before plugging it in today when i get to the studio - to see if any sparks fly

[Johnny!]

Traktor Audio (2) the king of crackles

[Double Tap]

Just did one of those 'how many tracks can I get going at once' tests on Pigments, because it looks pretty greedy, and I was slightly disappointed to get to 16 before it started to struggle. But that was in Ableton. So I thought I'd compare Logic - 16 again. A draw.

Ah, but Pigments is not native - at least I don't think it is. As far as I understand it - not very far - a non-native Silicon plug-in needs to run via a Rosetta translation wrapper in Logic, so that might slow it down.

So I tried Hive, which is native, and this is where it gets a bit weird.

Logic: 26 instances
Live 11.0.5b1: 30 instances in Session view, 31 instances in Arrangement view.

(both running with 512 buffers)

That's strange though isn't it? I would have expected more Hives in Logic because it should all be seamlessly optimised Silicon.

Now, Logic and Live behave differently when you get close to overload - Logic cuts out and gives you a warning dialogue box, whereas Live keeps going and just starts to degrade, crackle and start slowing down. Maybe there were crackles or other imperfections I didn't notice with Live when I got past 26/27, and maybe Logic was just more cautious and making sure I couldn't do anything reckless.

But still. Maybe the whole Rosetta issue isn't as big a deal as I thought, in terms of performance at least.

[Passing Bye]