Laptop or Macbook? Always been a Desktop user, apple scares me

[Jac459]

Well I don't care enough to be an Apple hater but let's say I was like you, having used an iPod in the 2000s...

But to be honest, I had to give it with the arrival of the M1... I don't really knows the benchmarks, but I was having a powerhouse razer from 2020, with i7, rtx2080 1 tb ssd navme, and oled 4k touch screen. I paid it 3k USD. Few months after my gf offered me a MacBook Air M1 8gb, 256gb. Saying that it blows my Razer under the water in performance is an understatement. Of course not for gaming. But for music, I am using Bitwig with a lot of heavy plugins like the Reason Rack, all the Isotope suits, Phase Plant, Pigments... And when my Razer was dying in pain being burning hot, my mb air was cold and seemed not breaking a sweat...

I guess the PC notebooks are better in 2023 than they used to be in 2020 but I am pretty sure they didn't catch up with the M series. The fact that the MB air or pro can run your session, not getting hot, with a lot of battery life is just too good. There is no way you can compare with a PC (imho).

There is another point to take into account. The scaling. If you buy a modern PC laptop, you'll surely get something like my 4k. WINDOWS DOESN'T WORK WELL WITH SCALING. I was having the worst problem with many many plugins. For example all the Rob Papen plugins are not working well with scaling, even when talking with the support of both Bitwig and rob papen. There is many options you can try, many kind of fixes you can see on internet. None works well. And Rob Papen Plugins are not the only ones. Surge XT for example wasn't working properly, and some (many) others I don't remember.

Now, it is not a rant agains Windows. Actually I am totally unimpressed with MacOS. I don't find it very intuitive and I freaking miss my touch screen. Plus Apple still don't propose an oled screen in 2023 that's super annoying. When I open my old Razer, I cry with the beauty of the screen in comparison to my brand new MacBook Pro...

But sadly I am not just here to watch the screen, I need to run my plugins and I need to run them comfortably. For that my experience is that the M1/M2 Pro is unrivalled today...

Last point if really you don't believe me and want to go to a PC. At least avoid any GPU. My razer with the RTX2080 was always super hot and the FAN working like crazy even when I was not using the GPU...

[Jac459]

The whole hand-off thing between computer and phone is pretty cool. Not as good as they promise but definitely worth taking into consideration. Macs have good resale value (especially if you buy used in the first place) and it’s better to sell and buy a replacement rather than upgrade them. Keep in mind that AUv3 doesn’t work with some DAW’s.

Well, to me the integration of MacBook with Android phone is even better. The only real scenario that matter, the capacity to mutualise chargers is only available with ... Android phones. All MacBooks charge with USB C, none of the iPhones do... Now in theory you can move your mouse from your laptop to your ... iPad (a scenario you will certainly never do) but charging your phone won't be possible...

But I totally agree on the resale value... I think the upgradability of a laptop is anyway always so-so. Especially for music where the bottleneck is the CPU... you will most certainly have to upgrade...

Few years ago it was different, you were buying PC with regular hard drives and moving to SSD was a huge boost, but now a days, the laptops are very often full SSD.

[Sparks330]

Macbook Pro 14 ' user here. Could not be happier with that machine. It's fast and silent, and the battery life is good, plus the discrete headphone output supports high impedance headphones so I don't need to carry my audio interface for critical listening.
I would only choose a Windows machine if I needed a desktop that I would also use for gaming. Otherwise I would probably choose a Mac Mini with Apple Silicon.

[jamcat]

No need to be afraid of Apple. Macs are very intuitive. And for me personally, going from Windows to Mac, I find there is WAY less anxiety in dealing with it as an OS. Unlike Windows, MacOS just fades into the background and doesn't require your constant attention.

There are a few things you'll probably want to do as a Windows user: setup secondary click for right-click, reverse the scrolling direction, and spend $2 to get New File Menu. These 3 things will allow you to use your Mac the way you're used to using Windows. The only other thing is you need to know to use the Command button on Mac when you want Ctrl. And you'll have to hold Command while hitting Delete to throw files in the trash. Or you can add a little trash can icon to the Toolbar at the top of every window.

[Uncle E]

Few months after my gf offered me a MacBook Air M1 8gb, 256gb.

Funny, that's how I switched to Mac, too. GF (now wife) gave me hers. Maybe it's some secret girl code (give him a Mac, he'll put a ring on it).

[Jac459]

Few months after my gf offered me a MacBook Air M1 8gb, 256gb.

Funny, that's how I switched to Mac, too. GF (now wife) gave me hers. Maybe it's some secret girl code (give him a Mac, he'll put a ring on it).

They are so smart....

[Jac459]

No need to be afraid of Apple. Macs are very intuitive. And for me personally, going from Windows to Mac, I find there is WAY less anxiety in dealing with it as an OS. Unlike Windows, MacOS just fades into the background and doesn't require your constant attention.

There are a few things you'll probably want to do as a Windows user: setup secondary click for right-click, reverse the scrolling direction, and spend $2 to get New File Menu. These 3 things will allow you to use your Mac the way you're used to using Windows. The only other thing is you need to know to use the Command button on Mac when you want Ctrl. And you'll have to hold Command while hitting Delete to throw files in the trash. Or you can add a little trash can icon to the Toolbar at the top of every window.

Somehow I am still sort of struggling.
In particular with the finder. I am so used to type "Windows" + E and get Explorer. I don't like the views of finder at all. Did you manage to get a more "explorer" like experience?

[jamcat]

Somehow I am still sort of struggling.
In particular with the finder. I am so used to type "Windows" + E and get Explorer. I don't like the views of finder at all. Did you manage to get a more "explorer" like experience?

In Finder, I set View > as Icons. "As List" also works for a Windows-like view if you prefer that better.
I have "Use Groups" checked and I Group By > Name.

In my Toolbar, I have the Path tool showing so I can see the folder hierarchy like Windows.

The one problem I have is I always click the Launchpad instead of the Finder when I want to bring up a folder, because the current Launchpad icon looks like a folder full of files to me.

[Jac459]

Somehow I am still sort of struggling.
In particular with the finder. I am so used to type "Windows" + E and get Explorer. I don't like the views of finder at all. Did you manage to get a more "explorer" like experience?

In Finder, I set View > as Icons. "As List" also works for a Windows-like view if you prefer that better.
I have "Use Groups" checked and I Group By > Name.

In my Toolbar, I have the Path tool showing so I can see the folder hierarchy like Windows.

The one problem I have is I always click the Launchpad instead of the Finder when I want to bring up a folder, because the current Launchpad icon looks like a folder full of files to me.

Thanks I will try that. Any shortcut to start the finder? I didn't find.

[jamcat]

Any shortcut to start the finder? I didn't find.

Just slap a paw down across Option+Command+Space

[FapFilter]

or command + N if nothing else is open yet
otherwise, if you've "trained" Spotlight that way: command + space, then f, followed by enter is the usual way i'm doing it, but the aforementioned option+cmd+space does this aswell, it will default you into Finder's search field though

[jamcat]

Command+N will open a new window of whatever is in focus.
So as you're reading this, Command+N will open a new Safari (or whatever) browser window for you.
But Option+Command+Space will always open a new Finder window (search).
Then just click a folder to open in the left navigation pane.

[BONES]

I'd probably be going for a 14" MBP m1 though for around 1500$ used or refurbished.
Is there any equivalent windows laptops with nice SSD's, fast ram, good enough graphics for light gaming, and CPU power around that price?

Have a look on eBay. Dell have an eBay shop where they sell "refurbished" laptops, most of which are brand new customer returns, and you'll pick something up for a stupidly low price, with a full warranty. Sometimes they might also be sold through a 3rd party, who buys a job-lot and sells them individually. Take a look at this, for example -

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/27567678798 ... Swhhlj5Wmy

If it doesn't come with any warranty, Dell will sell you a service plan. Just get the service tag ID before you buy and check on Dell's site that its eligible. I think I paid around $180 for two years of on-site, next day coverage to extend the warranty on my G7. They'll transfer warranty to new owners, too.

I've bought three laptops this way and never had a problem.

[BONES]

How good is a portable device if you only can use its full potential while plugged in?

First of all, it's not an either/or situation. You can have full power on battery if you want/need it. But, more importantly, it sounds the OP needs one for travelling, rather than working on his next opus in the park, so it's likely he won't often use it unplugged, if he does so at all. For us, the laptop only needs to run unplugged for an hour to cover 100% of our needs and the last 7 or 8 have had no trouble doing that, even though the laptop is also providing power for our I/O interface and several other outboard bits of kit, like my Ultranova and Uno Synth Pro.

MacBooks always perform the same no matter if plugged in or not

But two years ago it was a completely different situation, so what was your excuse for using them before M1?

Then why get a laptop? If your use case is to only use it plugged in, then a laptop is not necessary.

Really? The first time we toured Europe, I had a small form factor desktop in a backpack (a Shuttle) and we borrowed monitors from the venues we played at. It was a f**king nightmare. We moved to a laptop in 2006 and it's been smooth sailing ever since. Being able to run on batteries has been a huge boost, too, as it eliminates a lot of ground hum problems and one less PSU (and the cables that go with it) on stage is always welcome. The fewer possible points of failure, the better.

I don't need that. My 3000 Bucks Mini should do it for a couple of years

Jesus H. Christ! That's more than twice what I paid for my dual screen laptop and you don't get even one screen for that, or a battery. Does it at least come with a keyboard and mouse?

The thing that spooks me about Apple is the lack of upgradability. I have always upgraded RAM and storage a couple of years after purchase for my DAW PC. It works out much more affordable that way.

This is where PC gaming laptops come to teh fore. Most vendors make it easy to upgrade RAM and SSDs and doing so won't void your warranty. I bought my Dell G7 with minimal RAM and a HDD, then upgraded it myself for less than half the cost of paying Dell for those components.

I also do not need a great GPU as not for gaming or design. You just don't get the customization options with Apple.

That's where they have always fallen down for me, too. To get all the features I wanted, they'd always force you to pay for a few expensive things I didn't.

There is still something so wanty about Apple products though. Just so slick and easy.

Not in my experience and I think the current gen MBs are ugly looking things. Easily the worst iteration of their design ever, although they are now a lot more practical than they've been for many years (lots of ports), which I think is way more important.

I guess the PC notebooks are better in 2023 than they used to be in 2020 but I am pretty sure they didn't catch up with the M series.

Benchmarks say otherwise -

https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-compare/i ... ple-m1-max

Or this older one which compares actual laptops, not just processors -

https://www.pcworld.com/article/393822/ ... -4000.html

The fact that the MB air or pro can run your session, not getting hot, with a lot of battery life is just too good. There is no way you can compare with a PC (imho).

Then, again, you'd be wrong (see above). My Core i5 2-in-1 provides more power than I'll ever need and the only time it even approaches getting hot is when I am rendering stuff out of Studio One. While I'm working, I never hear the fans at all. Rendering speed is usually in the realm of 3 to 5 times realtime, so there is obviously plenty of headroom, even with a lowly Core i5 CPU. Even the Iris XE on-board graphics are incredibly impressive - VSTi that notoriously take forever to initialise their GUIs, like Union and GR-8, open smoothly and quickly on this machine.

There is another point to take into account. The scaling. If you buy a modern PC laptop, you'll surely get something like my 4k.

I bought a brand new one last year with a full HD screen, they are easy to find if you go looking. I'd never want anything more than full HD unless my monitor was 27" or more.

WINDOWS DOESN'T WORK WELL WITH SCALING.

My direct, first-hand experience with this says it's better on Windows than it is on Mac. At least that was the case 5 or 6 years ago when I was last working on a Mac with a 4k display. If anything, it is more likely Windows has improved more than macOS in that time but when we got 4k monitors for our MacPros, the log-in screen was so small it was almost impossible to find the mouse cursor. it was unbelievably frustrating. And we had lots of issues with scaling in Photoshop, which made it difficult to do good work. I've never experienced either of those things working on 4k monitors with PC workstations running Win10.

But sadly I am not just here to watch the screen, I need to run my plugins and I need to run them comfortably. For that my experience is that the M1/M2 Pro is unrivalled today...

And you've tried out a number of 13th gen Core i9s for comparison, have you? Because all the benchmarks tell me that AMD and Intel processors work better most of the time, for most of the things we use our computers for.\

And to see how far Intel has come in the last couple of years, my 12th gen Core i5 outperforms my 11th Gen Core i7 by a noticeable margin. So songs that were rendering at 1.5-2.5 times realtime on my Core i7 machine render at 3-4 times realtime on the new Core i5. That's a big, big power boost in just one generation.

[FapFilter]

Command+N will open a new window of whatever is in focus.

of course, but it still works, as the basic user function of macOS is Finder (background activities not included) and command+N is what i'm using when i'm quickly wanting to open an actual Finder window if no other app is open yet
otherwise it's via Spotlight for me, but the Finder Spotlight search function you mentioned is also a good way to get into Finder, though personally i'm only using it when i'm actually about to search for files.

i find it more annoying though that the Finder icon is always there in the command+tab app switcher, but when no Finder window is actually open, it will do nothing, other than taking focus away from the app you're "switching from".
this icon should either not be there when Finder is not "opened" (like it can be set via the terminal) or a Finder window should be opened when selected if no Finder window is open yet