M1 or Intel for Logic Pro X

Hi,

Many people working with the new M1 macs report great performance with Logic and Final Cut BUT there is one major issue: Compatibility with third party applications. Many third party vendors are lagging with their native support for the M1 platform ( and Big Sur ). They will get there eventually but if your son has mission critical MIDI devices and plugins he needs to make sure they are fully supported and working either with Rosetta 2 ( not he best option) or natively.

If he gets an M1 I recommend that he does not migrate to the new computer from the old one but manually moves his files. A migration can bring legacy junk and clutter that will cause head aches.

As for the ports thunderbolt can be daisy chained on some devices and there are all sorts of great hubs to expand ports while managing power.

Hope this helps.

Don

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In that case, get an M1 MacBook Pro (16gig ram, minimum 512gig HD) with a docking station for the missing ports.

Apple are coding everything, apps, OS with Apple Silicon in mind. Intel and x86 coding hasn't been abandoned but I think the end of Intel code will come sooner than expected.

Bad timing on buying laptops. Apple are about to launch, any time from october to end of November, new 14inch and 16inch MacBook Pros with maybe newer versions of the Apple Silicon chips and maybe more ports.

I'd wait a couple of months if I was in the market for a new laptop. Even if you didn't go for the Apple Silicon one, the intel ones may drop in price.

If you are running Logic/Final Cut only, no third party plugins, M1 is the way.

I have a Mini M1(16Gb) and a Mini Intel i7 (16Gb)

I have a ton of third party plugins, so with the M1, it's Rosetta 2.

When I compare: I'll go back to the Intel Mini, if it's for serious work.

Rosetta isn't good enough!....And the vendors are really slow to

adapt their plugins natively to M1 (give me a list!)

The M1 is the future. It doesn't get hot...Best bang for the buck is MacBook Air.

I don't think Ozone 8 will run in Rosetta mode, Ozone 9 will...

To clarify my point, comparing intel with M1, in my experience.

If in Rosetta mode my M1 performs equal to my intel computer.

The M1 being a little less stable. Strange things happen now and then.

Probably due to third party plugin problems. In general it works fine.

The M1will be a lot more powerful when Rosetta is no longer needed.

AFAIK

Apart from the entry level MacBook Air, MacBook Air/ Pro and MacMini all perform the same.

Main difference: MB Air doesn't have a fan. But the M1 doesn't get hot. So why a fan?

And of course if you really need the Touch Bar, then go for the MB Pro.