Seeking advice for a new M5 MacBook Pro for a musician

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Level 3

931 points

Seeking advice for a new M5 MacBook Pro for a musician

I'm planning to get my 26-year-old son a new MacBook Pro M5. He is still using his 13-inch, 2020, 16GB Intel MBP running Big Sur. His main software is Logic Pro X. I'm trying to decide on either getting him the base M5 or the M5 Pro. I've been watching a lot of comparisons. I realize that the M5 Pro gets you a bit more RAM and performance. I figure that if he is currently using that older Intel, either one of the M5s would be a huge step up. I'm leaning towards the M5 with 32GB of RAM. But is the jump in performance and 24GBs of RAM in the M5 Pro better in the long run? I'm thinking it might be. He does have plugings that he uses. Any thoughts from the community? Should I also ask this in the Logic Pro X group? Thanks in advance.

MacBook Pro (M5 Pro, 2026)

Posted on Mar 22, 2026 8:54 AM

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Answer 1

BenB

Level 6

13,474 points

Mar 30, 2026 7:43 AM in response to Alfredo Jahn

I doubt you'll see major differences of any kind. Anything over 12-32 RAM is overkill, really. None of Apple's pro apps use that much. All his 3rd party plugins will need to be upgraded, and some may simply be outdated. And he'll be making a HUGE jump in Logic if he's on the legacy version. FYI, this is the Logic Pro group, there's no "X" specific group. I'd say if you have the money get the more advanced machine, can't hurt. But there's no real performance difference between the two any Logic user will notice. And verify upgrades in 3rd party plugins.

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