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air and logic...
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fisherKing
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Jul 23, 2011, 07:46 PM
 
am running a first-gen aluminum 13" macbook, late 2008; the one (sigh) without firewire.
my main app is Logic (9.1.4); runs pretty well on this mac, even with a good number of plugins, audio running.

was planning a new 13" pro with the release of Lion, which is...here. but wondering about the 13" air...

spec wise, would run logic fine; 4gigs ram (which i have now); same on the air. the only things i'd gain on a pro would be: 8 gigs ram, more storage space, more ports, better graphics.

but...the air looks promising, and i run around a lot with my mac (nyc!).

any thoughts? and any thought if the 1.8 processor ($100 more) would make a negligible difference over the 1.7??

thanx peeps!
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
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Waragainstsleep
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Jul 25, 2011, 06:15 AM
 
If it runs fine on a 2008 MacBook, it should be better on the 13" Air which has been giving the 2010 MacBook Pros a run for their money. The SSD in the Air won't do any harm either.
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Spheric Harlot
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Jul 25, 2011, 06:31 AM
 
I can reliably make Logic hang under Lion when time-stretching by option-dragging the audio region's corner.
     
OreoCookie
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Jul 25, 2011, 07:44 AM
 
CPU-wise the high-end MacBook Air is about as fast as the fastest 2010 MacBook Pro. Also the graphics chip will be faster than what you have now. Since I haven't heard of Logic taking advantage of the GPU, I don't think this is a factor anyway.
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fisherKing  (op)
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Jul 25, 2011, 11:01 AM
 
thanks peeps, definitely worth considering.

am gonna wait until september, in case new macbook pros come, and those blow the current airs away...
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
OreoCookie
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Jul 25, 2011, 11:33 AM
 
Originally Posted by fisherKing View Post
am gonna wait until september, in case new macbook pros come, and those blow the current airs away...
That's not necessary: Ivy Bridge (the successor to the current generation of CPUs) has been delayed until Q2 2012. That means there is pretty much zero chance of new MacBook Pros in September.
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fisherKing  (op)
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Jul 25, 2011, 01:49 PM
 
everything with apple is, of course, speculation and rumor. personally, i find it hard to believe that apple will let the airs sit at the top of the macbook food chain until Q2 2012; i expect SOMETHING will come before end 2011, even if it's just modest speed/storage bumps, Lion pre-installed, etc.

anyway i can afford to wait, so...will see. at least the airs have earned pro status (and backlit keyboards!)
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
Waragainstsleep
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Jul 25, 2011, 02:03 PM
 
The Air is not top of the heap, its only as fast as the old generation of MBP. 2011 MBPs are still faster.
I have plenty of more important things to do, if only I could bring myself to do them....
     
fisherKing  (op)
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Jul 25, 2011, 03:28 PM
 
Originally Posted by Waragainstsleep View Post
The Air is not top of the heap, its only as fast as the old generation of MBP. 2011 MBPs are still faster.
duh! of course, i'm thinking of the comparisons to the 2010 mbps... thanx.
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
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OreoCookie
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Jul 25, 2011, 04:09 PM
 
Originally Posted by fisherKing View Post
everything with apple is, of course, speculation and rumor. personally, i find it hard to believe that apple will let the airs sit at the top of the macbook food chain until Q2 2012; i expect SOMETHING will come before end 2011, even if it's just modest speed/storage bumps, Lion pre-installed, etc.
Lion already comes pre-installed with the new Macs. That's the purported reason why Lion came a week `late' (i. e. after the GM was released). Regarding upgrades, you can tell quite well when Apple is going to release new machines: just have a look at Intel's release schedule. Even if we assume Apple is getting first pick, because it is such a good customer, I don't think Intel can deliver something half a year early.

Another very good indicator is the average time between upgrades: the last-gen Air was a stop-gap solution, because Sandy Bridge-based Intel CPUs weren't ready yet, but Apple updates notebooks once every 8-10 months. If you add that up, this fits rather nicely with spring/early summer 2012. Even if Intel and Apple are quick, I doubt it'll be before February.

Also, the Airs are not `at the top of the food chain', they use the same CPU generation as all other Macs with the exception of the Mac Pro. That's because Sandy Bridge-based Xeons aren't available yet (they will launch Q4 2011/Q1 2012).
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fisherKing  (op)
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Jul 28, 2011, 02:54 PM
 
sorry to come back to this but..
what about the 13" mba vs the CURRENT top-of-the-line 13" mbp?
i can get twice the ram (8gigs) on the pro.
not as concerned with storage (i keep a lot of non-current files on an external drive anyway).

it's speed, power. will Logic be happier with the faster ram and HD of the air?
or MORE ram and a faster processor on the pro?

IF anyone has any thoughts....
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 28, 2011, 05:00 PM
 
You can fit 16 GB into a MacBook Pro 13".

You can retrofit an SSD into a MacBook Pro 13".

Keep an eye on this thread for tests, or see if you can run it yourself at an Apple Store, or whether somebody else has run it on some other forum:
Logic Pro Multicore Benchmarktest ! - Gearslutz.com

It's kind of a no-brainer, I think, especially seen long-term, but fast enough for you may mean something different, and your long-term perspective may be different, as well.
     
fisherKing  (op)
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Jul 28, 2011, 05:07 PM
 
Originally Posted by Spheric Harlot View Post
You can fit 16 GB into a MacBook Pro 13".

You can retrofit an SSD into a MacBook Pro 13".

Keep an eye on this thread for tests, or see if you can run it yourself at an Apple Store, or whether somebody else has run it on some other forum:
Logic Pro Multicore Benchmarktest ! - Gearslutz.com

It's kind of a no-brainer, I think, especially seen long-term, but fast enough for you may mean something different, and your long-term perspective may be different, as well.
good info (altho i'm NOT dropping $1400 on ram!)..
i'd use the macs as is, i.e. the pro with it's 5400rpm 500 gig drive.
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 28, 2011, 05:19 PM
 
Neither the SSD nor the RAM will stay at current prices.

the MacBook Air, however, will stay at 4 GB.
     
fisherKing  (op)
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Jul 28, 2011, 11:25 PM
 
my last thought:

with the pro, i can bump the ram to 8gigs...and then run logic 64bit (right now i'm running 32). no point with 4gigs...
THIS is one significant difference between the macbooks.

any thoughts?
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
Spheric Harlot
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Jul 29, 2011, 06:30 AM
 
Yeah: Nobody has any idea how necessary that will be for you, but yourself.

Do note that if you're working with virtual instruments, memory requirements will keep increasing, not going down.

I barely scratched by on 3 GB on my previous machine, and I almost never use software instruments.

I have 8 now and should be set for a while.
     
OreoCookie
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Jul 29, 2011, 07:21 AM
 
That's a question you have to answer yourself. But Lion has a few features that should reduce the number of page-outs: it automatically quits apps that are not in use, thus freeing up resources if necessary. I find 4GB are not enough for what I do. How much RAM do you have now? If it is 4 GB, have a look at the page-outs in Activity Monitor. If it is significantly larger than 0 after a day of use (note that it accumulate and 4 GB of page-outs after a month of uptime is not the same as 4 GB after a day of use), then you can tell whether you benefit from more RAM or not. Note that the performance impact of having to page-out on a system with an SSD is smaller than on a system with a traditional hard drive.
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fisherKing  (op)
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Jul 29, 2011, 10:27 AM
 
good information, and thanks all.

will probably do a new pro: i don't need firewire, or an optical drive, but...8gigs ram, and the (later) possibility to upgrade to an SSD...makes it worthwhile.

guess i have to figure this out for myself (was hoping someone would figure it for me, and perhaps pay for it as well....)
"At first, there was Nothing. Then Nothing inverted itself and became Something.
And that is what you all are: inverted Nothings...with potential" (Sun Ra)
     
   
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