Best Mac for Logic Pro

DrummerPady

Junior Member
Hi there.

I'm looking for a Macbook to get started on Logic Pro.
I never worked with Logic Pro before so I'm a complete beginner. I want to compose and record music with the Macbook.
I want the computer to last some years, and as I'm a very serious musician and student it won't take long for me to do a good job with Logic Pro.

The thing is I don't know whether I shall buy now a great computer, like the Macbook Pro Retina, that will last very very long time (very expensive). Or whether I shall buy a cheap and a used Macbook Pro to get started on Logic and later buy a great Macbook.

Well I hope you understand my problem and it would be awesome if some of you could share their experiences on that topic with me and the other users.

Well thank you already!
 
I currently use Logic Pro on my desktop Mac Mini and it works great. I have the 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo chip with 8GB of RAM. I would suggest you have at least that and as much RAM as you can stuff in there. People have been doing great musical things with that program on lesser MacBooks for some time, but I think the same rules apply: alot of RAM since you're dealing with alot of audio, and a fast hard drive. The MacBooks come with 5400 rpm drives but most people recommend 7200 or faster because of the accessing you do when recording. So you might be at a disadvantage with the stock hard drive, but it's a trade-off if you have enough RAM.
 
Actually, if you won't need a lot of software instruments and plugins, a normal macbook with 2-4 gb ram and 2.1ghz intel core duo is enough. (i had that myself)

RAM and CPU are only needed for a lot VST plugins and that stuff and of course Channel-Inserts (Eq's, Compressors, etc).

I ran logic on my macbook pro with an i7, 8gb ram and 720gb HD but it can't handle to record 16 tracks simultaniously which is a problem of logics internal HD management.
That is the reason why I switched to pro tools 10 - and it works.

(Also I think that Logic is a good software to program/record midi stuff but it's not really made for audio recording.)

You won't of course need a Retina Display as mostly no software is optimized for that display. You will be able to run Logic and all that stuff with a normal display :p


If you're intersted in buying Logic (180€ I think?) you could also spend a little bit more and get an education version of Pro Tools 10 for 250€ ...




Good luck :)
 
The biggest bottleneck in most systems now is the HDD. Having solid-state main storage would be a significant boon. That means a Macbook Air (13.3" with 8Gb of RAM), 15" 'Standard' Pro with an SSD (more expense for the upgrade but a more powerful system than the Air) or a Retina model (the 15" has a much better GPU arrangement).

My 2009 MacBook Pro is significantly less powerful than the more recent models. It can handle Logic (I use Reaper, but I used to use Logic) well but I've only ever used a maximum of eight tracks simultaneously. I'd actually be reasonably confident that a higher-end MacBook Air would handle things quite well - the i7 'Turbo Boost' feature is significant so even though the listed clock speed is 'only' 1.3GHz, it'll overclock itself to more than that.

In your position, I would buy a 15" non-retina MacBook Pro and get an SSD installed. That would be your best value proposition. With an SSD I'm sure my older model could handle audio even better and it does relatively well with an HDD. An SDD would be a solid improvement.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top