I have not. I’m also vaguely tempted, but I probably use headphones infrequently enough that not having to think about charging them is probably the better bet for me.

From what I’ve heard, the tech is solid. Sound quality isn’t amazing, though.

I’ve got the Bose for sitting around at home/work. Think these will be more for the fitness/going out without phone so not too worried about sound.

I would hold off on buying for now. They are likely to upgrade the MacBook and MacBook Pro line soon.

Watch this page for updates. https://buyersguide.macrumors.com/#Mac

Even if you don’t want the latest if you wait for the upgrade then you’ll be able to get a current model for less on Amazon or Jigsaw24.

I’d guess for music production you’ll want at least a Pro. In the current Gen I’d avoid the 13” as it is only dual core. You’d be better off going lower spec 15” which is quad. Guessing you won’t need to the super duper gfx for music, unless the software (Logic?) makes use of the graphics card memory in some way.

One major advantage is GarageBand -> Logic.
Unless noxy is already using ableton, or has mates who use ableton that he wants to make tunes with, GarageBand is a great way to get started. When you hit the limits of that, Logic is one of the most cost affordable pro packages around - just compare the price against the pro tiers of Cubase and ableton.

Even better was I got an NUS card cheap by registering for an online course, then the student Mac app bundle had logic, main stage and final cut in it, for the price of logic solus. They may have made it harder to exploit since then though - iirc you now need a Unidays login?

Ableton and Logic are equally competent to make stuff on. Like everything, people have their preferences but they normally relate to what they started off using.

Any gpu in a mac will be fine, you will almost certainly want more Ram than the mac comes with.
You can add this at additional cost but Apple charge a lot for it and it is very easy to upgrade yourself for a lot less money. Maybe once you select your model watch a YouTube video on how to upgrade, see if you are comfortable doing it.

Fucking lol. Classic Apple.
Ignore what I said then Noxy.

Looking at the options the Ram fitted should be fine in most MacBook Pro models, but Fuck me those things are insanely expensive! You really need a 15" screen to do music production, so starting price is £2350.

I don't think it's wise to he spending over £2k when just looking at getting into a hobby.

A bigger screen is nice to have, but you could always use an external monitor and drop a bit more on the specs. The major difference between the 13 and 15 inch machines aside from screen size is the addition of a discrete graphics card in the larger one. Useful for visual work, unnecessary for music.

Ableton have a couple of articles on this, here:

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/209775305-What-computer-should-I-buy-

And one on processors, here:

https://help.ableton.com/hc/en-us/articles/209067649-Multi-core-support-in-Live-FAQ

Interestingly, it seems that Ableton can run more threads on Mac than PC (64 vs 32) so a Mac may offer more bang for your buck anyway.

Edit: hang on, it’s more cores, not more threads, so that may only apply to super-powerful processors, perhaps.

equinox_code wrote:

I was hoping i could just spend up to 2500 and everything would be good to go. I bought a desktop PC for music production 3 or 4 years ago and that just disintegrated into a total mess*, so i thought perhaps it's good to give a Macbook a try. *admittedly pirate software, that might be part of the reason.

TBH, I think you'd be better off backing up any samples/loops you have off your current PC and doing a full reformat and reinstall of windows.

Then install Ableton - preferably a legit version, as I know I make more effort to use programs I've bought rather than pirated (Intro a €79 would be fine for starting out, but once you know the ropes you'll probably hit that channel limit and need to the Standard version at €349). If you're legit in the main app you'll also be less inclined to download cracked plugins and add to the perennial "lots of tools in the toolbox, but I don't like/I'm not inspired by any of them". Better to learn 1 thing well and learn to get what you want out of it, rather than a being uninspired by the presets in a handful of different things and lose interest.

So, I figure it's best to try to make use of what you've already got, rather than buying new gear and hoping that it works out.

I have one slight issue with them; that the re-pairing between iPad and iPhone and even sometimes to just the iPhone later in the day isn't as magical as they'd lead you to believe, but it's no big deal. In all other respects they're better than I hoped. I charge them less than weekly, the sound is definitely better than the wired, having them on a plane recently was just so much less hassle. 
Another big advantage for me is that a lot of what I listen to is spoken word stuff, and that's fine in just one ear and leaves me much more alert to traffic etc. on the walk to and from work. And you double the battery life.

Plus, I do actually still think they look stupid. Which is daft really, as they just cut out the leads which ought to look worse. I saw someone the other day though who had stuck them out at right angles. Probably deliberately, this is Brighton.

Okay, that is good.

Apple stuff tends to hold its value better than most tech, I’d be surprised if it was worth nothing.

Alternatively, Apple do offer trade-in prices for old laptops if you’re looking to upgrade.

Elmlea wrote:

JMW wrote:

AirPods are one of the best things they’ve come up with in years, pretty much a complete success.

Late to this, but as “chuck in a bag for out and about” use AirPods are absolutely amazing.  I’m really, really impressed; and the sound quality strikes me as better than the bundled headphones.  I’m still using a pair of B&W P5s as my “premium” headphones as a comparator, and while the AirPods aren’t giving them any trouble they’re still good.

Agreeeee. I got given a pair at work and would never consider spending the money for them in the past, always opting for Bluetooth earphones etc that were £20-30.

I’m sort of spoilt now, and couldn’t imagine going back. They just work so well, and require zero effort other than going to ‘bluetooth’ options now and then when going between work MacBook, iPhone, home MacBook etc.