MacOS

[gpaaib]

At the moment I have an old Windows Laptop that I plan on dumping, and want to go Mac. I really like the AIR since I will be taking it with me everywhere, but I'm also concerned whether or not I can use it for my music. Would it be smarter for me to deal with the extra weight in my travels and go with a Mac Pro, or would the AIR work for me just fine?

Thanks!

Gary

[gdoubleyou]

I used a Core2duo macbook for several years with Logic, no problems with sessions of 32-48 tracks. I did use an external firewire hard drives and the firewire MOTU 828 audio interface. The only concern I would have is small size of the Internal flash drive, but it would have enough juice for medium sized projects.

[HP Hovercraft]

It should work fine, but I would personally wait until the Airs get the new processors.

[isomer]

Just by the way you asked the question, it sounds like your primary concern is travel rather than processing power, and the Air should be fine. If your "old" windows laptop is more than 3 years has been working for you OK, then chances are the current Air in any configuration will blow your socks off for speed and portability. It might be awhile till the Air sees a refresh; the last one was last fall, IIRC, and there was some concern it may never see a refresh then, so Conventional Wisdom says it's at least another six months until an upgrade.

[Rimmer]

The Macbook Pro's are currently the faster machines. They are hardly bulky or hard to transport. My sister bought and Air recently and loves it although it's not something I would purchase as I prefer the guts of the Macbook Pro's to the lightness and slightness of the Air.. Regards. Rimmer

[Wyatt]

The Macbook Air is an excellent machine. For general use and portability, it's hard to match. I run into some who have the misconception that's it's just an expensive netbook or something. The Air is a real laptop, with serious processing power. Is it the workstation and desktop replacement that the Macbook Pro is? No. Honestly few laptops are. But it's competitive with the power the regular Macbooks (its starting to look like the Air is being grooming to be THE Macbook, eventually the choices may be MB Air or MB Pro and nothing inbetween), it runs very cool and very stable, it's SSD is fast and everything is nice and quiet and incredibly light. I can say firsthand that it's light enough that can be mistakenly picked up and thrown out with yesterday's newspaper. It's just that light. For my workstation, I run a Mac Pro tower (I work in VFX), and if I needed a work laptop, it would be a MB Pro. For a personal machine, something to use around the house, or general work, there is no competition for me, it is the Air.

[z1221]

I'd wait for Sandybridge and the Thunderbolt I/O

[DJKeys]

The latest issue of Keyboard magazine has a complete review of the MacBook Air for digital recording:

http://www.keyboardmag.com/article/apple-macbook-air/4546

[poderoso]

I used to own the 2010 model macbook air. I could play starcraft 2 on low graphics setting. That should say a lot in regards to capability. I sold it and got an ipad. Suits my needs more than the air did. And like 3x longer battery usage.

[cybersecretary]

Same boat Gary, did you solve your problem... i want to go mack and run Ableton..5.. and then up date the ableton. what processor and is thunder the way to go or last years pro ok?

[m.shaw87]

The latest MBA's seem to be pretty impressive when you compare them with the 1st Gen models. Just need to put bigger internal drives in them.

[Brian Hulnick]

I actually think that the MBP looks a lot more aesthetically pleasing than the MBA. It looks to thin to me, like a kiddies toy almost.

[cybersecretary]

got the new MBPro..!!! i am out of the stone age! os Lion is awesome... will mess around with Garage band vs Ableton Live next week when have time. i don't think the Air has a CD drive.. all flash. get the MB pro.

[WynnD]

Good move! You'll love the machine. And take good care of the battery as specified. Mine is 15 months old now and the widget istat-pro says the batter is at 96% of new health. I just love that under my normal use battery life is around 7-10 hours. If you're considering a Henge Dock for yours, I have an extra. Thought my Wife would want it, but she doesn't. (Had a discount on a pair.) Let me know if you're interested. It's for a 2009 and later 13" MacBook Pro.

[cybersecretary]

thanks WynnD the dock is nice, good reviews too but i got rid of the desk top and just using the MBP. rock on!

[cybersecretary]

oh yeah so that battery calibration thing... let it drain, let it sleep, let it charge turn off? or something.. i'll have to look that up. also should i make a bootable back up of the OS?

[hociman]

oh yeah so that battery calibration thing... let it drain, let it sleep, let it charge turn off? or something.. i'll have to look that up.

Let it drain, charge it, let it die again.

also should i make a bootable back up of the OS?

If you can, yes.

[isomer]

The last part of this thread made me curious about making bootable Lion backups. I like the thumb drive idea, especially for the MacBook Air, but for any unit. I use my MBP DVD drive so rarely that the thing was crapped out for a year before I got around to having it looked at...could have been in bad shape if I needed an emergency boot in that time. Anyway, I found this post to some "'donationware" that will simplify making the thumb drive: http://www.redmondpie.com/make-os-x-lion-bootable-dvd-flash-drive-sd-card-in-one-click-with-lion-dis.... I have no personal connection or experience with this, just encouraging our new MBA owner to not put off this important task!

[Brian Hulnick]

I think the MB Pro is a seriously fantastic piece of kit. It looks great, performs superbly and the battery lasts an eternity. Nothing to complain about.

[cybersecretary]

FYI just read...http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1490 Portables with built-in batteries Current Apple portable computer batteries are pre-calibrated and do not require the calibration procedure outlined in this article. These computers use batteries that should be replaced only by an Apple Authorized Service Provider. my new one has the internal battery that can's be changed except by apple so i guess calibration is not necessary..