Topic: Macbook/Macbook Pro thread

[Andy @ Allerton!]

Started missing Windows a bit

1) Had to map a network drive and grab a file and stick it in a program's root folder. This was ludicrously convoluted, including a keyboard-shortcut only command to show a hidden folder locally I needed to use (the application had a folder viewable but this wasn't the right one, the one I needed was hidden), but what the hell is up with the SMB thing when connecting a drive, also it couldn't use the actual name of the drive, it needed converted to some Apple speak. Neither of which I could figure out, and it was amusing going online and seeing loads of people posting also unable to map a drive. My colleague, a diehard Mac user for years, helped me and admitted.. yes, it's shite

2) my desktop icons vanished.
What the hell is the use of stacks mode

Yeah the Finder App and it's handling of folders and files is a fucking joke. Absolutely terrible. Good luck with moving stuff as well and cut and paste.

Wankers.

[ToneLa]

Was happily cleaning all my screens

Macbook's turn - it looks worse

What, do I need to buy some special Apple brand screen cleaner?

What I use (generic screen cleaner) is fine for my telly, my phone, my laptop; but with the Macbook it looks a streaky mess

[Zlen]

No liquid of any kind. Get a super soft cloth used for wiping glasses and use that. It’ll leave your screen perfectly clean.

[ToneLa]

Cheers

Though it's still different from everything else

[Tricia Dingle]

The Apple Store uses this to clean their demo devices and it’s quite effective considering how many hands/fingerprints they must have on their products everyday.

[PaulF]

Was happily cleaning all my screens

Macbook's turn - it looks worse

What, do I need to buy some special Apple brand screen cleaner?

What I use (generic screen cleaner) is fine for my telly, my phone, my laptop; but with the Macbook it looks a streaky mess

You have to use fresh unicorn tears applied with a cloth woven from the loch Ness monsters' hair

[Claire.]

is anyone considering a vision and/or tried one?

I'd largely ignored it and then I watched the video and I shouldn't have watched the video.

[Hedley Lamarr]

is anyone considering a vision and/or tried one?

I'd largely ignored it and then I watched the video and I shouldn't have watched the video.

Hahaha, same here.  My initial thought was that it was a weird, gimmicky gadget.  Then I saw someone watching TV, in various aspect ratio's wherever he liked and I'm like, 'perhaps I do need that'....

[Claire.]

haha ikr, the cinema thing with the dimmed/location backgrounds 👀 and then when I saw it connect to a PS5 🥺 aaaaand then be able to be used as a screen for the Mac I was like, okay I want this.

[ToneLa]

You have to use fresh unicorn tears applied with a cloth woven from the loch Ness monsters' hair

remarkably straightforward for Apple

is anyone considering a vision and/or tried one?

I'd largely ignored it and then I watched the video and I shouldn't have watched the video.

Looks amazing, but I did that thing of where I'd actually use it - my home PC is connected to me telly - and like, the Quest 2 is still gathering dust..

And video capped at 30fps? Nah. (Yeah, I know that's a pretty standard rate, but I'm using Lossless Scaling on Steam to interpolate extra frames, and it's amazing - sport at a genuine 60fps is just great)

[Claire.]

That was my initial thought on it, that it’s probably cool but when would I realistically use it? And then I realised most my of my stuff is apple and of course I can connect it to all of it.. what I’d love to see is if I could connect to my Mac and throw up extra displays from the desktops, then it’d be unreal useful.

I still want one but the price is insane so I’m gonna see if I still feel the same in a month 😀

[CraigDS]

Yeah my thinking is the same. I'd love one, but not sure how much I'd really use it and with the price what it is I'm not so inclined to test out just how much use it would get.

In saying that - I'll prob end up buying it 

[afc tukrish]

Yeah my thinking is the same. I'd love one, but not sure how much I'd really use it and with the price what it is I'm not so inclined to test out just how much use it would get.

In saying that - I'll prob end up buying it 

So long as you express some pre-related doubt beforehand, you've clearly done balanced and thorough analysis, and are therefore relieved of any potential guilt...

[Claire.]

https://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1e3q47m/to_all_those_who_have_had_the_vision_pro_for/

👀

[ToneLa]

Someone with a triple monitor setup who can't spell triple  good ol' Reddit

[Claire.]

I still want one but the price is insane so I’m gonna see if I still feel the same in a month 😀

I still want one.

[Hedley Lamarr]

I still want one.

In the words of Nike, just do it. Then the rest of us either do or don’t.  As a mod I feel it’s your position to take these first steps 😂

[Claire.]

work bonus month so we'll see!

[ToneLa]

I actually want a Macbook for myself now

NOOOOOOO

but the music software I use is available on Mac which was pretty much my essential thing.

Not done serious research yet - this might even wear off, I've had a week off work so not used my work Macbook to annoy me for a bit - but wondering if I'm just better getting a decent spec M2 macbook, cause some of them have more cores than the M3 base

..... Apple really don't like giving you storage space do they?

[Zlen]

Best bang for buck currently is MB Air.
And yes, they are stingy as fuck on storage and charge every step up in storage space like its made of gold.

[ToneLa]

Ooh, nice. The Airs look good but I might do some (light) gaming on them too, though my gaming PC is not going anywhere nor should it. Ta

Will start reading reviews and the like.

Also, is it worth waitin for black friday

[Claire.]

If you're after an M2 was a decent spec on Costco with £400 off I saw.

out of stock :| https://www.costco.co.uk/Computers/Laptops-MacBooks/Apple-MacBook-Pro-Apple-M2-Max-Chip-12-Core-CPU-38-Core-GPU-32GB-RAM-1TB-SSD-16-Inch-in-Silver-MNWE3BA/p/440002

[GBF]

Hello Mac'ies,  what are your views on refurbished Macbook air's model between 2018-2020?  Are they decent to use for browsing, organising pictures, play Netflix/Youtube, some Word and Excel?

Missus wants to buy one not too expensive but I have no clue if they are going to be very slow (because of software upgrades) or too old to use MS Office.

[Claire.]

Get an M1 (2020+), it'll handle all of that no problem. Always go for the most ram you can get.

[GBF]

Get an M1 (2020+), it'll handle all of that no problem. Always go for the most ram you can get.

thank you

[ToneLa]

If you're after an M2 was a decent spec on Costco with £400 off I saw.

out of stock :| https://www.costco.co.uk/Computers/Laptops-MacBooks/Apple-MacBook-Pro-Apple-M2-Max-Chip-12-Core-CPU-38-Core-GPU-32GB-RAM-1TB-SSD-16-Inch-in-Silver-MNWE3BA/p/440002

Ooh I AM a Costco member - but do they allow finance?

[Claire.]

not a clue, that ones out of stock online but could have a look in the warehouse, they have got other ones on different sales.

[PaulF]

I'm guessing you didn't get the vision pro Claire?  (based on not seeing a review).

I don't even know what it is.


Sorry to hear about your mac woes this morning Andy.

[Claire.]

Not yet. Almost caved about two weeks ago, though.

[Claire.]

https://www.reddit.com/r/VisionPro/comments/1fd5y18/shopping_on_vision_pro_still_feels_like_magic/

🥺

[PaulF]

ah wow. It's minority report.

[thejbs]

As with all things Apple, I’ll not be an early adopter, but could see me getting one of these in a few years when they properly integrate it with Logic Pro.

[ToneLa]

There's a VR synth app on Steam I use with my Quest 2, it's really something, you can wire uo the synths yourself, patch cables into effect boards, the lot... it's really mesmerising

But I'm not sure I want a VR like device for serious work

I'd never do my serious mixing work in VR... I dunno. maybe if it was properly all-encompassing. One of the things I do like is the real feeling of being shut off, you ARE in some other place. Though, to be honest, when I'm working on music, that place is almost entirely mental

I'm gonna stick with my analogue life a while yet. Though I keep seeing a Macbook shaped hole in my own workflow. Still a while before I get the funds to spend on Macbooks or anything else for that matter.

Seen a few posts on reddit etc about the Airs - swollen batteries? Eep

[CraigDS]

As with all things Apple, I’ll not be an early adopter, but could see me getting one of these in a few years when they properly integrate it with Logic Pro.

This is the only thing holding me back to be honest, in that I think it will likely be exceptional with a lot more use cases in 2 or 3 years time, and the hardware then will be 10x better.

[thejbs]

There's a VR synth app on Steam I use with my Quest 2, it's really something, you can wire uo the synths yourself, patch cables into effect boards, the lot... it's really mesmerising

But I'm not sure I want a VR like device for serious work

I'd never do my serious mixing work in VR... I dunno. maybe if it was properly all-encompassing. One of the things I do like is the real feeling of being shut off, you ARE in some other place. Though, to be honest, when I'm working on music, that place is almost entirely mental

I'm gonna stick with my analogue life a while yet. Though I keep seeing a Macbook shaped hole in my own workflow. Still a while before I get the funds to spend on Macbooks or anything else for that matter.

Seen a few posts on reddit etc about the Airs - swollen batteries? Eep

I love my software synths in terms of tone and flexibility, but nothing compares to playing with a hardware synth for absolute joy. I would love to see VR help bridge that gap as you describe. Make it easier to perform with VSTs as I would with hardware. Having a virtual screen to free up desk space would also suit me. It will be interesting to see how it evolves for ‘serious’ work.

Still, at present, this thing is £3500 and for that I could grab a Polybrute 12; or a Moog Muse with enough left over for other toys. As it stands, either option would be more fun and likely more productive.

[Claire.]

This is the only thing holding me back to be honest, in that I think it will likely be exceptional with a lot more use cases in 2 or 3 years time, and the hardware then will be 10x better.

This is the sensible answer and it’s where I keep going between ‘yeah but, fuck it it looks so much fun’

[Zlen]

I'm still not really sold on VR in general.
We've had pretty good headsets for years now and they are still 'use for few hours - never pick up again' type of gear.
Apple will certainly have their ideas on where to evolve this, but the form factor, price and battery are so stacked against it now it'll take a long time for it to change.

[ToneLa]

I love my software synths in terms of tone and flexibility, but nothing compares to playing with a hardware synth for absolute joy. I would love to see VR help bridge that gap as you describe. Make it easier to perform with VSTs as I would with hardware. Having a virtual screen to free up desk space would also suit me. It will be interesting to see how it evolves for ‘serious’ work.

Still, at present, this thing is £3500 and for that I could grab a Polybrute 12; or a Moog Muse with enough left over for other toys. As it stands, either option would be more fun and likely more productive.

you alright, you

[ToneLa]

The time is upon me

Was looking at the Macbook Air this weekend in John Lewis's, gorgeous machine

Still not 100% on that vs the Pro for my needs though:

Music production, mainly.
I want it setup to take live mic input - I'll get an external device for this purpose - and record
As well as do heavy lifting in my DAW, plugins, seamless feedback

By everything I've seen online, the M3 air is just fine for horsepower - I will be getting expanded RAM and storage as fuck it you only get one shot with Apple

But then for the money, am I better just getting a Macbook Pro which won't have ANY questions when it comes to raw processing power

It's just, is the Air that good, or am I taking a risk? This needs to be a complete solution

Bang for your buck is the thing here. The buck itself doesn't worry me.. but I need a bit of advice to push me one side of the line if anyone can shed info, ta

Other factors: well the Macbook Pro I got for work is portable and lovely so I already know what a Macbook Pro is like....

[thejbs]

If you’re just recording a few audio channels, the air will be 100% fine as it has a fast ssd and a decent processor. I use a lot of midi instruments and plugins and usually have a high track count so I like the extra grunt of the pro. If you do decide pro, hold off a month or so for the new M4 update.

With music production I’ve always erred on the side of overkill. A well specced pro will last you a decade.