Hey all. I’m currently a high schooler, looking into buying a MacBook for myself. I’d like to get into producing music, as it’s something I’ve long dreamed of doing, and I feel like a MacBook is the best choice of all the laptops I’ve looked at. However, I’m unsure of whether I need the extra power of a MacBook Pro, or if I can get away with saving money by getting a MacBook Air. I’d like to spend as little as possible, but I am very afraid that cheaping out will backfire on me and cost me more later. What do you all recommend I go with?

Two additional things to note:

1: Whatever I end up buying, will most likely be a used machine that’s a couple of years old. I don’t have the money to pay Apple’s prices for a shiny, new machine.

2: Whatever I end up getting, I’ll probably also use when I go to college, if that matters at all.

Advice is greatly appreciated! Thank you all

    • CoolBen07@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      10 months ago

      Yeah no duh, I’m not stupid. I don’t think a computer in and of itself will teach me how to make music.

  • RareSiren292@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Depends on your budget. If your budget is around 1200 I would look at a refurbished 14" m1 pro MacBook pro. It’s a super fast machine and will last you until you graduate college. 120hz mini led screen is pretty good and definitely beats the 15" m2 air in terms of quality. Honestly if you can find m1 air with 16gb of ram that will meet your needs for basic school work for years. You never said a budget so giving that would 100% help. I would avoid going with an Intel mac. It’s just not worth it.

  • medes24@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Cheaping out won’t backfire on you as a student. The most basic Macbook Air is capable of running GarageBand fairly well and can even get some ok results with Logic.

    The conversation changes if you are using the tool in a professional sense but for where you’re at, you’ll be pretty alright.

    Just make sure to get at least an M1 Macbook Air. Don’t get an Intel Macbook at all.

  • Gold-Impress-1082@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    m1 air will do you great. i do a lot video and photo editing on it alongside other things. its a good device and i can see it lasting me for more years

  • sparrow_42@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    If you buy used, make sure you buy one new enough that it uses Apple’s current architecture; you don’t want to buy into an old hardware set that will get increasingly less support as the years go on. It’ll be supported for new software for longer, and (since Macbooks are pretty tough, generally) it might buy you an extra couple of years on the far end.

    You also want something with 8GB of RAM or better. If you buy new, you might go for 16 but 8 will be fine for the next several years.

  • MasterBendu@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    10 months ago

    Air.

    With that budget, and considering you’re just starting music production, you’re not buying nor going to be using enough processor intensive plugins to choke an Air.