M2 MacBook Air: Can It Power A Professional Studio? M2 vs M1 Max for Mixing & Mastering
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- Опубликовано: 1 июл 2024
- Testing the M2 MacBook Air to see if it can meet my needs as a professional audio engineer and power my studio as the main computer. I also compare it with my 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro for their performances on amp sims, mixing plugins, project loading speed, CPU usage and RAM usage.
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⏰ Timestamps:
00:00 Start
00:17 M2 MacBook Air Specs/Configurations
00:33 16" M1 Max MacBook Pro Specs/Configurations
01:07 My overall experience after 2 months of using the M2 MacBook Air
01:40 Plugin compatibility for Apple Silicon systems
02:03 M2 MacBook Air vs M1 Max MacBook Pro: Build
02:42 Connectivity options
03:00 Testing starts. Some considerations about the tests
03:27 M2 vs M1 Max amp sim test in Logic: Overloud TH-U
04:04 M2 vs M1 Max amp sim test in Logic: STL Tones AmpHub
04:34 M2 vs M1 Max amp sim test in Logic: Neural DSP Archetype Gojira (Rosetta 2)
05:00 M2 vs M1 Max amp sim test in REAPER: Overloud TH-U
05:50 M2 vs M1 Max amp sim test in REAPER: STL AmpHub
06:09 M2 vs M1 Max amp sim test in REAPER: Neural DSP Archetype Gojira (Rosetta 2)
06:27 M2 vs M1 Max single core test: How many instances of Saturn 2 with crazy settings can you put on one single track in Logic Pro X?
07:29 M2 vs M1 Max RAM test: RAM usage and swap memory
09:56 M2 vs M1 Max: loading speed of a large mixing and mastering project containing 200+ tracks, 270 plugins and complex routing
10:34 M2 vs M1 Max: CPU usage in the same mixing and mastering project
11:21 My thoughts on the M2 MacBook Air for music production as a professional audio engineer
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Finally, performance tests that actually make sense for audio production. So many testing methods focus solely on gaming or video editing aspects of a computer. These are the actual scenarios I encounter, and was the first test that truly gave me important information relevant to what I am doing myself😅
so many video editing tests, so many people making videos about making videos gets a bit meta.
Thank you for your kind words! And yes, the lack of testing in an audio engineering perspective is exactly why I made these videos!
@@JamesZhan Your results with Reaper are interesting; in an interview the developer of Reaper said that he had difficulties getting Reaper to work well with these new Apple chips. Thus it would surprise me if Reaper did better than Logic; I am a Reaper user.
@@musicalneptunian Maybe they figured it out!
@@JamesZhan Hi, James! Please advise if the Macbook Air M2 will cope with my needs: I am a vocalist, I record vocals to order, so I have up to 40 vocal tracks in one project. I am also starting to learn to write music. Of the programs - the main Logic Pro, maybe sometimes video editing. I have an external ssd too.
Which is better: 16/265 or 8/512? I would choose 16/512, but the price is already too high for me😭
Despite you named this review not a scientific one, man, it's the most scientific for me personally in terms of music production. Thanks a heap!
It's great to have someone look at these new M chips through the lense of a music producer!
Thanks a lot!
You’ve made my decision, Mac Book Pro M2, 512 GB, 16 GB Ram 14.2”, for my small home studio for recording and video editing, Thank You
The Air is probably enough but I want that extra.
This is the most helpful set of music benchmarks I’ve seen on RUclips. Seeing the 8GB M2 Air crush the RAM test gives me confidence that I don’t need to shell out for a MBP, at least not to get more RAM. Thanks!
that was very clear and informative, thank you for putting in the time to run these tests, very much so appreciated !
This is a great perspective James! Extremely helpful for music creators, artists and producers. Appreciate it :D
Just what I needed! Thanks!
Great video !!
I'm an absolute beginner when it comes to music production and daw usage even tho I'm a singer. Whenever I watch this video , I'm fully convinced that m2 air is my right choice to make. But then other tech channels put down the m2 air and deny its usability for basic music production. So I come back and watch your video again !!
Picking up my m2 air next week !!
This is the most helpful practical review I've seen when it comes to MacBook Air's. Thank you 🙏
been looking to upgrade from windows to mac, and this video helps a lot! love the benchmarks, and the video itself is so well made, thanks for this! keep up the good work
Thanks for this video! I’m looking at a new laptop based setup and always assumed more was better. Then I started wondering about the M2 Air and after watching your video this seems very encouraging. Thanks again! Andre
"More is better" is exactly what Apple (and other tech companies) want you to think. That's why I like making videos about how you should buy according to your needs!
Exactly the info I needed. Thank you! Great video.
Thank you I needed help w information to pick a laptop for my son . He’s looking into working w music and videos. Thank you!
...after watching you review went to the store and bought mb air 13' m3 with 512ssd and 16gb ram....OMG!! this little baby is actually a beast!! runs logic and cubase like a joke with many plugins....thank you James for your amazing detailed reviews!! respect
& thank u for your affirmation!!! i’m gonna cop this one as well 👀
Dude, as a musician who’s had both these machines and also uses STL tones. This review is remarkably detailed but with the information easily explained. Really impressive. Well done mate got a new subscriber in Australia
did the M2 Air hold up?
This is super useful, in particular seeing the absolute numbers of instances that you're able to run simultaneously before crashing
Big thanks for this video! I was looking at the new mb pro with the m2 pro and max for music production and your testing on the mb air is a lot more in line with how i think im going to use it and also saves me some money that I can use towards buying a better interface.
Great experiment. Very articulate and straight to the point with the visuals. All business, no gimmicks. Excellent. A great add-on test would be render time on bouncing a project with maximum tracks all loaded with plugins.
Good point!
Incredibly impressively detailed and well explained video with great literal examples ! Thanks dude
So greatful for your videos! They are exactly what I'm looking for
Finally the video I was looking for.
Another great video, thank you! I think I'm getting closer to mkaing a decision on these new Macs now.
very good comparison, exactly what I was looking for at the moment. thanks you very much! :)
Brilliant video, you really put these machines through their paces!! Something you don't see too often. I think it's safe to say that for most music producers, especially part timers/hobby types, the M2 chip should be just fine.
thank you so much it was really helpful and decisive to listen to your video!
I been waiting for this!
Thank you for this video. Finally real performance tests that matter ✨🥰🤩🥰
Legit the best music production perspective review i could find.
Wow, I appreciate the kind words!
Thank you for this! All of the other music producer videos that I found had automatically upgraded to more RAM and a bigger SSD. Yours is the only music production oriented video I've seen using the entry level specs. I'm just a bedroom artist - it looks like the entry level machine will more than meet my needs.
Glad you liked my video! Yeah, nowadays people always tell you to get more, more and some more, while that's not always necessary. Future-proofing is sometimes just an excuse to justify unnecessary extra expense imo 😂
Nah upgrade the ssd at the very least if you do any level of music production you should know that 256 is not enough..
@@samnene Nah, If he can only choose one to upgrade it should be the RAM. SSD can be extended through external SSD anytime of the day.
@@bassyeygood point
Thanks a million James. Instant subscribe as your videos are exactly what I was looking for to help my buying decision. Youre a star. Blessings.
Perfect video that I looking for M2 vs M1 Max comparisons. It’s the only video I found that goes in serious depth. I think i’m going to either wait for a Studio M2 Max or just get a Studio M1 Max.
Really good video, thank you. Thinking of upgrading to the new Air from my 2015 MacBook Pro so this was really helpful. I only really use it for running Logic.
Thank you for this video. I was wondering about getting an M2 MacBook Air.
Teleprompter or not , you are one smart well spoken dude! Learning a lot today and very grateful for your hard work, your present ion, and your channel! New subscriber today. Wish you well!
I greatly appreciate the obvious effort you put into distilling your video content. So many people rattle on, but you're concise and the information was precise and relevant to answering my question: would the mac air m2 be sufficient for my music production needs. Many thanks
Very Helpful. Thanks ☺️
Great comparison, really helpful.
awesome summary and comparison.
Yes this is good info for music prod and good cons n pro stuff and nice benchmark stuff to see how capable the “different” systems are! Very relaxed to watch! Thank you much! + 1 sub
been following your channel for a short while and i’ve learned so much already. that’s is for these tests as, like someone else pointed out, not many people post test results with so much comparative data. this makes me excited for the upcoming M2 laptops :)
signed, a 2015 MBP user.
Glad you liked my videos! Appreciate the kind words.
Stay with that 2015 mbp as long as possible, these machines are some of the best MacBooks ever!
Fantastic video. Thank you! 😊
I am just thinking about swapping from Win to Mac and being a part time musician, this video really helps to optimize the budget. Nice work mate!
Hi James, grateful for this video as the M2 Base Air is more than sufficient for music production. Thanks.😊
Fantastic video! Super helpful
Another fantastic video. Thank you sir.
Very cool video once again!
Legend. Thank you for doing these videos!
this is an incredible video. kudos!
Very helpful, thank you.
This video is awesome. Thank you so much.
Best review. Thanks!
Your video has confirmed my decision thank you 😊
Another great video James - Thank you 🙂
You are welcome. Glad you liked it!
Thank you very much for this.
As a Studio Owner, logic user and computer enthusiast I would venture to say that the optimizations in Reaper come down to 2 things. Reaper has been built for ARM on Linux for almost 6 years now. I have a video from a year before Apple moved to ARM showing how to install Reaper on an ARM based Linux laptop called a Pinebook Pro and it ran fine on the fanless Pinebook even though the Pinebook has a very old and outdated ARM chip the RK 3399 that is used in small single board computers. But I think the time spent making Reaper work with small ARM machines like the Raspberry Pi and the Pinebook Pro have shown the Reaper developers how to get the most out of very low end chips and this just scales up to Apple's way more powerful M Series ARM processors.
very helpful video!! thank you :D
Any new MacBook is gonna smoke my 2014 Intel MacBook Pro for music production. Feeling better about getting an M2 MacBook Air 15” now. Awesome channel and great video!
Hi James, I remember you from the URM forums back in the day. Glad to see the channel is doing well and appreciate the detailed review as it's new macbook season and a lot to consider. Peace and love.
Thanks! I will be reviewing the new M2 MacBook Pros in the future :)
@@JamesZhan Amazing James, I went with refurb base M1 Pro for now - im more on the programming side these days and only occasionally mix. Too much of a bargain to ignore. All the best.
This is a wonderful video. Thank you, sir.
Keep going brother. Your videos are fantastic!!
Thank you! Glad you like them!
Wow great video and content! Thank you! Makes me feel much better if I get the MBA m2, instead of getting a MBP.
Thank you so much for this vídeo 😊
Perfect, thank you
i am so thankful for your fantastic videos! thank you!
Thanks for the comparison. There are definitely advantages going with the air, especially with the option of a 15" screen. In comparison i think i will still go with MBP, $300 difference and i get hdmi and SDXC ports which I definitely need
thank you for this video, it convinced me to pick up a second hand base model m2 air (got for an incredibly low price from the first owner) coming from years of using either i3 old laptop or an intel inside (don't ask why lol) using the m2 for production feels like I'm in literal heaven, thanks again!
I'd say over 32 gb its a luxury but u could say u're future proofin your machine, 16 gb looks like a sweet spot and the 10 cores m1 pro for music production 👀
Whoever you are thank you’re like the most concise person on earth
Awesome review!
thanks, great video.
1:30 seconds he just tells you what you need to know. Thanks man
Good stuff James
Great video! Very useful. Thank you for adding Reaper in the balance; the most underrated fantastic daw in history IMO.
Great video dude 💯
Thanks :) Right now this is by far the most informative video on the subject. This helped me go for the Macbook Air M2 8/256, and not over-do it on a higher model. Haven`t gotten it yet, but got it at a very good price, so we`ll see how it goes. Thanks again. Your vids are great!
Did you get it? How is it?
@@benyamin.shults Hi. Bought it used. It was a brand new gifted M2 Air still in its wraping, and it turned out to be stolen... Luckily the seller was honest, and took it back, so i went for a used M1 MBP 13" 16/2TB insead, and that thing is a beast, if anyone was wondering :) (it was 400 bucks more tho) Believe i`ll keep that one for a few years. 😁
thank you a lot for this video, now I'n mot afraid about my new MBA :D
Thank you, this was a helpful video!
You are very welcome!
I haven’t upgraded to the M2 Air. My M1 Air can handle the 24 orchestra tracks I use regularly. I’m still running 8gb of ram, and using a external hard drive for storage. When I get a major film score I’ll upgrade to a M1 MacBook Pro. Until then, the M1 Air will still be my workhorse.
What plug-in instruments do you use?
@@Magnetic1908 Arturia Analog V, Native Instuments, Spitfire Audio, are the main ones but I use many different ones
@@wren23_bass-synths we use the same instruments that’s great to know. I’m was looking into getting the MacBook Air 16gb but if 8gb is good enough to run AL v5, Pigments, and other power intensive plugins then I could save money. Its for modern music production/mixing purposes. Thank you!
@@wren23_bass-synths some years back it was advertised to max out your ram. I guess that’s not the case anymore with these new chips if you don’t have extremely huge sessions and are just making beats.
@@Magnetic1908 there’s been sometimes I have 4 or 5 plugins running at the same time In Ableton with no lag or freezing up.
Hi James, I just discovered your channel through your Ultimate M1 Mac buying guide vid. The thoroughness of your info and the clarity and conciseness of your presentation is first-class. Unlike all the other reviewers of Macs for audio production that I’ve seen, you at least touch on recording physical instruments 🤙🏽. Your analysis has convinced me that for my modest tracking and editing needs an upgraded M2 Air should be more than adequate to replace my venerable mid-2015 MacBook Pro. Now I’m just waiting for the 15” version rumored to be coming in (hopefully early) 2023.
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words. I really appreciate it. I'm just glad you found my video helpful! And yeah, I'm pretty sure more M2 computers will be released soon!
Be carefull with the base model macbook air m2.
The read and write speed of the 256gb ssd is garbage in comparison to the twice faster 512gb or the I think 8x faster 2TB SSD
@@jalunow Good point!
@@jalunow That speed difference will not be relevant in a music production context imo. Even normal HDD speed is more than enough for music production!
M1 Pro is easily still running ableton logic and Final Cut Pro without any issues. And I have over 100 heavy cpu plugins. I got the 32gb ram 14in M1 Pro MacBook Pro. 500 gb storage.
Excellent review, subscribed
another great video man! ooft now I'm rethinking of whether to get an M1 Mac Pro or this M2 Macbook Air
Great comparison
Great video. Your video helped me to feel sure for buy a MacBook Air M2
Great vid. Ty
Whenever I watch something like this it’s comforting to know that the more affordable thing works well enough, but I always remind myself that people have been doing much more with much less anyway
This actually made me more confident in my base model M1 MacBook Pro from 2020. One day the 8 GB of RAM probably won't be enough, but for the time being, it handles the work I do tracking rock bands and lightly mixing. I rarely use samples, but when I do, it doesn't skip a beat. I haven't experienced any significant hiccup since purchasing this machine for just over $1000. It's not the laptop in this video, but it just goes to show that macbooks are beginning to offer exceptional value for performance.
Glad to hear you've been loving your Mac!
This is a great video. Thank you sir ❤
I'm happy with my M2 Mac mini 16GB. Works well for my small projects. Mostly covers and some jazz tracks, 5-10 tracks.
5-10 tracks you can handle in a windows pc from 2007 :dude just saying
You had me at Superior Drummer 3! I want an ultrabook for general use that can also serve as a brain for my Roland V-Drum kit, and your test proved that can be a reality. Just purchased the 16GB with 1TB storage (for all my drum samples) in Midnight. Brilliant walkthrough of the specs and performance. Thank you.
Hell yeah! Hope you enjoy your new laptop!
I'm on this exact quest!
Great ❤ video. All Macs with Apple Silicon are extremely powerful and efficient. Even the MacBook Air M1 2020 with only 8 GB of RAM is capable enough for most producers. I’ve subscribed.
Insightful!
Another incredible video man!
Thanks man!
Awesome! Thanks for this comparison. You got me to subscribe :) I have an M1 Air and logic is pretty good on it, like 10x better than my previous 12' Macbook. I'll wait to upgrade my M1 Air until a M3 version is released (hopefully a 15' Air with better speakers)
Thank you for this video. For me the dilemma was upgrading the ram and/or storage vs buying a nice guitar with the extra money. This helped so much knowing that the base model is decent enough for the job.
This is a great example of why we shouldn't get extra specs just because we can afford it-the money saved could be used on something you get more value out of! Glad the video helped :)
The lack of a fan is a real advantage for certain audio applications like putting it in a VO studio or ADR studio.
I thought so too, but I returned mine due to coil whine that my condenser mic picked up. Waiting for a replacement currently.
Great video, James. I am not a musician but I enjoyed the video a was impressed with the presentation. Which software did you use to create the overlays for the video? It was nicely done.
Great video! Using MBP 2015 with same configurations for 7 years, I think M2 Air will be good upgrade. But definitely need more storage space. Thanks for comparisons! Good luck ;)
Back your laptop up often and keep your 2015 mbp as long as possible. One day it will give up, but these old MacBooks are extremely great workhorses. Mine was even faster than my M1 MacBook Air…
I have the same thing running 16 gig ram. It’s just slow now. Running Ableton live with few plugins takes the toll out of it.
So I am looking at something like this:
Apple M2 chip with 8-core
CPU, 10-core GPU and
16-core Neural Engine
• 24GB unified memory
• 1TB SSD storage
• 13.6-inch Liquid Retina display with True Tone
• 1080p FaceTime
HD camera
• MagSafe 3 charging port
• Two Thunderbolt/USB 4 ports
• 67W USB-C Power
Adapter
• Backlit Magic Keyboard
Absolutely brilliant science based tests in this video. Exactly what I needed to watch to help with purchasing decisions.
Thanks.