# PC or Mac for an additional laptop



## Meo96 (Jan 9, 2019)

Hello,

I'm gonna start an internship at a music studio/scoring company in Paris next week and I will need to bring my personnal laptop as I will not have a computer of my own there.

I'm a PC user. Since I started to make music seriously I made myself a custom PC which I consider to be a beast (or at least it was 2 years ago when I made it, I know computer capacities grow very fast). It has worked rock solid since two years and has never let me down, 0 crash or anything. I remember comparing with the biggest Macpro at the time and the most expensive one was - at least on paper - still less powerfull than my PC. Before building this PC I thought to buy a Macpro (an old one), but I quickly changed my mind when I realised the rape it was.

But when it comes to laptop I'm kind of lost. I have a mid-2012 Macbook Pro which I used for pretty much anything other than music and I love it. I had a couple of Windows Laptops when I was a kid and for me the ergonomy and the workflow is way more good on Mac. And that's where I'm hesitating and it is why I'm asking your opinion on this.

I love the design concept and ergonomy on Macs and I believe - based on my experience and the experience of others around me - that they run pretty good. So my first choice will be Mac even though it is kind of a whim since I'm not using Logic and will probably never use it (I'm a Cubase user and at the studio I will use PT only).
And I don't particulary want to buy twice the price for a mac, if I know a good PC will have the same tech capacities (or even better). Or if I really want a mac why not say let's buy a PC twice as powerful as a macbook at the same price ? But again I like the Apple concept, particulary on laptops.

I would love to know what you think about it.

Cheers!


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## mauriziodececco (Jan 9, 2019)

A good questions could be: is the studio you are going to work in a Mac shop, a Windows shop, or they use both ? It would be probably easier to use the same platform the studio use.

Maurizio (Hello from another parisian, non classically trained, pianist)


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## Meo96 (Jan 9, 2019)

Hi there! Good point. I believe they use Mac, that's what I saw in the main room. They have another assistant/co-worker and I don't know what he uses. I'm gonna ask him.


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## I like music (Jan 9, 2019)

Can't answer your question, but congratulations on getting the job/internship. I hope it goes well.


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## Meo96 (Jan 9, 2019)

That's very kind, thank you !


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## Crowe (Jan 9, 2019)

Yeah, find out what DAW/Scoring software and OS they use.

Personally, I'd never go for a Mac as you cannot upgrade them yourself. That said, I've also never had a job or internship with a Music Company so who knows what the price of my soul is. When in Rome...


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## jcrosby (Jan 9, 2019)

Shiirai said:


> Yeah, find out what DAW/Scoring software and OS they use.
> 
> Personally, I'd never go for a Mac as you cannot upgrade them yourself. That said, I've also never had a job or internship with a Music Company so who knows what the price of my soul is. When in Rome...



I’d do some searching about the new MacBooks before jumping in... (Coming from someone who owns one...)

All of the new Macs with T2 chips are vulnerable to various 'showstopper' issues related to *bridgeOS*. (Sound distortion [[ aka _*crackle*_ ]] being the most widely documented one...)

Also, (speaking from experience here...) Don't bother calling Apple with questions about the issue. They've basically moved toward pretending the issue doesn't exist unless you experience it; and currently no known fixes to fix the issue.

IME I’d do some research, if not think twice before buying one...


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## Meo96 (Jan 10, 2019)

Thanks for this informations jcrosby.
Shiirai, I've asked the other assistant and unfortunately they are all running macOS. The fact that you can not upgrade them yourself is a pitty that's for sure...
Yesterday I spent some time looking at the different options about PCs, the Dell XPS 15 seems really cool and at a good price considering the capacities. For the same specs on a Macbook Pro I believe there's a 1500 euros difference... That kind of solves my problem here, I simply don't have that amount of money to put on a laptop (my main workstation costed me maximum 3000 euros...) and as I can not use a PC at the studio I guess I will probably go with my old 2012 Macbook Pro and might add a SSD to it. We'll see if it holds. If not I will maybe reconsider buying a new Macbook...


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## jbuhler (Jan 10, 2019)

Meo96 said:


> Thanks for this informations jcrosby.
> Shiirai, I've asked the other assistant and unfortunately they are all running macOS. The fact that you can not upgrade them yourself is a pitty that's for sure...
> Yesterday I spent some time looking at the different options about PCs, the Dell XPS 15 seems really cool and at a good price considering the capacities. For the same specs on a Macbook Pro I believe there's a 1500 euros difference... That kind of solves my problem here, I simply don't have that amount of money to put on a laptop (my main workstation costed me maximum 3000 euros...) and as I can not use a PC at the studio I guess I will probably go with my old 2012 Macbook Pro and might add a SSD to it. We'll see if it holds. If not I will maybe reconsider buying a new Macbook...


An internal SSD will make a world of a difference to that 2012 MBP. I have a mid-2012 i7 2.7 Ghz, 16GB, that is still a perfectly capable machine. The addition of an internal SSD made a huge difference in performance. Seriously, the only real difficulty I ran into after upgrading to the internal SSD was the 16GB RAM.


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## MartinH. (Jan 11, 2019)

Meo96 said:


> I'm gonna start an internship at a music studio/scoring company in Paris next week and I will need to bring my personnal laptop as I will not have a computer of my own there.



Depending on length of the internship, I'd say evaluate the option to _rent_ a mac.


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## Meo96 (Jan 11, 2019)

jbuhler, thanks for your feedback it's great to know that, especially from someone of the forum.
MartinH., I never thought of it but it's actually a very good idea. Have you ever use this type of services or do you know anything about it ? I know some stores in Paris that rent all kind of electronics but I don't know much more about it.


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## jcrosby (Jan 12, 2019)

Meo96 said:


> Thanks for this informations jcrosby.
> Shiirai, I've asked the other assistant and unfortunately they are all running macOS. The fact that you can not upgrade them yourself is a pitty that's for sure...
> Yesterday I spent some time looking at the different options about PCs, the Dell XPS 15 seems really cool and at a good price considering the capacities. For the same specs on a Macbook Pro I believe there's a 1500 euros difference... That kind of solves my problem here, I simply don't have that amount of money to put on a laptop (my main workstation costed me maximum 3000 euros...) and as I can not use a PC at the studio I guess I will probably go with my old 2012 Macbook Pro and might add a SSD to it. We'll see if it holds. If not I will maybe reconsider buying a new Macbook...


Unfortunately it's a comment based on experience... The machine I bought in September has been a serious headache 

Also what programs are you using at the internship? Unless there's a lot of Logic work you should on a windows laptop.



jbuhler said:


> An internal SSD will make a world of a difference to that 2012 MBP. I have a mid-2012 i7 2.7 Ghz, 16GB, that is still a perfectly capable machine. The addition of an internal SSD made a huge difference in performance. Seriously, the only real difficulty I ran into after upgrading to the internal SSD was the 16GB RAM.


Yeah, still have one as well... Luckily I didn't sell it after getting the new one. Although it's not as fast, it's a hell of a lot more reliable. All of the T2 macs seem to have one issue or another...

Even issues that go away eventually seem to find a way back. Apple's code has been seriously sketchy ever since they added the T1/T2 chip.


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## Meo96 (Jan 12, 2019)

I will using only Pro Tools. Yes I could be on a Windows laptop but the other assistant told me that it would be more convenient for me to be on a mac. For office activities and such maybe... 
Also I think "Do in Rome as the Romans do" I don't want to be the new guy, windows-only geek  What kind of issues do you experience with your new T2 chip mac ?


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