# New 13” Macbook Pro!



## Nate Johnson (May 8, 2020)

Sweet, its finally out! 

Now I need someone to buy it and tell me if its better than its too-hot-to-handle 2018 predecessor! 🤓

Spec that I’d go for is the 2.3ghz i7/32gb ram (YES!)/1tb ssd.

I’m skeptical though...


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## ridgero (May 9, 2020)

Don’t!!!

I would not spend so much money on 4 Cores in 2020! Don’t fall into the i7 trap, you wouldn’t feel the difference in real world performance.

Get a 16 Inch with 32 GB. It has 6 Cores, better cooling, bigger screen etc... And don’t forget about the future, the resale value will be much much much better.


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## Alex Fraser (May 9, 2020)

Made the mistake of buying a new MBP a month ago so wasn't too happy to see the new version drop earlier than suggested. I got the base model with a 16gb ram upgrade.

It was a noisy little sod for the first couple of days, with the fan ramping up every 2 minutes as MacOS did all its housekeeping. It calmed though and it's a nice machine, mostly silent with Logic. I haven't given it a real soak test yet, but projects that broke my 2011 iMac hover at around 25% use now.


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## Nate Johnson (May 9, 2020)

Alex Fraser said:


> Made the mistake of buying a new MBP a month ago so wasn't too happy to see the new version drop earlier than suggested. I got the base model with a 16gb ram upgrade.
> 
> It was a noisy little sod for the first couple of days, with the fan ramping up every 2 minutes as MacOS did all its housekeeping. It calmed though and it's a nice machine, mostly silent with Logic. I haven't given it a real soak test yet, but projects that broke my 2011 iMac hover at around 25% use now.



Bummer, I know that feeling all to well! 

So the noisy aspect just resolved itself? Or did you tweak a bunch to get it there? Its been one of my hesitations in buying a new MBP. My impression of the 2018-2019 models was that they got hot and noisy. And the 16" is too big and expensive for my tastes. I love my 2013 model; its quiet and solid as a rock. Its just under powered in ram and space. I make it work, of course, but it'd be nice to stretch a little bit (especially with orchestral libs). This new one has a new chip and 32gb of ram (yes!), so I wonder if it handles better...


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## Alex Fraser (May 9, 2020)

tomorrowstops said:


> Bummer, I know that feeling all to well!
> 
> So the noisy aspect just resolved itself? Or did you tweak a bunch to get it there? Its been one of my hesitations in buying a new MBP. My impression of the 2018-2019 models was that they got hot and noisy. And the 16" is too big and expensive for my tastes. I love my 2013 model; its quiet and solid as a rock. Its just under powered in ram and space. I make it work, of course, but it'd be nice to stretch a little bit (especially with orchestral libs). This new one has a new chip and 32gb of ram (yes!), so I wonder if it handles better...


It resolved itself after 48 hours or so. Not the best first impression but MacOS does a bunch of things at setup. Spotlighting the file system, grabbing the iCloud stuff, photos face scanning and all the rest.

Now the fan ramps up occasionally, but it's short lived. I haven't done production work in Logic yet, short of opening existing files. I'll report back with findings but it's looking OK.

If you're in the UK, you will need to buy the extension cable for the power supply, unless you like getting mild electric shocks through the palm rests..
A


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## Alex Fraser (Jun 1, 2020)

Quick report back as promised.
The MBP is pretty silent when working with Logic. The fans spool up maybe once or twice a day but dissipate back down to silence within a couple of minutes. 

Caveat: I'm running mostly Logic stock FX and synths. Some Kontakt, Komplete Kontrol and Spitfire.


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## Nate Johnson (Jun 1, 2020)

Alex Fraser said:


> Quick report back as promised.
> The MBP is pretty silent when working with Logic. The fans spool up maybe once or twice a day but dissipate back down to silence within a couple of minutes.
> 
> Caveat: I'm running mostly Logic stock FX and synths. Some Kontakt, Komplete Kontrol and Spitfire.



Cool! Sounds promising. Thanks for the update!

Still, the internal debate rages on, as to which computer to buy (MBP/Mini/iMac). There's 'what I *can* do', 'what I *could* do' and 'what I *actually* do' to consider. I've had a laptop for so long that the obvious first choice is another laptop, and yet its so infrequent that it actually leaves my desk. The next logical choice is the 6 core Mini, which gets me more power than what I've got for a reasonable price. Buuuuuut I'm still hesitant on possible heat and fan noise issues, the same as how I feel as the 13" MBP. The bigger laptops (15", 16" are too big/expensive for my tastes). The iMac for sure is the sexiest choice for the Retina screen and 8 core CPU. But its a ton of money *probably overkill* plus I'd be downsizing screens (using a shitty-image-but-perfect-size 32" tv right now). 

I'm not (and never want to be) a 1000-track-massive-orchestra-template guy, but I run a healthy mix of Spitfire/Kontakt/Reaktor/EXS(err 'Sampler')/Alchemy instances and a random synth now and then. I tend to run out of juice during mix down, and I'm only using stock LPX + Valhalla plugins. Of course I work around it; it's only a minor annoyance at the moment. For a while i was experimenting with iMovie for putting images to my music - that was definitely more frustrating (super long render times and the only time I experience the fans running on my MBP). But making videos isn't crucial to my creative art-flow. I mean, I've been having this conversation for over a year and still haven't pulled the trigger, so clearly I'm not desperate! 

If you (or anyone else) has notes to share about the newer 13" MBP's, don't hesitate!


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## rickdeckard (Jun 11, 2020)

Has anyone had the chance to try the new 13" MacBook Pro in a higher spec and have some feedback on how it performs? Thanks!


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## soundslike72 (Jun 11, 2020)

FWIW I got the 2018 Mac Mini when it came out, and have been really happy I did. I also considered a 2018 Macbook Pro at the time, but just didn't like the whole non-upgrading scheme regarding SSD and RAM in those machines. So I kept my old 2012 laptop for when I need mobility.

I also installed a small application called 'Macs Fan Control' on both machines. It lets you control when the internal fans kick in, e.g. when the CPU exceeds a certain temperature. I have mine set to 50° Celcius, which is quite low, and this means that the fans will spin a little faster in everyday use, but in return they'll keep the temperature stable for longer (in my case anyway) minimizing the need to go full throttle. The slightly increased speed/noise really isn't a problem on either machine...


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