Macbook future proof'ness'?

loulou
Posted:
in Current Mac Hardware edited January 2014
Ok, i'm picking up a 2ghz, 2gb ram macbook at the weekend, it's going to be used for audio production mainly (want a mobile rig). However i do plan on updating to leopard when it's released.



I realise the macbooks are powerful machines, however i've read how the UI can slow considerably when the proc is under lots of strain (due to IG). So i wonder if anyone could advise on if there'll be much of a performance hit going up to leopard.



I know we don't know the specs of leopard, but i'm sure some people can make informed guesses atleast. I also realise it'll be more optimised than tiger, but we all know the UI is going to take a step forward. SO yeah?



Thanks in advance.

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 13
    loulou Posts: 43member
    Any ideas?
  • Reply 2 of 13
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,322moderator
    It shouldn't matter. With enough Ram then the Macbooks will have to perform well with Leopard or lots of people will be very annoyed given that the Macbook is Apple's best selling laptop.



    They have already said the GMA graphics are Core Animation compatible and I do think that Leopard will be very well optimized.



    For audio production, it will be fine. As for the UI slowing down, I notice it on the Core Solo but the UI on the Core Duos seems to be fine even under heavy load. In fact I know it is because I've played a game before and accidentally hit expose and the game was still playing while it scaled into expose and it was a very smooth transition on the GMA.
  • Reply 3 of 13
    loulou Posts: 43member
    Thanks for the reply. Is comforting to hear some real world experience. Whatever the outcome it'll be much faster than my Athlon XP 1800 i'm currently using.



    I've been thinking of possibly investing in a mac mini down the line if i need more power anyways, can offload some intensive stuff to that if needs be.
  • Reply 4 of 13
    backtomacbacktomac Posts: 4,579member
    Witha core 2 duo Macbook you should have a pleasant experiance for all but playing some games. I've a brother in law that uses it for ps in rosetta and is satisfied.
  • Reply 5 of 13
    loulou Posts: 43member
    The thing is it'll be mainly used for proc intensive audio editing, fx/vst plugins which can bog a system down very easily, although i'm near enough there on my Athlon if i think about it.
  • Reply 6 of 13
    jeremiah2911jeremiah2911 Posts: 47member
    Anyone think there's a chance the MacBooks will be upgraded again sometime soon?
  • Reply 7 of 13
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Jeremiah2911 View Post


    Anyone think there's a chance the MacBooks will be upgraded again sometime soon?



    Not likely until the next Intel mobile platform is released, which is maybe four months away, and expect to see a 1-2 month delay before Apple updates the Mac Book with that platform.



    More on topic to the thread, I don't think the graphics chip would make any impact on audio production unless either the software uses the graphics chip to do its computation, or if for some weird reason the software is using a lot of heavy 3D display. Both are very unlikely for the next year or two, if ever.
  • Reply 8 of 13
    jeremiah2911jeremiah2911 Posts: 47member
    ^ Oh, I see. Thanks.
  • Reply 9 of 13
    loulou Posts: 43member
    Ordered it today!



    2 ghz macbook w/ 2gb ram. also went with a hp printer with the £60 rebate apple are offering. all good
  • Reply 10 of 13
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lou View Post


    Ordered it today!



    2 ghz macbook w/ 2gb ram. also went with a hp printer with the £60 rebate apple are offering. all good



    Grats...have fun should be a great improvement on what you have.



    The only thing missing from the MB today IMHO is the expresscard slot. That probably isn't that important to you and unless some of your audio software is someday enhanced to use GPUs for processing it may never be.



    http://www-sop.inria.fr/reves/projects/GPUAudio/



    Vinea
  • Reply 11 of 13
    loulou Posts: 43member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Grats...have fun should be a great improvement on what you have.



    The only thing missing from the MB today IMHO is the expresscard slot. That probably isn't that important to you and unless some of your audio software is someday enhanced to use GPUs for processing it may never be.



    http://www-sop.inria.fr/reves/projects/GPUAudio/



    Vinea



    Well as i mentioned above if i need extra power i'll get a mac mini and offload some processing to that via ethernet.



    My main aim with this was a portable audio workstation so i can start recording band demos easier. But very happy with it, just have to wait until the end of the week for it...



    going to be updating the hdd to a hitachi e7k60 (100gb 7200 rpm) and i ordered the bluetooth kb too, still happy with my logitech mx510 so no need to replace that.
  • Reply 12 of 13
    vineavinea Posts: 5,585member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Lou View Post


    Well as i mentioned above if i need extra power i'll get a mac mini and offload some processing to that via ethernet.



    My main aim with this was a portable audio workstation so i can start recording band demos easier. But very happy with it, just have to wait until the end of the week for it...



    going to be updating the hdd to a hitachi e7k60 (100gb 7200 rpm) and i ordered the bluetooth kb too, still happy with my logitech mx510 so no need to replace that.



    Oh hey...wanted to apologize about my assumptions in the eco thread. If you like I can do so there but figured you'd read this thread.



    Vinea
  • Reply 13 of 13
    loulou Posts: 43member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by vinea View Post


    Oh hey...wanted to apologize about my assumptions in the eco thread. If you like I can do so there but figured you'd read this thread.



    Vinea



    No probs, just want you to know i wasn't flaming, trolling and am not associated with green peace, just concerned about our planet.



    Thanks for the apology much appreciated.



    Can't wait for the macbook though...
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