What is the best Mac Pro specs to run Logic X?

[Beach]

Hello, I am looking to purchase a new Mac Pro, I use Logic to make music & wanted to know what spec upgrades (Memory/cores) benefit Logic specifically ツ

~ https://www.apple.com/shop/buy-mac/mac-pro

[Ignatius_S]

'Best' is a very subjective term – all depends on the user. The following is just general information, for something more precise, would say it's best that looking at a more specialist forum.

Both Memory and CPU cores upgrade would benefit Logic.

IIRC, Logic Pro X can use 12-cores but you need to think what real-world benefit you would get from what you'd actually be doing compared to an 8-core or 6-core.

RAM is user upgradeable, can be done any time would be cheaper buying and installing yourself – so it's normally better to worry about/spend money on the CPU in the first instance. If you need more, get it.

Storage and GPU, mainly the former, need to be thought about.

Mac Pros are very expensive and only had a pretty minor update in about five years, and a noticeable amount of the traditional user base has moved to other platforms or moved to iMacs. A Mac Pro would usually be regarded as substantial overkill for all but very high-end music production users. For most Logic users, other hardware gives a lot more bang for their buck. FWIW, Apple has said that the Mac Pro redesign hasn't worked out as intended and a new version will be released in the next year – in the meantime, it will be launching a new iMac aimed chiefly at professional users.

There might be very good reasons why you're considering a Mac Pro, but if you're unsure what specifications you should be getting, I wouldn't rule other options out.

One thing I would strongly advise is getting a machine based on what actually you know you need, rather than you think you might need in the future. Although people will advise the latter in order to 'futureproof' a purchase, this often proves a theoretical concept that doesn't work out in the real world. There was an excellent post on MacRumors, (which I wished I kept a copy of, as it was so well articulated) that pointed out that there will usually be an unforeseen factor that becomes the performance bottleneck and an upgrade is necessary and in their personal experience, the futureproofing usually meant they were spending money on upgraded specs that they didn't utilise and the life of the machine wasn't increased.

[Beach]

Thanks @Ignatius_S! ツ

[Replies From View]

I would recommend getting a computer with all the buttons you need - have a look at whether you need a space bar, a backspace key, maybe all the letters and numbers, things like that, and get a computer with all the ones you really need.  They reckon you need 'Control', 'Alt' and 'Delete' but I doubt it.

Maybe also consider a mouse?  That way you can move a pointer around your computer screen and click on other things with it.

Yes you probably do need a screen, to be honest.  I would go against what Ignatius_S said; futureproof yourself and get a screen now.

[Beach]

I would recommend getting a computer with all the buttons you need - have a look at whether you need a space bar, a backspace key, maybe all the letters and numbers, things like that, and get a computer with all the ones you really need.  They reckon you need 'Control', 'Alt' and 'Delete' but I doubt it.

Maybe also consider a mouse?  That way you can move a pointer around your computer screen and click on other things with it.

Yes you probably do need a screen, to be honest.  I would go against what Ignatius_S said; futureproof yourself and get a screen now.

someone just recommended I use your ma as a computer...

[spamwangler]

what sort of things are you planning to do with logic? most computers can handle most things you can do on logic these days,

my last mac was a fucked old 2009 era thing with 2gb of ram, some sort of early dual core processor, used to be able to record with zero latency, do multiple input recording, running upto about 40 odd tracks with loads of effects with out any problems, - sometimes run into some trouble if i was using lots of instances of milti-sampled instruments, but youde have to really push it, -

super vauge answer, but i recon anything with 4gb plus (which is their minimum reccomendation for logic x now day) and whatever standard processor is most likely to sort you out, unless youve got some sort of symphony orchestra sample heavy audio visual thing going on

[NoSleep]

You need at least a 2009 to run a fairly up to date version of OS X (not sure if it's up to the latest but maybe one that still gets support from Apple and will run Pro X).

EDIT: Maximum OS X is El Capitan.

[Ignatius_S]

Thanks @Ignatius_S! ツ

No problem!

Somewhere like Gearslutz would be a good bet for finding out what benefits upgrading the CPU (and by how much) would be.

...my last mac was a fucked old 2009 era thing with 2gb of ram, some sort of early dual core processor...

That would have a Core 2 Duo. There were some interesting Final Cut Pro Studio tests (2006 or 7) contrasting a MacBook (with a Core Duo) and a G5 tower, and on CPU-intensive tasks, the former bested the latter.

....super vauge answer, but i recon anything with 4gb plus (which is their minimum reccomendation for logic x now day) and whatever standard processor is most likely to sort you out...

Just about every Mac (I think the Mini is the sole exception) – comes with 8+ GB of RAM as standard, so that's not a problem. However, as a number of Macs don't have upgradeable memory (user-replaceable, anyway) that's something that needs to be weighed up, particularly because of potential performance improvements. Ditto for the processor – although any of the standard configurations should work well for (I suspect) most people, as you say.

You need at least a 2009 to run a fairly up to date version of OS X (not sure if it's up to the latest but maybe one that still gets support from Apple and will run Pro X).

EDIT: Maximum OS X is El Capitan.

Hardware support gets dropped after about five years by Apple and after a couple more years, pretty much from everyone else. That said, I couldn't see it being cost effective getting a repair and as machines back then can be had pretty cheaply, it's more the software support that's going to be important. 

[spamwangler]

That would have a Core 2 Duo. There were some interesting Final Cut Pro Studio tests (2006 or 7) contrasting a MacBook (with a Core Duo) and a G5 tower, and on CPU-intensive tasks, the former bested the latter.

thats the one - i spent about three years pretty much constantly exporting video out of final cut on that old laptop, it could certainly do it if you were patient!

[Replies From View]

thats the one - i spent about three years pretty much constantly exporting video out of final cut on that old laptop, it could certainly do it if you were patient!

Bit long for a single one-hour movie though I reckon!!!!!!!!

[spamwangler]

Bit long for a single one-hour movie though I reckon!!!!!!!!

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