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Best Advice For A New Mac

MilesWK on August 10, 2025

I am wanting to get a new Mac. I have been using GarageBand for music production, and want to upgrade so I can get Logic Pro. I want something that...
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gamelord2011 profile image
Reid Burton

Half the price is the way overkill dedicated gpu.

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mileswk profile image
MilesWK

Huh?

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gamelord2011 profile image
Reid Burton

As in, you can get an equally good computer for 3/4 the price, but with a worse gpu.

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sephyi profile image
Sephyi

Oh, so you mean a desktop PC limited to Linux or Windows? Cute. Yeah, sure — you can grab one for about a quarter of the price… if you’re fine with skipping a real GPU. Spend double or triple that and maybe you’ll score a “starter” gaming card — perfect if your expectations begin and end with playing games with your mates all day, assuming you’re not stuck installing updates or reinstalling Windows for the sixth time this year. Slap on some rainbow RGB and I might consider it bathroom décor. Put it in a server chassis and, sure, it could live in my rack as a Linux box — except I already have enough servers doing actual work.

Not saying you shouldn’t buy PCs or anything else — but posting this 💩 in a thread where someone specifically asks for help choosing the right MacBook, and even says the reason is a macOS-only app? That’s not advice, that’s barging into a vegan café, slapping a raw steak on the counter, then handing out Trump flyers while oinking at people.

And honestly, calling €1500–1750 overpriced for a machine that gives you around 18 hours of video playback, packs an M4 chip, at least 16 GB of RAM, weighs less than most textbooks, and runs fully passive with zero fan noise is just… adorable. That’s before you even factor in macOS — three words sum it up: It just works. And that’s not some marketing slogan, that’s daily life. This is what the pros use, not toy gaming rigs dressed up in RGB. For serious developers and sysadmins, it’s the wet dream setup. For those who are both? It’s like having root access to heaven… and once you’ve had it, there’s no going back to the kiddie pool.

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gamelord2011 profile image
Reid Burton

I'm just saying that perfectly good FOSS tools like LMMS exist.

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mileswk profile image
MilesWK

Whoa. Uhh... don't quite know what to make of that. could you sum that up? I can't tell what you are trying to say.

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gamelord2011 profile image
Reid Burton

You don't need a mac because:

  • Half the price is a wayyyyyy overkill dedicated gpu.
  • And, since you want it just for garage band as best I can guess, there are a lot of perfectly good free, open-source alternitaves to garage band.
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gamelord2011 profile image
Reid Burton • Edited

Also, since you want something that will last, do not get a newer mac, it has a 2-year planned obselence period.

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mileswk profile image
MilesWK

I mean, I really like Garageband, have tried multiple different kinds of software, and want to update to Logic Pro

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gamelord2011 profile image
Reid Burton

Well, my rant was a strange amalgamation of fact, and my own opinion, I really can't stop you from bying a mac if you want to, I just don't reccomend it.

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mileswk profile image
MilesWK

Heard. Thanks! :)

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sephyi profile image
Sephyi

What are your specific use cases? A fully configured MacBook Pro with the M4 Max chip delivers top-tier performance, but for most users, a MacBook Air with the standard M4 chip and 16 GB of RAM will handle nearly all tasks efficiently.

Logic Pro’s performance depends heavily on your workflow—light projects with basic plugins may run flawlessly on the Air, while more demanding sessions with numerous third-party plugins or processing-intensive tasks can benefit from the Pro’s stronger GPU, active cooling, and faster memory bandwidth. Let me know what you’ll be working on, and I can help refine the recommendation.

Personally, I’d recommend the MacBook Air (M4, 2025)—13- or 15-inch, depending on your preference—with 16 GB of RAM and at least 500 GB of storage. In my opinion, it’s the sweet spot for most people, offering excellent performance, long battery life, and great portability in a fanless design, all at a fair price.

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mileswk profile image
MilesWK

I hope to be getting to more advanced stuff. I do use some 3rd Party Plugins.

Also, I would be hooking a monitor up to this, so I'm not that concerned about the screen.

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sephyi profile image
Sephyi

If you think you’ll ever want to run more than one external display, go for a MacBook Pro — the Air can only handle a single external screen.

That said, if you’re not planning on getting an M4 Pro or Max, you probably don’t need a Pro at all. In that case, you can get everything you need from an M4 Air. I’m not deeply familiar with Logic Pro, but for most users I’d recommend a standard M4 Air with 16 GB RAM and at least 500 GB of storage — more if your workflow demands it. It’s worth checking online for RAM usage benchmarks or experiences for your specific use case, as you might find that 24 GB or more is recommended. CPU-wise, though, the M4 in that configuration already delivers plenty of power, so I don’t think you’d hit a limit anytime soon — but it never hurts to double-check.

One bonus with the MacBook Pro models is the Nano-Texture display. I use it daily and love it — it’s a fantastic feature if you’re going for a Pro anyway. But on its own, it’s not enough reason to skip the Air.