Best MacBook for Pro Tools (Pro & Air) M1 M2 [2023 Reviewed]

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Thumbnail	MacBooks for Pro Tools	ProRec Score	Price
	Apple MacBook Pro M2	9.6	Check Price on Amazon
	Apple MacBook Pro M1 .	9.4	Check Price on Amazon
	Apple MacBook Air M2 .	8.7	Check Price on Amazon
	Apple MacBook Air M1 .	8.3	Check Price on Amazon

What MacBook Should You Choose for Pro Tools?

Whether you’re an active Pro Tools user or switching after Avid’s native port, you’ll know or are bound to discover how resource intensive things can get. If your current setup is struggling to keep up with Pro Tools’ years of accumulated code and modules, you might be due for an upgrade!

Apple’s new line of MacBooks armed with the M1/M2 ARM processors breathe new life into the platform’s long-lived codebase, and the long-overdue departure from Rosetta allows you to run more plugins independent of your CPU with the resources it frees up.

When choosing the best MacBook for Pro Tools, both M1 and M2 chips offer stable performance between sessions, however, they differ in some respects. The M2 is a bit more efficient and useful on the go since it averages more battery time per cycle depending on usage. In terms of production power however, for most users, the M1 is plenty fast.

If you don’t have aesthetic considerations such as the edge-to-edge screen and the new body, the M1 models are still remarkable machines for Pro Tools that outperform their successors in SSD read/write speeds and thermal management. Plus, the extra savings can easily go into other gear instead.

The other fundamental difference between the two is in cooling ideology. Pro Tools tends to run warm even when idle, so an effective cooling solution is important. While the MacBook Air employs a silent fanless design for cooling, the Pro sticks to a conventional fan-based system that is better designed to handle sustained heavy-lifting.

The Air models don’t offer the same amount of RAM/Storage capacities, nor do they have the same higher-end Max chips. They also lack the same display, connectivity, and bus bandwidth that make the Pro models a better replacement for a desktop workplace. If you’re well integrated with Pro Tools, the fewer ports will limit external hardware like Avid’s HDX card.

These limitations do dictate the kind of experience you can expect from the MacBook Air, however, with solutions such as cooling pads and high-speed thunderbolt hubs, this can be improved.

Unlike with most DAWs, the software/OS update cycle isn’t a huge concern for Pro Tools since most professionals stick to stable builds anyway. However, while software won’t be an issue, since there’s no potential for future upgrades, your hardware can cause problems down the line if you don’t buy more than you need upfront.

All in all, whichever option you end up picking, so long as you choose the one that offers the performance you need for the price, both the M1 and M2 Pro and Air variants will prove to be competent machines for your Pro Tools needs.

Minimum Mac System Requirements for Pro Tools

• macOS Catalina 10.15.7 – Ventura 13.2.1
• M2, M1 or Intel Dual Core i5 or faster (Mojave is no longer tested, but expected to work)
• 8GB RAM
• Internet connection (needed for installation, activation)
• 15GB of free space for installation
• One or more hard disk drives dedicated for audio record and playback, formatted HFS+ Journaled for Mac or NTFS
• PCIe slot for HDX or HD Native card (incl. one power connection on motherboard)
• USB or Thunderbolt port for supported PCIe-chassis or HD Native Thunderbolt or other CoreAudio/ASIO supported audio device.
• iLok account/access (iLok 2, iLok 3 (USB A or USB C), or iLok Cloud

Source: Avid Pro Tools Minimum System Requirements Page

Comparing the Top 4 MacBook Variants for Pro Tools

Choosing a MacBook for a power-intensive DAW like Pro Tools isn’t all about performance, especially since Avid’s port to Apple Silicon. Depending on what you’re looking for, each model has its own compelling features. For example, with their greater efficiency, the M2 models provide much better battery life than their M2 counterparts. However, with almost the same performance, the M1 variants offer much more value for the price, especially with how well native plugins such as Waves, Eventide, and Soundtide work without Rosetta.

Compared to the MacBook Air, the Pro models are much more powerful, especially on longer stretches of work, however, they’re not as good in recording setups as the fanless Air models. The restricted connectivity on the Air models also limits the equipment such as interfaces, synths, and even Avid’s HDX card for latency-free tracking. There are also varying differences in portability, screen size, and price between each model, so you’ll want to weigh your options carefully so you don’t end up spending more on specs you don’t need.

Best MacBook Pro for Pro Tools

Apple MacBook Pro M2

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9.6

• 12 CPU cores, 30 GPU cores, and up to 96GB unified memory.
• Up to 18 hours of battery life
• Pro Tools, as well as all your pro apps run lightning fast, including many of your favorite iPhone and iPad apps.
• 14.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR display features Extreme Dynamic Range, over 1000 nits of brightness for stunning HDR content, and pro reference modes
• 1080p FaceTime HD camera, a studio-quality three-mic array, and a six-speaker sound system with Spatial Audio.
• MagSafe charging port, three Thunderbolt 4 ports, an SDXC card slot, an HDMI port, and a headphone jack.
• Seamless wireless connectivity with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3.
• Magic Keyboard with a full-height function key row and Touch ID

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Since Pro Tools went native on Apple Silicon, the M2 Max MacBook Pro performs a lot better with Rosetta out of the way. We ran a few tests with a 2048 buffer size at a sample rate of 96k using EQ7, Pro Compressor, Pulltech AQ, Reel Tape Saturation, and D-Verb on duplicated tracks, and running natively, we got to an impressive 240 tracks before we saw artifacts and clicks.

Comparatively, we got to around 200 tracks on Rosetta mode before we started getting pops. In a similar test with recording and playback with a 64 sample buffer at 96k, we got to 205 tracks on Apple silicon compared to 166 tracks on Rosetta.

With the middleman cut out, Pro Tools uses considerably less of the M2 Pro’s 32GB of unified memory, which gives it more headroom to run far more plugins and tracks simultaneously.

Compared to a DAW like Ableton, Pro Tools doesn’t take up a lot of space since it doesn’t have the same extensive in-built libraries. This does make storage last a bit longer, however, between RAWs, Time Machine backups, and sample libraries, you’ll want to invest in a high-speed external drive.

The display on the M2 Pro serves its purpose, and though it’s not the largest display, you can always invest in a secondary monitor aftermarket, or consider the M1 MacBook Pro for its larger screen.

Additionally, Pro Tools uses a lot of system resources even when idle, so a reliable battery is important if you expect to work unplugged. In that regard, the M2 MacBook Pro will offer more up-time between charges than the M1.

In terms of future system updates, while the newer M2 Pro and Air models offer a longer update window, most Pro Tools professionals aren’t going to be using the latest macOS anyway to get the most stable experience from plugins.

Apple MacBook Pro M1

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9.4

• MacBook Pro M1 for a massive leap in CPU, GPU, and machine learning performance
• Up to 10-core CPU delivers up to 2x faster performance to fly through pro workflows quicker than ever
• Up to 32-core GPU with up to 4x faster performance for Pro Tools
• 16-core Neural Engine for up to 5x faster machine learning performance
• Longer battery life, up to 21 hours
• 32GB of unified memory so everything you do is fast and fluid
• 1TB of superfast SSD storage launches apps and opens files in an instant
• Stunning 16-inch Liquid Retina XDR display with extreme dynamic range and contrast ratio
• 1080p FaceTime HD camera with advanced image signal processor for sharper video calls
• Six-speaker sound system with force-cancelling woofers

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In terms of horsepower, the M1 Max MacBook Pro isn’t too far off from the M2 variant, and can replicate the same results on most workloads. The fundamental architecture between the two is the same, so Pro Tools works great on either natively. In a modest setup of 30 tracks and 40 plugins with 4 aux sends setup at the end for reverb, doubling, room reverb, and delay, we got a maximum of 23% CPU on the built-in usage meter.

The test didn’t tax the memory too much either, maxing out at around 12%. Even with a compressor added in, we didn’t feel any hangups, however, there are moments where tweaking plugins doesn’t feel as responsive on larger sessions. Nonetheless, in our experience, with the amount of RAM and CPU power it has, there isn’t a lot that the M1 Max MacBook Pro can’t reliably do.

On the storage front, the M1 Pro’s onboard SSD is much faster than the M2 MacBook Pro, and projects and libraries such as Omnisphere load up a lot quicker. However, as sample libraries balloon in size every year, you’re going to want to have an external drive to store the bulk of your files.

For a standalone option, the M1 MacBook Pro’s display is a solid option, especially considering that Pro Tools allows users to do most tasks from the main edit window, including viewing and editing waveforms and MIDI. It’s not as easy to carry around as the M2 Pro, however, it does have its utility.

If you’re prone to record, edit, or just tweak your Pro Tools sessions on the go, the M1 MacBook Pro is a decent option despite having the worst battery life on this list. While the M1 Pro can’t replicate the same battery performance as the M2 Pro, it still lasts a long time before needing a top-up.

Overall, the M1 MacBook Pro is a much better deal for the price, and for most people, the minor tradeoffs are well worth it.

Best MacBook Air for Pro Tools

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Apple MacBook Air M2

8.7

• 16GB Memory
• 512GB Storage
• 8 core CPU
• 8 core GPU
• 18 hours of battery life

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The M2 MacBook Air is a capable machine for most Pro Tools users, and despite being equipped with 16GB of RAM and the 8 core base model of the M2 series, you get a lot of performance for the price. For an idea of what kind of experience you can expect, we ran a session with 127 tracks and 138 plugins with EQ across each one, and CPU usage maxed out at 42%, while memory usage hit a peak at 50%.

Of course, you can overload the system if you use a hundred Acoustica plugins, or a bunch of Kontakt libraries and soft-synths, or even something more demanding like Neural DSP’s VSTs, but that isn’t very realistic.

While it is possible to push it further, your SSD will wear down very quickly. You can get a lot more out of the Air with the 24GB variant, but the markup just isn’t worth it over the MacBook Pro.

With its fanless design, the MacBook Air suits recording applications especially well since no fans mean no sound, and one less point of failure. However, with no active cooling, you won’t be able to push the MacBook Air for too long without throttling performance unless you support it with a cooling pad. For stable performance, we recommend limiting sessions to a reasonable amount of plugins.

The biggest tradeoff with the Air models is the lack of ports. Ideally, the audio interface for Pro Tools needs one dedicated port for uninterrupted bandwidth, which leaves just one Thunderbolt port for any additional display or equipment. A hub will be necessary to connect a full production setup, however, power and bus speeds will be shared so it is a compromising situation.

For outdoor use, the Air isn’t as bright as the Pro models, but it is a lot more portable. The display is still comfortable, and with lower specs and a smaller, dimmer panel, you do get more battery life out of the M2 Air than any other variant.

Apple MacBook Air M1

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8.3

• MacBook Air M1 13.3" with Retina Display
• 30W USB Type-C Power Adapter
• USB Type-C Charge Cable (2m)
• Apple M1 chip with 8-core CPU and 7-core GPU
• 16-core Neural Engine
• 16GB unified memory
• 512GB SSD storage

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With how resource-intensive Pro Tools is, the jump from the M2 Air to the M1 feels significant. Working track by track, it works great, but with large sessions with a lot going on at once, there is noticeable lag when you navigate the UI, especially on plugin windows where there’s a noticeable delay.

This isn’t to say the M1 Air isn’t a powerful machine. Using a similar setup as we did with the M1 Max MacBook Pro with the same 30 tracks and 40 plugins along with aux sends, we get double the CPU usage (46% compared to the Pro’s 23%), and RAM hovers around the 25% mark.

You can push the M1 a lot further. With 40 tracks and well over 100 plugins (including UAD plugins), there still isn’t any sign of artifacts or freezing, however, you can still get it to crash if you load it too much.

While you can run a lot of libraries and plugins, it is still a passively cooled device and will throttle over time if you overwork it. So long as you stick to reasonable workloads, the bulkier heatsink on the M1 Air keeps temperatures under control a lot better than the M2.

With how efficient macOS is with memory, you won’t run out of RAM too often on most workloads. However, as with the M2, you will want extra storage to fit in all your data. Similarly, if you use a lot of equipment, the M1 Air does force the use of hubs and docks to connect everything in, especially since it doesn’t have the Magsafe charging option that the M2 Air has.

Apart from ports, the smaller screen can also get in the way of some split-screen and visual-based workloads on Pro Tools, which would be manageable with an external display if the port situation wasn’t so restricted.

However, battery life on the Air is fantastic. Without power, we managed to run sessions with a UA TB Apollo Solo with a hub and an external drive comfortably for four hours.

Final Verdict

Based on our scoring model, we found the highest variance in the RAM, Storage, and Connectivity categories. With the most amount of RAM, the M2 Pro earns its 9.5 points with exceptional multitasking capabilities, followed closely by the M1 Pro. The connectivity category sees the same trend of scores with the Pro models in the lead, followed by the M2 Air, with the M1 Air scoring the least. This dynamic is flipped on both the Pro and Air variants in Storage, since the older models have better SSD performance.

While all four MacBooks on this list perform exceptionally well across Pro Tools workloads, especially with native plugins such as Waves and SoundToys, there is still a benefit of going with either of the M1/M2 Pro and Air models. Since Pro Tools is a notoriously resource-inefficient DAW, the higher end Pro models end up being a much better choice for high-intensity workloads, especially if you toggle between Rosetta mode for unported plugins. They also have larger displays for better multitasking at the price of portability.

For applications such as live recording however, the fanless Air models are a much more compelling product if you don’t need to edit too heavily in post. They are also much better on the go with their portable size and longer battery times, albeit with fewer ports. On the whole, the M1 MacBooks will be a better value proposition than their M2 counterparts, however, they are also much less efficient, and lag behind in performance on the more demanding Pro Tools sessions.

The M1 MacBooks aren’t just cheaper however, they also have faster SSDs, and the Air variant even stays cooler since Apple didn’t take the same liberties compensating for efficiency as they did with the M2 model. In real world applications for most people, performance on both the base M-series silicon is identical. However, the Pro models, especially the M2 MacBook Pro perform a lot better on heavier tasks, which isn’t what the Air models are built for anyway.

In summary, whichever make and model you pick needs to be chosen with your specific use case in mind. So long as you don’t go too off base, like buying a MacBook Air for heavy production, the experience will not disappoint.

Frequently Asked Questions