Which Mac for Home Studio Use

lumencreative

lumencreative

lumencreative

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19 May 2014
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I am currently in the process of setting up a home studio as a new project for me and my wife and I was planning on using my 2011 Quad Core i7 Macbook Pro as the 'studio computer' connected to an external screen.

My original plan was to use a 27" screen alongside my Macbook Pro but seeing as I have 2 x Dell U2312HM Screens going unused, I would prefer to use these to save having to buy another screen.

I have bought a Mini DisplayPort to DVI adapter to connect one but then realised I cannot connect a second screen to my Macbook Pro so I have started looking for another option.

So....

Should I sell my Macbook Pro and buy a Mac Mini which will give me the ability to run two displays (and I'll have about £300 cash left over).

Or

Should I sell my current screens and buy one 27" screen and stick with my Macbook Pro (would hopefully break even after selling the Dells and buying a 27").
 
What do you use it for?

I think going the 27" would make sense if you get a 1440p monitor, but it depends on your workflow, will you be more productive having 3 screens, or 2 and one is slightly bigger.
 
Just looked at the spec of the mac mini and it does have firewire so will do what I need. I would assume as well that the current mac mini is about the same as my mbp performance wise.
 
If you want to keep the MBP then this might be an option : http://www.matrox.com/graphics/en/products/gxm/dh2go/digital_se/. If you're feeling well flush the Apple Thunderbolt displays can also be daisy chained if you've got a spare couple of grand!

Mac mini is probably the best option long term. The 2011 MBPs are not the most reliable of kit - users are reporting AMD GPU failures once they pass a couple of years old...
 
Thanks for the replies.

The Matrox looks like a good option but ideally I would prefer to not have to spend additional money if that makes sense so it looks like the Mac Mini might be the best option.
 
I would ensure that the Mac Mini is going to be powerful enough if you're going to be using ProTools/Logic and plugins. These apps and plugins can be resource intensive, obviously depending on your usage though.
 
Thanks for all the advice. I have taken the plunge and ordered the Quad Core i7 Mac Mini - my reasons being that the current gen Mac Mini has upgradeable hard drive and memory where I'm worried that the next generation will offer fixed storage and memory instead and so I would be stuck with the configuration options from Apple.

I'm sure a quad core i7 would be powerful enough for what I need (especially if I whack an SSD in there).
 
It's just a shame about the current memory prices for 2x8GB DDR3 1600MHz SODIMMs :(

I got mine in 2012 at £56 for the pair....
 
shiver said:
It's just a shame about the current memory prices for 2x8GB DDR3 1600MHz SODIMMs :(

I got mine in 2012 at £56 for the pair....
Click to expand...

Tell me about it - I looked at getting some ram to upgrade my desktop PC from 8GB to 16GB and nearly fell off my chair....still, upgrading the mini to 16GB myself will still be cheaper than what Apple will charge to upgrade the new model if it has fixed memory (Apple are charging £240 to upgrade the current MBP's to 16GB whereas 2x8GB SODimm Kits are around £110 online).
 
Oh for sure, still makes me think twice about buying another kit for my gf's MBP....

4GB doesn't seem enough when it's plugged into an external monitor and the Intel iGPU is eating a full 1GB VRAM.
 
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