If you missed the original article, about a month ago, I decided to try an experiment. Swap my full spec Mac Pro 6,1 Trash can for a brand new MacBook Pro 16" i9. You can read the full article here.
The reason? I wanted to rationalise my set-up and try and move away from the two machine studio and mobile machine scenario. Have Apple laptops come of age enough to be able to offer the power and flexibility to a modern studio? What about heat and noise? So the adventure began.
Lesson one, research helps. Before I leapt I posted a question on my personal Facebook wall, not a public forum; I'm not insane! If you want to know my thoughts on asking questions in public forums then read my article ‘If You Think Information Is Power Then You've Not Joined A Facebook Audio Group.’
I asked; "Mac users only, please. Do any of you use a MacBook Pro as your main machine rather than a desktop? I've just got a new fully pimped 16" MBP and am considering just using that to simplify life."
The answers (some 110) I got were fantastic and helped a great deal. I can't print the entire thread here, but thankfully not a single person trotted out the mind-numbingly boring trope of 'Buy a PC' or 'build a Hackintosh.' To summarise, the idea got an overwhelming thumbs up from people I respect, so we were off to the races.
I've documented the set-up along with hardware and software here, so I won't repeat myself.
So a month on what have I learnt?
Firstly, my concerns about noise from the fans were mostly ill-founded. Take that from someone who is paranoid about noise in the studio. It's been sitting on a stand on my desk to optimise cooling for the last few weeks, and the fans have kicked in a handful of times when I've been pushing it. But not for long and nothing that has been enough to disrupt the work. Just yesterday, I had to switch on one of my archive drives that sits in my drive cupboard. Even with the door close it was like a fighter jet getting ready to take off, and it reminded me of how noisy fans can be. So in summary, there are many things in a studio that can generate noise; hard drives, aircon, even some studio hardware; the MacBook Pro isn’t one of them.
Secondly, with some smart planning you can avoid having endless cables connected to your MacBook Pro. One of the criticisms of the Mac Pro Trash Can is that once all the cables are connected, it can look a bit messy. To be honest, being such a noise freak I kept mine in a cupboard for seven years, so I never gave it a second thought. However, a laptop is a different proposition; you don't want to have to hook up endless cables every time you want to add or remove it. Thanks to the elegant solution of the powered CalDigit dock my entire studio is connected via one Thunderbolt 3 cable, it also happens to charge it too.
One point to make, some days I can have up to 16 drives connected to my MacBook Pro at any one time, ejecting each one every time I want to unplug the Thunderbolt 3 cable is a PITA. So I tracked down a freeware app called Semulov from Kevin Wojniak, that gives you a single eject of all volumes from the menu bar, you can download Semulov from his website.
Third, cooling is king. Apple, although not entirely their fault but I'm not going into the history of Intel and their chips, run the CPU hard. Running them hard means heat, and if you are not careful then your computer isn't only going to be noisy, it's also going to have a shorter life, so it pays to take precautions to keep things cool. I run my MacBook Pro in clamshell, and it lives on a stand that maximises airflow. I also use an app called Turbo Boost Switcher Pro that allows me to turn the Turbo Boost off and also monitor the temperature. So far the MacBook Pro has hardly broken a sweat, no more than the Mac Pro, which on some days would have the fans running for a considerable time.
Read more about thermal throttling and cooling your computer here
I did consider buying an external eGPU and did a lot of research. I narrowed it down to a great external box and card, I even ordered it. However, in the time it took to order it and for it to arrive I concluded that the gains I would achieve balanced with the cost were minimal, so I cancelled the order.
Play or Pass?
So the big question is what do I think having made the switch? In terms of power, had someone sneaked into my studio and swapped my Mac Pro for the MacBook Pro and not told me then I wouldn't have noticed - this machine is a powerhouse.
When you factor in that I can simply unplug it from one cable and carry on working anywhere I like then it's a hands-down winner.
I was sceptical before I started this experiment, like many I've been conditioned to think that a laptop is somewhat inferior. Well not this one, the new MacBook Pro 16" offers the power of a desktop with the flexibility to take it wherever I want. It also means I don’t have two computers and all the cost and messing around related to that arrangement. What's not to love?
Pros
Flexible
Powerful
Single machine solution
Cons
Can prove expensive for those on a budget
Other than that, none I can think of