Macbook Pro 16" & Cubase 10.5.20 - Great!

Cubase
#1

Hi,
I just upgraded my trusty old MBP 15" (late 2013) to a brand new Macbook Pro 16".
It’s the base 6-Core configuration but with a 2TB SSD build in.
So far everything seems to run great.
I did an extreme performance test and was very impressed.
150 tracks Audio and VSTI’s mixed at lowest latency settings (!!) were just about 30% of the CPU meter in Cubase.
The system was still very responsive, nice and easy to work with.

Yes, it is expensive. But this a very, very nice machine to work with.
In my eyes totally worth it.
Apple did everything right this time, they listend to their customers.
My old MBP did work for 7 years heavy usage and ist still running fine.
Only the battery had to be exchanged recently.
Hopefully my new MBP 16 will last that long too…

#2

Oh wow you’re the only other music production person I know whos bought the 16. How are you finding battery life and the fans ?
I love the machine. It’s a beast. I have 32 gbs and 2tbs plus the top cpu spec so it’s a work horse, but you kinda pay the price for this in terms of fan noise. Which is a shame as the speakers sound incredible on this laptop but you cant hear them to their fullest due to the noise.
Re battery life I get around 2.5 hours with a medium sized project on cubase.

#3

I still have to test Battery life. When i work with Cubase i use the PSU most of the times.
So this is not too important for me. The fans tend to run more often then on my previous MBP.
But the fan noise is actually ok, not as disturbing as the fans on other machines i have heard.
But as you already stated it’s the price for the superior performance I guess…
The build In Speakers are indeed awesome, great for listening music or watching a movie.
Even for some DAW work useable but only to a certain degree…

#4

Absolutely. I never tend to use my laptop speakers as a serious reference for monitoring. But these sound so good I haven’t yet bothered to plug into my HS8s yet so will be interesting to hear what the very rough mix I have done just using the laptop speakers will provide once I do.

#5

So, after about 5 Months of using my MBP 16" I am still quite happy with it.
Performance wise, Workflow, build quality, display, features ect… everything very good.
I did not experience a single crash or any problems with Cubase 10.5. :slight_smile:

The only thing that bugs me is the fan noise. :confused:
If you connect an external display the fans run almost constantly at a fairly loud level.
This is quite annoying. I have installed utilities than can disable the Turbo Bosst of the CPU
and another tool that controls the fan speed. This helps sometimes but is also sometimes problematic.
As i have learned this is the price you pay for the much increased GPU an CPU performance.
If you run the Laptop without external display the fans are much less audible.
Still, for a 3500€ Laptop i would expect this machine to operate less noisy under load…

But all in all it is still a great machine.

#6

Are you sure you are running Cubase 10.5.5 and not 10.5.20?

#7

He’s living in the future… :laughing:

#8

sorry, typing error.

#9

Does it all work well even with the latest Catalina Update that just came out ?

#10

Did the update yesterday to MAC 10.15.5 and worked for a couple of hours with Cubase.
No issues at all.

#11

… but the fan noise is really loud (too loud) … especially with a external display connected.
I still hope for a macOS update - reading from the Apple forums, it seems to be a bug, Apple could fix with an update.

We just need to complain loud enough! Hopefully the hear uns some day (like they did with a Macbook Pro some years ago with a similar problem)

#12

I’ve got the first six core mbp that came out in 2018 in 15" guise. I use extra screens through an egpu and I think this helps with the heat build up. I don’t need it for Cubase graphics, but I use it with the odd game and with Final Cut so the gpu’s always plugged in and as I say I think it does help to get some gpu workload happening outside the mbp chassis.

Steve.

#13

“paulpaul”
Which utilities did you get for disabling Turbo Boost and Fan speed?
How has the performance been with Turbo Boost disabled? ( Cubase or just computer use )
Definitely considering doing the same thing here with the same machine.

#14

I would be interested in knowing which app disables the turbo boost too?

Thanks in advance

#15

Hi,

Here is the link for “Turbo Boost switcher”
It works fine here and helps keeping the machine cooler.
If the CPU ist not driven too hard, there is almost no difference.
But if you run larger Cubase projects or Video editing than the machine feels slow and unresposive.
https://www.rugarciap.com/turbo-boost-switcher-for-os-x/

And here the link for"Macs Fan Control".
Also quite useful, but you have to keep in mind that there is usually a reason for the fans to run…
But it can be very helpful in certain situations.
https://crystalidea.com/macs-fan-control





https://www.rugarciap.com/turbo-boost-switcher-for-os-x/

#16

When connected to external display in clamshell mode, some people have had success using SwitchResX to find a resolution that keeps dGPU wattage down. (External display forces dGPU, and high dGPU wattage even at idle seems to be causing high temps/fans. See the epic macrumors thread.)

If not connected to external, there are ways to force iGPU (e.g. sudo switch - details also in that thread). Not sure if Cubase itself requests dGPU, but some third-party plug-ins do. May help in this case.

Or now there is the revoltingly expensive 5600m graphics option (€1,000 over base model), which seems from initial reports to be quieter with external display and under dGPU load, also slightly higher CPU benchmarks.

Still on the fence here - would appreciate any experience with Cubase using these workarounds.

#17

Hi m8 im happy that your 16" works good with Cubase.

I bought mine (almost maxed out) beginning of this year, and i have to say its all a big drama.
LOADS of crashes, Cubase is really super buggy.
And yeah, its very noisy.
There is one very good real TB 3 hub from Caltech that alows you to put the macbook on 3mtr distance, so i have it outside the room LOL

Do even have any 3rd party plugins installed?

I have everything from NI, Arturia, Fabfilter, iZotope, some waves and the usual suspects like Serum/Sylenth/Diva etc but its just really bad.
Some plugins take SO much more recources then Logic Pro X, its almost embarising for Cubase.
And it makes sense, because Steinberg always has to run after the changes Apple forces on us every year.
Now with upcoming ARM architecture…im praying for the best.
I also use Logic, and it just runs so much better.

Maybe i should start a topic called ‘Dont buy the macbook 16" with Cubase cause it sucks!’ hahaha