Has anyone tried Cubase on the M3 Max yet? I know it’s overkill for my work flow, but I need a new MacBook after damaging my M1 screen, and want to future proof myself. Keen to know if Cubase can use all that extra power.
Thanks
Steve
From the tests I have seen, Cubase is the only DAW, alongside Reaper, that uses fully ALL the CPU’s both Performances and Efficiency.
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I’ve read the opposite, since the M2 has fewer performance cores.
You’re answering a question nobody asked.
That’s the thing. You’re not helping. You’re just saying what you know, regardless of the fact that it’s answering the actual question or not.
I would also like to know if any has the M3 max with Cubase ??
I have the M2 Max it was a big jump from the M1 Max , I only upgrade for the Ram , but now you can have 128Gb … I may go M3 Max … be nice to know how it is ???
It’s very, very good. Lots of power, total silence. M3 max is nearly as fast as M2 ultra.
Thanks Richard , did you by any chance have or use and m3 max with cubase ? To compare
I have only had the M2 Max for a years , the 128tb ram would be very handy which is way I’m thinking of a change ,
I had been using a special order souped up I mac with and i.9 and 64 gigs of RAM.
I loved the way it worked and also the beautiful large screen.
Unfortunately I inadvertently allowed it to update to Ventura .This sent me on this new expensive path.
I now use a 14 inch macbook pro M3 Max running Cubase 13.3 pro on OS Sonoma 14.3.
I was using an Orion studio 24 synergy core but my needs are not as they were, and their drivers are unreliable.
I’m now using a UA 4x interface a separate Thunderbolt external SHD for samples and recording . I am an ex live performer and only write material these days.
I send many of my projects out to get properly recorded and produced drums , BG vocals as well as instruments I don’t play.
At first I had a few random crashes with my new set up in january 24 as well as some unexplainable gremlins.
For the most part now everything seems quite stable with the lates updates .
I always back up my work in 4 different locations.
I only had to start all over once from a total crash and I swore I would have protection from then on.
I don’t use many virtual instruments or midi often.
I use a second screen, as the 14 inch gets a bit crowded. That is down fall mixing large projects. Editing or tuning Is torture.lol
I have many plugins from Waves, Steven Slate, izotope and Fab Filter as well as the UA ones . They all work well .
I ordered this macbook pro with the Maximum Ram I could get as well as the higher of the two offered CPUs. Question: Has anyone tried using control surfaces with a set up like this . I love the look of the new Icon but worried it may not be compatible. Hope the info helps.
Thanks in advance for any advice on control surfaces.
Have the fans kicked in much ? I guess not if your not using lots of VSTis
I’m ordering one , currently have the M2 Max and use Eucon and 3x S1 s and dock , there are some bugs. It things are getting better
Sorry, I missed your post. Yes, I’ve used it with Cubase. It’s incredibly powerful. The only time the fans have ever kicked in was when I was benchmarking the machine. Otherwise, complete silence.
Thanks that’s great to k know,
I’m ordering a full spec m3 max I’ll run lots of tests against my current M2max full spec ,
Be interested to see how VSTi compare , I’ll do a post about it here
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Thanks .That would be interesting to hear for my next project before I start it and crash.
The results are quite amazing, compared to what the reviews on YouTube seem to point to
Not tested anything other than Cubase and it’s about twice at powerful against my M2 Max! I am blown away . I will post my test projects so you can see how it test it .
- Test a reverb in every track playing audio
- Tests Kontakt playing a massive chord like 20 odd notes at once . You get more than double on the M3 max
A copy paste tracks test projevct doesn’t give you real world performance metrics though.
I’ve been deep diving into this the last 6 months .
For example. I have a windowsd AMD7950x-64Gb ram and an M1 Max -64GB ram
On a copy paste track type test like the Cubase Dom Sigales/Scan test the 7950x wipes the floor with the M1 Max… however on real world projects with busses and aux sends, master bus processing etc etc the m1 max can hold it’s own with the 7950x. The difference under the hood is the m1 can utilise all it’s 10 cores fully in mac OS whereas the 32 core AMD only gets to 25% usage before the ASIO guar is maxed out . So the saem project with a 95% ASIO guard is showing 25% system use on the 7950x wheras it’s showing the same 95% system usage on the M1 max.
I’m looking for a new machine at the moment and wondering about an M3 max like you , however I’m also looking at what intel and AMD are going to bring to the table in a few months.
Steinberg neeed to sort out the windows performance in comparison the Mac OS as well so this may be a factor to consider.
M
I have run lots of test , also on my large template project last , I get 50% more on every thing
copy paste track does check cpu and my midi test is hardcore on Kontakt and which ever DAW you use , I have been testing new mac like this for 20 years now .
I no nothing about PC and have never own one , so not sure on that , it I did also test with C13 set to 32 buffer on a real world score I did last year on my M1 Max (which was set to 256) and the M3 max played it back with lots of CPU and ASiO guard to spare , I couldn’t believe it !!
This was also putting heavy VSTi track in record
yes, I’m 100% sure it’s better than the M1 and M2 
I need to fnd out if it’s better than a current or imminent Intel or AMD system hence i set up a cross platform test using only VST3 and the same test on Cubase, Studio One and Reaper.
M
Apple has a 30day return policy-
Sorry to break into the conversation.
I started using a 14 inch MacBook pro 128 Gigs RAM Now on Sonoma 14.41
LPDDR5. Micron
Built in Liquid Retina Display. 1324x
1 TB (1,000,555,581,440 bytes) storage
firmware 10151.1013
16 (12 performance) and 4 Efficiency and 40 core GPU
3 USB 3.1 Bus
Thunderbolt/USB 4
Can Use Ethernet.
I have been having no issues of late with the last 2 Cubase Pro up dates. …
The you tube is full of much click bate and inacurate information whn it comes to many things . Pro Audio is no different .
I under stand that the big thing was that some DAW software could not take advantage of all the cores .There were a number of tests published , however
one wonders which ones were correctly representing the computers and the Daws.
Turns ot Cubase was able to use all the cores available according to the same reports.
I’m not Abbey Road and do not need all the inputs, inserts, external hardware and virtual instruments.
I can .,so far use far more than I have required.
As I stated in a previous post My computer will handle 3 screens according to Specs and Apple.
I am a bit disappointed in that functionality ,as I use a track pad and I am moving from screen to screen .It Can become confusing with a lot of windows open. Seenmed earlier versions of Cubase were easier . Could be the new Mac Architecture causing this as well. One can place screens above or on either side of laptop. moving windows though can be clockwise to go up and counter clockwise to go down . I find theextra monitor,as i on use 1 extra can become unstable. Again a Mac issue I think.
I adopted early sio I did have miultiple crashes at first before software improvements by both.
Little Requests:
1)Given the fact that I am getting older and my eyes are not as good as they were a request for steinberg to add a few options for small screens. woulde be a bonus.
2) a dedicated mix button as in logic pro 11 .
3) available phone support as steinberg in Canada once had, and apple and logic still have. Wityh grewat advice and short waiting times. They ewven have a seperate support suppor expert for logic.
Although InAlways buy Appe Care, at times when it has expired they still answer all questions on the phone and take as much time as one needs.
I use Cubase mostly , however Yamaha is a large company as well and one cannot put a price on immediate great tech support . As for P T , not worth the ink to complain. I hope this helps you in your decision to buy or not to purchase an M3 max. .
Disclaimer I am retired aqnd do not work for mac or it’s affiliates or retailers .
These oppinions are from what I have experienced from building my own PCs to switching to MAC 20 Years ago.
The hardest thing to do being in being a gear pig myself is not to jump on the greatest latest thing as it usually means at least a year of insanity, and work stoppages looking for copartable new equipment, drivers and software .
Should get a Tattoo of this golden rule on my arm.
Also the money is not what it was . it he a tuff way tyo make a living . Always was but now days , crazy hard
It is easy to make bad music, and everyone is smothered in it .
People have full access to everything ever written, free or for a few bucks.
People are being paid live less thasn I was making 35 years ago in actual dollars . Cheers All.
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I had and M1 that was performing well after I installed the Cubase 12 Pro update. I’ve been running 13 Pro for the last 9 months now. My son needed a new computer for college so I gave him the M1 and picked up an M3 for me. Both units are configured with 64 GB RAM and 2 TB of hard disk, so the difference really comes down to the CPU and GPU configuration.
The M1 has a 10 core Max CPU with 32 GPU cores.
The M3 has a 16 core Max CPU with 40 GPU cores.
Fact is, I don’t see any appreciable increase in performance.
In performance tests the M3 has almost a 40% increase in multi-thread output. Add to that the new machine has more CPU’s - the M1 10 core machine has 2 efficiency and 8 performance cores, the M3 has 4 efficiency and 12 performance cores - that’s a 50% increase in performance cores, not to mention that 40% improvement that the CPU itself provides. With differences like this, performance should be notably improved.
I did run a basic test with Activity Monitor and pulled up the CPU chart. Cubase 13 Pro is definitely using all 12 M3 CPU’s, but I noticed the load does not vary much (if at all), between playback mode and idle. I would suspect playback would proportionally increase the CPU load as multiple plugin’s are now being operated, but that’s not the case.