Hi everybody,
I’m still using Cubase 11.5 on an obsolete MacMini late 2012 running macOS MOjave, as I needed to save my Sibelius 6.2 scoring software but things are becoming more complicatede, day by day, and I’m gonna buy a new computer.
I’m thinking to buy a MacBook pro as I would appreciate mobility very much but prices are not that cheap and so I’m considering the refurbished option: there are both M1 (pro) and M2 (pro) version and saving are huge compared to new ones.
Has anyone ever tried a refurbished? Do you think is a safe option? Any advice about?
Thank you so much,
Art
Refurbished MacBook Pros from Apple are absolutely OK. After all, Apple also gives a 1-year guarantee on the devices. But you can save more if you search a little harder and buy a new MacBook Pro from another online retailer. I am very happy with my MacBook Pro M1 Pro. The difference between the M1 and M2 is quite small for music production. Instead of investing in an M2, you should invest in more RAM and preferably a Pro or even Max CPU. The Max CPUs have double the memory bandwidth.
Hi Bentus,
I also heard about good performances of M1 pro, compared to M2, and for this reason I was considering refurbished models; I didn’t know I could still find them new.
Could you pleas suggest me one ore mood good retailers?
Thank you very much for answering!
Art
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M1 Pro 2nd hand, (if bought from a store so you have garanty) are very good!!!
Unless you know 100% the laptop is good and not damaged. repairs are ULTRA expensive if you dont have Apple Care.
Maybe you can even find a 2nd hand with a year Apple Care left, that would be awesome and worth the extra 100-200 euro/dollar.
it all depends on your budget
but get one with a lot of storage and specially ram, this always bites you in the ass in the end 
if i had to choose between maxed-out 2nd hand M1 vs mimimum spec’ed M2 i would go for the M1…
the cpu difference is about 20%, both are ultra quiet with music production
Hi @WK1 ,
Thank you for your advice; a friend of mine said the same thing, so:
could this - used, with Apple care - be a good choice,
MacBook Pro 16"
Apple M1 Max
CPU 10‑core, GPU 32‑core, Neural Engine 16‑core
32GB RAM
SSD 1TB
Slot SDXC card
HDMI port
Headphone Jack 3,5 mm
MagSafe 3
3 Thunderbolt 4 (USB‑C)
DisplayPort
Thunderbolt 4 (fino a 40 Gbps)
USB 4
MagSafe 3
compared to this (new)?
MacBook Pro 16"
Apple M2 Pro
CPU 12‑core, GPU 19‑core, Neural Engine 16‑core
16GB RAM
SSD 512GB
3 Thunderbolt 4,
HDMI port
slot SDXC card,
Headphone Jack
MagSafe 3
Exactly the same price (400€ to add for 32GB ram…)
Thanx,
Art
Hi everybody,
yesterday I finally ordered the first one in my previous post and I’m going to retire it just now.
A couple of questions about ‘no dongle’ license attivation as I’m not sure I’ve understood everything well here;:
- with Cubase 12 - that I’ve already downloaded in a recent promotion) I don’t need dongle but I could for some other softwares, as C11 pro (even if I don’t think I need to install it on Macbook.
- on my old macmini (declared obsolete yet, but still running for a lot of things) I still need dongle for C11pro and, maybe, LoFi piano, that’s the only other license I have for now on the dongle; so I wouldn’t lose the possibility to use both Cubase versions; is it right? ( This is what I’ve understood at this page wher is clearly stated that “Even after the eLicenser server is eventually decommissioned, further still into the future, existing USB-eLicensers will continue to work for as long as they remain functional, and you are still able to run the corresponding software versions on your computer.”)
At the end: as I upgrade as less as I can systems and sw, is there advice you could give me about a clean install on my new ‘little toy’? 
Thank you all very much,
Art
sorry i didnt see your post on time!
you made the right choice i think
16 GB of RAM is really not enough, and you will get wierd stuff when running Cubase, specially with apps in the background (chrome/safari can be a crazy ram monster)
32 GB Ram should be enough for the coming years
its the only thing you really cant safe money on, since you can use ext. SSD
I have a special TB3 case for a small 2TB NVME drive (9xx EVO from Samsung).
Attach this directly into one of the TB USB C ports on your mac and its like you have a build in storage, its that fast. Only thing is that you have this little thingie always hanging on your laptop, and macOS wants you to eject before taking it out (super, annoying behaviour compared to windows)
Just google ‘best Thunderbolt NVME casing’ or something like that…they can be pretty cheap
Maybe even get the latest 4TB NVME
In your case you can install all the apps on the internal disk and your data on the 4TB
You need 1TB for just data if you install anything like Komplete/Cubase content/big apps in the future…
This way you always have your data on an easy to backup storage, just dont loose the tiny fucker haha
let me know if you like the new laptop!
Hi @WK1,
don’t worry, you gave me a great advice and now I’m happy I purchased this little ‘beast’ I’m writing on…
Yesterday, for the truth, I woke up thinking I would made a better choice spending for a desktop one, with the same power, and buying a more portable laptop but the truth is that there was no better choice than the one I made, at the moment; no Macmini no Laptops as powerful than this, at the same price or less, and I risked to lose a good opportunity.
Generally I’m not a great ‘businessman’ but this time I can say I’m really convinced, even if I’ll have to get used to many differences between a desktop and a laptop, as - for example - the keyboard layout, so I’ll have to adapt all my shortcuts (I use keyboard shortcuts a lot).
On the other side the chance to go everywhere with my projects is priceless.
Thank you for the advice on external hd and case; when you speak about ‘data’ you mean libraries? So you would suggest me to keep them on the Mac hd and keep projects on the external one? Did I understand well? I’ve heard people preferring to keep their project on computer hd and libraries on an external one but I guess it’s a matter of taste… Or not?
As you’ve read I’m very happy, at the moment, and I hope I’ll continue to be!
Thank you very much again,
Art
p.s. I’m struggling with a strange fact, for the truth, right now, but I guess it depends on some error of mine: I’ve imported an old Macmini C11 project, just to see the difference in charge on memory and even if I see all meter flashing and I can pre listen files in the pool, I don’t get no audio in the main mix (that works great with other old Mac mini project… 
Any idea about a possible reason? Maybe tomorrow I’ll create a dedicated post)
A.
about audio:
if you press F8 you go to the audio routings (at least for me…)
maybe the outputs in Cubase are not connected right
also, i use the Control Room, this also has to be turned on in the same setting window and be connected to the right audio ports…
if this doesnt work, you can go to
-Studio->Studio Setup…->Audio System
-there is a Control Panel tab/button somewhere in this big menu thing…select this to see a little white menu
-in this menu make sure that the right output is selected on the M1 (headphone or speaker)
-if you use an interface, this is different, im just talking about when you use the internal interface of the laptop (like on headphones directly pluggied into the laptop, or when you are in Starbucks or something)
pfff got that? LOL
in macOs Ventura, Apple changed the audio drivers for headphones and speakers completely.
now, there are two drivers, one for headphones and one for speakers.
this is a drama for a lot of people, because your DAW cant switch automatically anymore, like on older macOS.
i assume Steinberg is working on this…
About storage:
yes this is exactly what i ment…but your are right too
i dont know what you produce, but you can also put all your big data libraries on an external ssd…
then keep the internal for Cubase and projects
whatever you prefer, i said what i said because my programs/docs/content/ is on my system disk and its already 1TB 
so watch out with installing too much crap because it will eat your internal hd like crazy heheh
what you said is fine (keep projects on your macbook with some apps, and all the content on an external disk)
i have all my apps/docs/content on one disk because i backup and restore the system disk a lot with Superduper.
1TB partition is for Cubase, apps and system content (kontakt etc) and 3TB partition is for my music and samples.
(i was very lucky to get the 4TB internal storage)
Im old school, i had 3 terrible crashes out of knowhere in the last 25 years and lost everything on the system drive in seconds, first time along with all my music!
I also had 3-4 external hd’s broken, without warning everything gone.
Backblaze safed me more than once
This is why i put all my music, samples and prestes on a sepperate partitions.
Also, Apple has a very, very bad rep for updating OS and screw with everything.
So its nice to have a clean backup, just your apps and system stuff, so you can just continiue to work if you need to restore a previous macOS.
Your content can be on an ext disk, this will still work.
Does this make sense?
Hi @WK1 : i solved the audio issue thanks to this post in the forum; it was too strange as my audio played with selecting files in pool or in media bay… It was a plugin I still haven’t reinstalled: I unloaded it and the magic was done. (I always use Control Room too, is super useful in my opinion)
in the past I mainly recorded real instruments (here’s a link to a cd I recorded - not drums nor mix and master - at home a fifteen years ago) but these days I’m getting more involved in production, loops, sound design, synthesis, etc. even if guitar is quite always the main instrument
yes, I’m trying not even to reinstall sowftware and plugin I wasn’t using very much but I generally avoid ‘plugin hunt’ because there are a lot of good stuff in Cubase I just scratched the surface of…
me too, I started in the Atari days, no audio, tape cassette recorder, sync…, and I’m quite obsessed with backups; probably too much as I always end having to delete doubles…
I didn’t look for the hard disk you suggeste me in the previous post but I’ll do for sure; I’ll let you know 
I also use Carbon Copy Cloner…
After the very first test I did there’s no comparison beetwen the new macbook and the little old macmini, that I’ll keep for extra musical stuff, until it’s possible, and because Mojave is the last OS I can run Sibelius 6.2 on (I don’t want to upgrade).
Thank you again,
Art