TAXI.com

Hi Guys,
Just wondering how any other Mac M1 users are holding up these days? I am still disappointed that there are so few genuinely native plugins available (by 'genuine' I mean plugins were both the installer and the plugin itself run natively on the M1). I honestly underestimated how long it would take for manufacturers to catch up and in light of that it seems crazy that an M2 is already in the making... I know there is Rosetta but I refuse to install it (actually a nice exercise being forced to use only those plugins available).
What are your thoughts?
Cheers,
Matt

Hey Matt,

Can't say I'm a frustrated M1 user, but I was seriously looking at a Mac-mini, with the M1 chip, last year. In the end I decided to stick with PC, for now, due to the compatibility issues with the plugins, and a general need to run Ableton in emulation mode. I was really considering it, and still am, as the architecture of the M1 chip is very different, and seemingly much more powerful than a standard CPU. But, it doesn't make much sense to me to need to run another layer of software, just to run the software either. There would be a performance hit, in latency, I would assume.

I've not checked in a while, but I thought the vendors were slowly getting better with the compatibly.

Overall though, how have you found the performance of it?

Cheers,
Brad

We looked at the M1 last year but put off buying because of the issues you're citing, Matt. We have ordered one now. Should be coming late March / early April. Fingers crossed for better compatibility by then.

Edit 2-15-22:
Just got this from N-I. Progress!

KONTAKT 6.7 IS OUT NOW
The latest edition of our flagship sampler brings native support for Apple’s M1 chips as well as compatibility with macOS Monterey ...

===
Michael & Sharon

The M1 rocks! I have to run Logic with Rosetta II because Melodyne is best with ARA, and ARA is not yet native. But it still screams. Everything is incredibly fast.

What I AM frustrated with is the constant tinkering with the OS to make it more secure. They don't really make it more secure, they make it harder to use.

Hi Matt and everyone-
I don't have an M1 but I have an iMac and want to replace it with a new iMac.
They tell me at Apple that they no longer use INTEL for the processing chip. They now use M1 chip.
Do you think this would cause the issues you are having?

Susan Hillman

FWIW I'm now on my 2nd M1 Mac and loving it. I bought a Mac Mini M1 at the beginning of last year, knowing it was a bridge because I really wanted a MacBook Pro but wasn't happy with the specs on any of the available laptops at that time. A couple of months ago I ponied up for a 14" MBP with the M1 Pro chip. I run Logic in Rosetta mode and have never had a problem. Everything works great and fast. Since I switched to the laptop I now can compose anywhere in the house, not just my studio and it has resulted in increased productivity.

I agree that I wish everything ran M1 native just because I'd like to see what that looks like in terms of performance, but I have no complaints and I have a ton of plugins, pretty everything you can think of (Native Instruments Komplete, Arturia, Melodyne, Soundtoys, Waves, etc.) and they all run like champs in Logic. My .02

Tony

PS I sold my Mini on eBay yesterday for $1,000 -- I paid $1,300 for it 18 months ago so I consider that a very reasonable rental for a solid computer!

I recently got a Mac Studio with M1 Max.

Logic Pro X installed first try, with all its free instruments downloaded too. Izotope Music Production Suite also installed fine.

Will soon start using it and will provide updates, but no issues yet.

We are using Rosetta successfully with Kontakt, Pianoteq, Omnisphere, Ozone, Spitfire, Sitala

MacBook Pro 14"
Chip: Apple M1 Max
OS: MacOS Monterey 12.5
DAW: REAPER 6.65

===
Michael & Sharon