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Ipad m4 w/ logic or buy a MB Air m3?
I use windows desktop, cubase, pro tools
I have lots of plugins and synths that work both of mac and windows
Looking to get a mobile production rig. Dont wanna go for windows laptop.
My choices are
MBA 15” or ipad m4 13” with logic
Is logic cramped on ipad screen? Does logic work as good as macbook version? I guess I couldnt use cubase or any of my plugins but its interesting to have just one ipad and try to do everything on it. But with macbook I could share projects between my desktop and have more collaboration opertunitiea and such
Tbh my intuition tells me go macbook air, but my GAS tells me ipad lol
Comments
Hard choice: as for logic on desktop, it is much “bigger” than logic on iPad. For me personally, it is a super hard choice because if your coming from cubase I would say get an iPad and Cubasis but since your into the MBp I would be doing a disservice not recommending going that route and buying logic outright
You can’t go wrong with either Logic and iPad/mac choice man and I also think Cubasis is awesome and has a lot of potential for updates in the future considering their development is ongoing and steady (and apparently you can buy it for only $17 in app which is pretty damn good)
Idk man, you stumped me with your choices because logic does level the playing field so it comes down to choice, and iPad has so much
I THINK I would choose iPad in the end
iPads are great fun with lots of creative tools but when I hear 'mobile production' and you want "to have just one ipad and try to do everything on it."... hmmm, that is a good creative exercise but for most folks I have known that came from a functional desktop background it seems very hit or miss. But hey, maybe.
When you say "share projects between my desktop and have more collaboration opportunities" and that you already have Mac synths (which won't work on iPad) I would lean towards MBA. (Not just saying that because I think Logic on iPad has a horrendously clunky UI... ok maybe partly
)
How about MBA now and even just a lower level iPad later to see if it even clicks as a platform. Could always trade in if it really clicks with you as Apple gives pretty darn good deals on upgrades that way. It seems the vast majority of hosts / music apps don't really take advantage of the extra horse power on higher end iPads anyway and the things that make iPads tricky for music production tend not to be purely horsepower related.
Hmmm, maybe ask Apple if you could try an M4 iPad and if you could trade it in if it doesn't click? I have only seen iPad to iPad trade ins but maybe they do iPad to Macbook?
About five months ago, I bought a brand new MacBook Pro and I have Ableton live 12 on it. To be honest with you I hardly even turn it on unless I wanna watch a movie. For some reason, the iPad for me just seems like the go to for making music these days. Then again I make ambient and there’s not as much detail in it as if you were making other genres of music. I still have time to send my MacBook back to Amazon I have until October for some reason I’m actually thinking of sending it back and buying the best iPad Pro. I don’t know. I’m not sure yet because they may come a day when I want to have Ableton 12 at my disposal again.
Accurate, and with that, the desktop is a more sensible choice…..(for some reason I just like the iPad overall so maybe get the m2 in light of Gus post?)
I've never taken to the iPad as a production environment. I feel completely hamstrung by the file management. I cannot organize like I really want to.
Beyond that, in practice I even prefer FL Mobile running on my Mac compared to using it on an iPad (not to mention having full FL Studio on the Mac too -- they're fun in different ways).
MacBook Air 3 with 16gb of ram , 1tb of storage …as much as I love having Logic on my IPad Pro it doesn’t compare to using my M3 MacBook Pro…just my two cents
I love Logic Pro on iPad, and all the great plugins you can get on iPad, but if you’re coming from a desktop environment you may find yourself surprised and frustrated by the limitations of the platform. If you’re only going to have one or the other, I have to recommend going Mac. Especially since you have an existing investment in plugins that can run on Mac. Logic Pro on iPad is a great piece of software, but it’s not quite “pro” pro just yet if you know what I mean.
I’ve mixed a lot of tracks in Logic for iPad. I use an iPad Pro 11” M2. It’s doable in iPad land, but the screen realestate is limited and the workflow moving around can feel a little like looking through a keyhole at times. It is fun to use your hand for everything. There are some amazing apps on the iPad, but I think the best configuration setup for full mixing is a Mac with whatever DAW you like to use on it and an iPad. You can then use the iPad as a screen extension or for extra instruments or if you have Logic it can be used as a remote touch screen controller for Logic.
The other side of this equation is that the iPad environment can give you a completely different approach to the creation process. It is distinctly possible to stay in the iPad environment and create amazing stuff. The apps available on the platform are fantastic for creating magic.
Laptop every time.
I have both an iPad Pro 12.9” with Apple Silicon, and an 16” Macbook Pro M1 - if I was forced to choose one device, it would be the iPad Pro…
But, I really love both environments, and it has different takes on different people - iPad Pro 13” with M4 and 1TB (16GB RAM) is really hefty in price ($2500), although it’s an monster device!
That’s insanely expensive - had I known that I would definitely buy the MBP and Logic!!
Otherwise, an M2 IPad Pro would serve you well for many many years…..(that’s my personal suggestion, the m4 is overpowered and too $$, and the MBP is as good as you can ask for but if you want the iPadOS ecosystem, which I prefer, then get an iPad m2 pro, it’ll still be state of the art for a while)
Going the iPad-only route only makes sense if you are willing to embrace the compromises this option will entail. You will have a smaller pool of plugins to choose from, no large sample libraries, fewer DAWs, a less flexible file system, and only one physical port. If you can live with all of that then the benefits might be worth it.
The benefits of the iPad-only route are the overall cheaper ecosystem, nicer form factor (tablet vs laptop), and much nicer way to play virtual instruments with on-screen keyboards (you still have the option to use a controller of course).
Personally I'm perfectly happy to be iPad-only, but I am also fully aware that it involves compromises which might not be suitable for others.
I would get a Macbook Air, doesn't matter if it's an M3 or not. And throw in an iPad 10 for $299 (currently). https://www.macrumors.com/2024/05/28/10th-gen-ipad-new-low-price/
That's more or less similar to what I have currently: Macbook Air M1, iPad Pro (2017), iPad Mini 5.
GAS got me into iPad music making 8 or 9 years ago because it seemed like there was this party going on that I was missing. Some people absolutely love it, but in my case it's never worked, though iPads are nice to have around for occasional music doodling and other things.
The problem I see in my situation is that I hate to use my Macbook Pro 16” “on-the-run” - between me and the screen it must be an wonky touchpad or a mouse, and, I feel I’m too far away from screen compare to iPads touch interface.
So, I use my MBP 16” as an desktop machine, connected to an 32” curved 5K external screen and a nice Roland 2.1 speaker system.
Albeit that setup, I use my iPad Pro 12.9” 80% of all my time with Apple devices - the charm with iPad is enchanting, mesmerized!
They both have their pros/cons and they both have different workflows. I would go iPad and then later get a Mac mini.
+1
I found arranging and editing on a small iPad screen in Logic very tedious and not fun, and only really viable using an Apple pencil or similar imo and/or using the clip matrix to pre-arrange songs.
iPad only could work for me depending on the iPad/dock/monitor combination because this determines the extended desktop functionality you get to make Logic more spacious and a bit more like the desktop version.
As far as I know through researching this for myself, going into the monitor through a non thunderbolt hub limits your extended desktop options (also if your monitor uses other resolutions than 16:9/1440p/5k), and if you connect it to the monitor directly and your monitor doesn't have an inbuilt thunderbolt dock (unllike some from the Samsung S6, 8, 9 series) you can't charge the iPad while it's connected to the monitor, which is a huge problem.
Apple wants you to use their expensive Magic Keyboard while it's connected to a Monitor (it has a charging port for the iPad), so you basically have to decide between that and a thunderbolt dock.
I don't like the whole concept of the Magic Keyboard or using iPads as a laptop replacement mimicking the same flawed ergonomics. When I want to use a keyboard with the iPad I just use my Magic Keyboard from the Mac while the ipad is attached to a more flexible stand or just using the protective cover as a stand.
I'm not playing Apples hardware games to that extend which is why I'm sticking with a hybrid iPad/desktop workflow for the time being until this whole situation with limited ports kinda solves itself with new models or accessoires.
Perhaps I misunderstand your opinions/demands above, but, when I occasionally wants to run my iPad Pro 12.9” (Apple Silicon) on an external screen (in my case an iPad dedicated Dell 25” 4K) I use this USB-C hub, and it working flawless with both external screen, Power Delivery, Data in/out, analog sound out etc etc…
35 bucks on Amazon…
What else do you want?
iPads now work very well with usb c hubs. When I first ventured into IPad usb C territory I was at first skeptical, but later realized it all works very well. The external monitor looks great, but for me I prefer the iPad screen over the mouse/ display route. I guess it depends on your way of working. I use an iPad Pro 11 with an iconnectivity 4c and Mac mini . It all works beautifully!
Do you have different scaling options for Logic/extended desktop or does it just show the ipad screen in big? Do you run the monitor at 1440p or 4k? This is important because Apples own displays are all 1440p or multiples of it like 5k.
Afaik only TB connections support 4k/5k at 60hz, meaning that yours must be 30hz without a direct connection over TB if you're running at 4k.
The 4k/30hz limitations seem to be only for non pro models without TB like the iPad Air M1, but you definitely can't run a 5k display like Samsung Viefinity S9 or LG 5K at 60hz with a non Thunderbolt dock in between.
But I'm still mostly curious about the extended desktop options because I'd want to avoid just a blown up iPad UI and want UI elements that are more sized like on the Mac.
Can’t check this up just now (in our cottage in the woods just now), but, it just works the way I prefer…
As soon as I connect the external 4K screen, I enable Stage Manager so I can run things on the external screen without black borders on the sides.
The only drawback I see with iPad Pros up to M2 configs is the lack of functionality to close the iPad and just run it on the external screen - perhaps this has been changed in the new M4 iPads?
Yeah but apart from not having black borders (which requires a 16:9 screen) there's another feature where different scaling options are presented to you in settings, similar to MacBooks/iMacs or Macs connected to an Apple display where you can also chose the scaling.
And as far as I know wether you see this option or not on the iPad settings depends on the connection and if your monitor does 16:9 at 1440p/5k or not. Regular 4k is just the multiple of regular 1080p which is Apple usually doesn't support well (UI looks different in size).
So if your monitor has an option to run at 1440p I'd try that, because this could give you a more spacious UI with properly sized Ui elements, possibly even without the option in iPad settings.
For people who aren't used to Macs or 1440p scaling it's probably a nothingburger, but for those who do and come from the desktop it's a huge deal.
Interesting, I wasn't even aware it couldn't do that. I don't use my iPad with a Monitor and even did chose an older model with headphone jack after doing all the research concluding that it would have required a too big investment changing my entire setup. I'm ready to switch if it makes sense though.
The workflow with iPad Pro (USB-C) is to activate Stage Manager, start the app you wanna run (on the external screen) onto iPad screen, touch the three dots in top of the app you wanna move to external screen, voila!
But, this maybe is old knowledge for you and many other here…
It's not about stage manager as such but ok. You're slow on the uptake somehow..