I'm going to need to pick up a MAC at somepoint in the near future for a programming project I'll be taking on.
I'd like to be able to use the MAC for something more than a fancy paperweight or doorstop when I finish the project or between projects if more come my way.
 
Has Cakewalk posted specs on what they view as an acceptable specs for a system running McSonar?
 
I know there's a couple of MAC users on this forum what would you recommend as a low to medium level audio capable system?
 
Thanks!
 

On the low end... you have Mac Mini.
On the mid level... there's the lower-tier iMac
On the higher end... you've got the latest iMac with Skylake 6700k.  
This is currently the fastest Mac you can buy (faster than the $4000 Mac Pro).

Thanks! That gives me a place to start.

Long version.
 
People do run Logic and Photoshop on the base model Macs, including MacBook Airs, but I'd suggest going for one with an i7 processor if possible, failing that the fastest i5 you can get. Don't worry about a graphics card unless you intend to play games or maybe video-edit. HD4000 or the later Intel video chips handle most things, including HD video, fine.
 
16GB of RAM is a good idea, as is a Retina screen - they are spectacularly good.
 
An SSD speeds things up nicely, and Apple use good and very fast Samsung MLC ones. There were problems raised on forums regarding the hybrid drives and low-latency audio when hybrids were introduced, but that seems to have been fixed.
 
Avoid the one just called "MacBook" - that single power/USB socket is fine if you're the kind of really hip and cool person who never uses an external anything because you can't stand the idea of your trendy empty desk being cluttered up with horrid wires but for DAWs or any use where you need external storage, the more sockets the better.
 
Don't pay Apple prices for external drives, especially Thunderbolt ones. It's way cheaper to get a Thunderbolt enclosure and put an SSD or HDD in it yourself. Avoid the USB+Thunderbolt ones, they are usually a USB enclosure with a Thunderbolt socket tagged on - and if you use an SSD in one you can't send it TRIM commands because USB doesn't support TRIM< only Thunderbolt does. Though for most real-world uses an external bus-powered USB3 drive is pretty quick, though I stream audio from Logic to a Thunderbolt enclosure with an SSD in it. If you go down the external SSD route then you will need to enable TRIM on it - which is easy to do.
 
Or the short version - for a desktop it's the highest specced 21.5" of 27" Retina iMac within your budget. For mobile use I'd suggest the highest specced MacBook Pro that's in your budget, but don't spend extra on the one with a dedicated graphics card unless you need it. And get a Magic Trackpad 2.
 
It might be an idea to wait a little, Apple may be about to update their range, and the current MacBook Pro is maybe a little under-specced in the cpu department by current standards, though OS X/MacOS seems to run smoother/snappier on a given hardware spec than Windows does.
 
And keep an eye on the Apple online shop for refurbished Macs. At the prices Apple charge a 15% discount can come in handy and the refurbs have a full warranty and it's usually difficult to tell they've ever been used at all.

maybe the bakers could just share which mac they grabbed the video on

"...at somepoint in the near future..."
 
how about building a Hackintosh? I have one (signature rig) and it works almost flawless except sometimes not recognizing ASMedia USB 3.0 ports, performance more than twice for less than half, compared to most expensive MacPro bin, with plenty PCIexpress slots!

Been there... done that...  
Certainly educational and fun
 
A Hackintosh is exactly what the name implies.
It's somewhat close... but it's not a real Mac.
ie:  If you want to run VE Pro... and use "Jumbo packets" for the LAN port (necessary for maximum disk-streaming polyphony), you're SOL.  The Hackintosh LAN drivers don't support "jumbo packets".
With a real Mac, this isn't a problem.
Any Mac OS update can potentially break your Hacked OSX install.
 
In a professional environment, as much as I'm not an Apple guy, I'd want a real Mac.
 

tzzsmk
how about building a Hackintosh? 

 

Jim Roseberry
In a professional environment, as much as I'm not an Apple guy, I'd want a real Mac.
 

I have to agree with Jim.
Needs to be a real Mac.  Too many potential issues / liabilities otherwise.  
 

"In a professional environment, as much as I'm not an Apple guy, I'd want a real Mac."
"Needs to be a real Mac.  Too many potential issues / liabilities otherwise."
 
really depends on point of view,
1) if we agree on fact professional environment means closed ecosystem without "random" updates, then it doesn't matter if you block updates on real mac or hackintosh
2) unlike years ago, nowadays hackintosh stuff is much more stable, Clover bootloader can do wonders
3) jumbo packets aren't big deal when it's more reliable to have "offline machine", and hackintosh can accommodate plenty of SATA3 drives, there isn't really a problem with storage
4) having professional PCIex audio interface with Mac support, such as the HDSPe AIO which I have, there are absolutely no problems
5) real MacPro costs much more money and lacks PCIexpress slots and SATA ports, so in terms of expandability, it comes down to either buying oldschool MacPro, or building hackintosh

Thing is, why would you want to use a hacked system in a pro environment, just run Windows instead. I mean the only real argument you can make these days for Macs being a "better" solution is Apple's control. Since they make the OS and tightly control the hardware, in theory there are less issues (in practice, well I have plenty of enterprise stories I can tell). But that only applies if you use their stuff. If you hack something together, then that all goes out. Worse, there would be zero support available.
 
So it would make much more sense to just run Windows on the same system. Windows was designed for and supports running on arbitrary hardware and you can get support from various entities such as the system builder, or even MS themselves (you have to pay per incident for MS support, but it is available and is quality).