[FrankHudson]

Just updated my reply to fix those quotes

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

Had a fun time at the Apple Store. Got to spend time with a teck who is a guitarist and does some recording.
However he said that the people who work there, did not learn anything about the new units till Yesterday March 8th when it was released. So he is still learning himself.

So here are some of the things he had to say. I am sure some of this might be very controversial. And Please remember that my knowledge of terms were extremely poor. Some things that are so clear to everyone else are not to me.

+ The difference between GPU and CPU..(I have to laugh, as I did not understand this) is G is for Graphics. And according to him..will make no difference in Recording...only the CPU's

So close to entirely true, that we can just say: true. I could explain the exceptions, but they would just confuse things.

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

+ And now for a controversial statement he made: He explained cores are somewhat like speakers in a cabinet. More speakers means means load is divided more evenly.. He further said" "Some people claim that recording might even sound better than my old 2 core intel 2009 computer...as they can process all of the bits of information."
I have no idea..but it is an interesting concept. I have always wondered in the digital world if information could not be entirely transferred.

As someone has already said, assuming an accurate memory for your restatement: false. Again, there are some unusual situations that one could point to, but these are not worth your consideration.

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

+ He also said this is one of the reasons why the 27 inch was discontinued as it uses intel and is no match for the MI chip.

Sorta-kinda true. But you don't need to worry about what you can no longer buy new. Forgetaboutit.

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

+ I was not familiar with the term KevWind had used= Ethernet cable.
"An Ethernet cable carries the broadband signals between your modem, router, computer and other wired internet-capable devices."
Apparently, the 24 Imac has it built in to the Power cable.
?Unfortunately I forgot to ask what is the difference between the standard Ethernet and the 10BG cable?
As they did not have the cable for the Mac studio as of yet...he did not know about Ethernet Cable.
But I just found this that says it does. "Mac Studio comes with 10Gbit Ethernet port, a proprietary port for the new power cable."

I think I heard that Kevin's interface uses Ethernet. Yours likely won't, so there's no great reason to choose based on the maximum speed of the Ethernet port.

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

+ "Unified Memory Architecture
This brings together high-bandwidth, low-latency memory into a single pool within a custom package. This allows all of the technologies in the SoC to access the same data without copying it between multiple pools of memory, which significantly improves performance and efficiency."

+ "The Neural Engine is designed to accelerate machine learning tasks across the Mac for things like video analysis, voice recognition, image processing, and more."

From what he had to say...is the MI in itself is so far above any of the intel chips.
He further stated that the Neural engine is not that big of a deal...just means a little faster at recalling.

Yes, it's new stuff, and is presenting pretty great general performance with lower energy usage.

Originally Posted by Knives&Guitars

*Coming down to earth...I realize that I need to focus on music...and not video.

Yes! Exactly. Even though I think you've mentioned desires to create orchestral pieces using virtual instruments (something that could just possibly be challenging to a slower modern Apple computer) I think you're worrying too much about making sure you get the right or most computer. There's no way (even spending cubic money "to make sure") that anyone can say you won't have problems as you learn what you really will be doing as you do it. And many of those problems won't be because of which CPU you choose, or even related to computer hardware at all.

If you want to record that album, you should start getting into making the record. Worst case scenario you might have to decide to "change horses in midstream" -- not ideal, but if you never get your hooves wet, you'll never cross the river.

I'd say get at least 16 gigs RAM, even though the early users of the first Apple Silicon 8 gig RAM machines last year were saying that was often enough even for programs they thought were RAM intensive.

Whatever you do, don't get less than 512 gig internal storage (and if you can afford it, 1 TB for the internal drive) and if you're going to be going for large sample libraries (orchestral stuff can take up huge amounts of diskspace) get a USB 3 or Thunderbolt 2 TB external drive just for samples and plug it in.

I don't think it's terribly important in the next year or two if you get an Intel Mac Mini I5 or I7 model that for some reason they are still selling,* or an M1 Mac Mini or 24" IMac, or the entry level CPU in the new Mac Studio. I could make an argument for each one of the above, but if I put them all up on the wall an threw a blindfolded dart at those choices, they're all more likely to get your project done than more analysis.



*these "leftover" Intel CPU models are likely the most controversial choice I present, but for the next year or so, the time when you should be working on your album, they are still safe choices with enough power to handle orchestral VMs, and you should have the widest software compatibility with them. No, they aren't as "future-proof" -- but historically, a lot of future proof choices can be subject to unexpected futures anyway. Get the 16 gig memory model, as they should be good to start, and those last Intel Mac Minis still allow aftermarket RAM upgrades.