From what I understand of solid state drives they are kind of hit and miss. Some work really well and others fail pretty quickly. Of course with moving components like a standard hard drive you introduce wear and tare and lag. I always liked the idea of an operating system on a solid state drive but all my music on a separate drive.

As far as expanding and working with your current setup you can always get a low profile high speed thumb drive and just use that for now to hold you over until you can do some research and make a more educated decision. Also, I have a 17inch MBP that I use and it works great for me. I picked it up the last year they made them and couldn't be happier. It runs Ableton Live 9 and mostly anything else as smooth as hot butter. I really got it less for the large display and more for the extra usb port.

Have you looked into external thunderbolt HD? I know they are a bit expensive but speeds are awesome. Also I think Lacey just came out with a really dope new shock resistant/water resistant drive that is worth looking into.

<Serato Scratch Live + Video and Ableton Live 9 for DJ based software.

I think you should reconsider the external option

Yes I currently have a Lacie 1TB Thunderbolt drive that I use for all of my music, previously had one & it failed on me but luckily I had everything backed up, hence the want to change. Also been experiencing small problems like songs in crates going missing, and files going missing and having to search for them manually, which never used to happen when I stored all of my music internally.

Have been advised to steer clear of the Retina versions, downgrade to a normal model MBP & combine the drives so just wanted confirmation on whether this was the way to go.

Good advice :)

hdd's fail thats part of it and you should always have a backup,

i don't think ssd's are there just yet give it a few years and the pices will be pretty reasonable for mass storage 1-2tb's

Thanks will most probably keep to that then with a few backups

So assuming these would be to put into a current Macbook Pro, what sort of setup do you run with?

Files disappearing and having to search manually is not a HD problem. It's a bug in serato.

they were referring to the 2012 mbp which was the last model that was very popular because it was easily user customizable.

You can actually upgrade the SSD's on retina MBP's

13' 2013 Model
www.ifixit.com


13'/15' 2013/2014 Models

www.ifixit.com


I had a mid 2010 15 inch MBP with 2.53GHz Intel Core i5 processor with a 256 GB SanDisk Ultra Plus SSD in the main HD slot and a 1TB Scorpio Blue Internal Hard Drive in the super drive slot with 8GB RAM that I just sold. Ran Serato, SDJ 1.7.5, Maschine 2.2, Ableton 9 with minimal issues. Just depends on you and what you want out of your machine.

I don't have that machine anymore. Upgraded to one of the newer retina machines. I have nothing but positive things to say about the Sandisk SSD. I had that machine with the SSD for over a year and that's one of the best upgrades I've ever made to a computer.

Hello all, i have a friend selling a macbook pro 2010. 800€

MacBook Pro (15 pouces, mi-2010) 2,4 GHz Intel Core i5, 4 Go 1067 Mhz DDR3,
Intel HD Graphics 288 Mo , 320 Go Hard drive

Will it be enough to run SDJ + VSL + ME ?
it would be a backup computer.

thanks for the advice.

Really.... Has anyone used these. I have 2013 15 inch retina with the stock 521 (the smallest it could come with) and I have always wanted the 1TB, but OWC still doesnt have one, and they seem to be the goto people for mac parts. Has anyone used one of these? how do they preform? the 1TB should be 800mb/s.

Holy fuck I just looked at the price. A fucking thousand dollars!!!! No fucking way in hell. I would just get a 2TB thunderbolt drive for less.

I think the days of carrying around an external drive or putting a 2nd hard drive in the opti-bay are over. After installing a 512 SSD in my 17" macbook (Last model year they made) I've never looked back. The speed is insane and the OS/programs/music/videos/Abelton projects all fire off the drive super super fast

Oh, and I just removed the 2nd HD out of the opti-bay of my backup macbook and re-installed the CD burner, and the battery life is noticeably better

P.S. ALWAYS BACK UP!

what are you talking about. 512gb is enough for you? Cause its not even in the ballpark for me. I'm looking at replacing my 2TB external with a 4TB. I have a 512 SSD and it does my programs but music and visuals files need space for days.

I'm talking about actually thinking about what goes in my library and curating it as a regular part of my process. The 512gb holds ableton projects and the 20,000 songs and videos I need to satisfy the wide demographic of a mobile DJ. Spotify + djay on the iPad used to fill in the gaps, but soon it will be pulselocker.

I use mp3s though. You must have wavs and 4K video

Wish apple still made 17" pros! I still love my 2009! still works lol
1TB replaced the optical bay and 240gb SSD
But i do use a 4TB ext for my files. the 1TB internal is my "back up" with my song picks.
I know... backwards.

Xtendamix video 720p only I never get the 1080p's. and MP3's

DXV mov's for visuals.

Hmm. Well then you need to do some spring cleaning. Actually, no, you don't. Do your thing man! Storage is cheap anyway.

hi all , ive been using windows and want to upgrade to a mac , i have a ddj sx and i do visuals too with serato video , i need a one time thing which can handle all , smoothly ....

which mac should i buy which can run serato dj + serato video without any lag ??

please advice thanks :)

If you're doing visuals you want the macbook pro with gpu, but now is not the time to buy a new one, they've not been refreshed in over year, likely a new model will be out soon. if you buy now you'll likely see a better model for the same price in a few months, and a drop in price on the one you just bought. A second hand one might be an option.

Thanks , i will wait for a better version then :)

they were referring to the 2012 mbp which was the last model that was very popular because it was easily user customizable.
Just got the mid 2012 15 with the 2.7Ghz, 250 ssd and 1TB and also upgraded the memory to 16gb

Same. Last year I got a mid 2012 15" MBP, 16gb RAM, 2.6ghz. it works like a dream. It's funny cos before that I had my Windows laptop and thought my video files were low quality. Doing video on the Mac, the output quality is so much better.

Transcend jetdrive lite, thumbs up! Got 256gb more space via memorycard slot :)
www.transcend-info.com

What about the GPU is , will iris 6100 work which is in a 13inch MBP , its an integrated thing ..

With serato?? Check minimum specs of serato from serato.com

It'll work. But no where near as well as having a dedicated and it will lag/stutter/run hot

cool thanks :) will this one work well ?

Apple MacBook Pro MJLT2HN/A 15-inch Laptop (Core i7/16GB/512GB/AMD Radeon R9 M370X with 2GB)

Me too. 2012 15" MBP w/ 16GB RAM, 2.6Ghz, and 500GB SSD. Crucial has always been my go-to SSD brand and they've never let me down. Works amazing for everything, not just DJing!

There is alot of mid 2012 13 inch refurbished MacBook pros on the apple site most under $1000 bucks 2.9hz i7 dual core...is these specs good enough for sdj running pnt and 1 buffer settings? no video

Audio only should be good.

Yes, but if it only comes with 4GB RAM, plan on upgrading it to 8GB or 16GB. Also, swapping the HDD for an SSD will be a night and day difference in everything you do. For example, with an SSD, you can usually boot in <10 seconds vs 45+ with a regular HDD. And everything else you do will be 3-5 times faster too.

I have an acer 8gb never connect to the internet and work perfectly with serato. ..any ways to the point....is it true that if I buy a mac book pro I'm going to have to connect the internet so it always upgrade and works perfectly. .I'm clueless with apple products.
I'm not a fan of using my dj laptop on the Internet thru out
my life

Because of the large ratio of PCs to Macs, ridiculously more viruses/malware target PCs rather than Macs. Whereas you're crazy not to run antivirus software on a PC, antivirus for Mac is almost unheard of, and virtually pointless. To that end, you are MUCH safer roaming the internet on a Mac than on a PC.

While updating to the latest Mac operating system isn't recommended until your software and drivers are fully supported, incremental updates are important (even more so for Windows, really). I recommend keeping any computer as up-to-date as possible. Sometimes security patches, other times bug fixes, no matter what, it should be done. But overall, Macs are more stable and more reliable than PCs, which is why many people choose to use them, especially when live performing is involved and crashes cannot be afforded.

And the one point nobody talks about..... last longer. I see mac DJ's on the same laptop for 5+ years. I know some at 7 and 8 years. Fucking YEARS!!!!!!!! Do we even need to talk about PC's at this point.

Which also proves a few points. Mac OS is superior Windows. PC/Windows laptop can be and are most of the time more cost effective and for the same Dollar value you get a more powerful PC. But it's not going to last, it's generally not built to the same standards, and even though apple has ditched USB ports and changed the charger again (but only the 3rd time in what 15 years?) compatibility between macs (in regards to ports) and ability to easily use any one's hardware anytime just fucking kills every single PC out there. And we haven't even talked about cool software tool and apps software that are mac only and have no current PC equivalent (though spout and NDI could be a game changer).

Anyway. This is all coming from a guy who's thinking of switching back to PC's and dealing with all there flaws just so he can get a more powerful computer for his money.... The only thing holding me back is Mix Emergency.

its mostly the OS though. look into hackintoshing your win-laptop. thats prob the most cost effective.

Cost effective maybe, but there are things that can go wrong, so for anyone who can't afford the possibility of something drastically going wrong, I'd recommend against it.

Hi ,

Kindly please advise, what is the best specs of MAC for Djing and what are the components to be considered.Thanks all

Cheers

I use a late 2011 macbook pro with 2.4 i5 with 16g ram (I actually have 2 of them)... No problems or drop outs using vinyl with s9, ddi sx, vci 380 (No video Djing)..... If you're just starting out, consider finding a use one as they will still run just fine. I actually hear more problems with newer MacBooks running serato; reason why I haven't nor feel the need to upgrade.

Hey Bro Mm3 ,

Thanks a lot for great opinion really appreciated.

Just adding my two cents as a Serato user since Scratch Live and a Mac user since '84.

I currently use 2012-2014 era Retina MacBook Pros which I upgraded from 2011 MacBook Pros in 2017. My old 15" 2011 MacBook Pros were both 2.0ghz i7's and still run Serato DJ great, but I'll warn my fellow DJs NOT TO BUY A 2011 MACBOOK PRO WITH AMD GPU, as they pretty much all suffered from a motherboard failure that was not actually fixed, even if the laptop had been repaired under warranty. Serato will toast the AMD GPU on a used 2011, I blew my GPU twice on both laptops, luckily under warranty.

Right now, I use a Late 2013 MacBook Pro Retina 15" for my main rig, which I LOVE. It is lightning fast with the nVidia GPU, and can be had used for really cheap compared to any new premium PC, definitely compared to a new Mac. I also have an Early 2013 13" Retina MacBook Pro with lowly Intel HD 4000 as my backup. It works well for audio-only, but the waveforms are not nearly as smooth and I'm not sure how well it would mix video. But even the crappy integrated Intel graphics work fine with Serato DJ Pro and MacOS 10.14, no problems or crashes.

My recommendations are: If you need the cheapest Mac that can run Serato, get a 2012 non-retina 13" MacBook Pro i5, max the ram, and get a 480-500gb Sandisk, Samsung, or Intel SSD. Consider the costs of those upgrades and you might find its the same price to just get a 2012 or newer 13" Retina MBP instead. Of course, if you have the money, just leapfrog over all 13" MacBook Pros and get a Late 2013-2015 Retina MacBook Pro 15" with a good size SSD and you won't regret it. DO NOT buy a 2011 MacBook Pro 15" or a 2012 Retina MacBook Pro 15" due to problems with the GPU.

And do yourself a favor, download the app SMC Fan Controller and make a setting for Serato that run the fans at a minimum of 4,000 RPM. Doing this, I'm able to keep my temps down under 60c even on a hot day, and can monitor them on the toolbar while I'm playing.

In my book is 32 GB of Ram or kick rocks. That is the only config I use.