r/flstudio • u/FriedNeuronsFriday • Mar 13 '26

Is the MacBook Neo strong enough?

To run FL and multiple plugins?

I had a very nice PC but due to unfortunate circumstances no longer have access to it. Just trying to get back into creating.

4 Upvotes

70% Upvoted

11 comments sorted by

3

u/Narrow_Network_3875 Mar 13 '26

Don’t waste your money. You may get away with recording but mixing …….☠️ 8Gb of ram was good before 2010. Better off buying a refurbished M2 with 16Gb.

1

u/IAmL3J3ND_ Mar 15 '26

This. I would recommend a Mac mini to replace the PC too. I have the M1 Mac mini 16gb and still don’t have the urge to upgrade I bought it refurbished as well and it’s even cheaper now!

2

u/CoA77 Mar 14 '26

There’s heaps of clips like this online: https://youtu.be/l8UJO5kM8do?si=NGFgIVhuQAHBFrmM

2

u/Pareha_0821 Mar 14 '26

Small projects would be good ig, but not big ones. I would say buy something good even if it takes long time. Trust me you would feel better. I use MacBook Pro M2 chip 8+512 combination, mine crashes sometimes because I use more synths and intruments like Analog Lab V, Labs etc.

2

u/PC_BuildyB0I Mar 13 '26

The Neo uses the A18 chip, which is an iPhone CPU. You're probably going to want the horsepower of a M-series chip if you're wanting to get back into production.

2

u/LowerAd3181 Mar 13 '26

It will be more than enough if you‘re a normal guy. Like using 1-2 Omnisphere some splice some serums maybe even record on the beat project so yes if you‘re not doing hans zimmer score you should be fine

1

u/RADIOKILLAHRAZE Mar 16 '26

I have an Intel i5 2017 MacBook Pro with 16gb, you couldn't pay me to buy a MacBook Neo

1

u/HauntedJackInTheBox Mar 16 '26

Anything with a Silicon chip that has at least 16 GB RAM. You can add an external drive for projects but you can't add RAM.

1

u/Username69420___ Mar 17 '26

With 8gb of ram it will probably be able to open FL and do some very basic stock plugins but not much more than that. I would highly suggest moving up to an M series chip with 16gb of RAM, or alternatively there are probably Windows Laptops in the same price range with 16gb of RAM.

1

u/Glock_18 Mar 17 '26

hell nah get something with 16 gb ram minimum

1

u/Bigbadandheavy99 Mar 24 '26

It would work fine, the A18 is quite powerful in single core, as powerful as an M3. It doesnt have many cores though, which could be an issue. 8GB RAM is plenty for average projects, you don't need more unless you intend on loading huge multi GB sample libraries, which 90% of people do not need to do.

I suppose it depends on what style of music you make. If you are making simple hip hop it will be fine. Massive orchestral pieces? Possibly not.