1) What are professional DJs out there using and what do they prefer? – The new macbook or macbook pro or macbook air?
Most DJs I see use either a 15” Macbook Pro or a 13” Macbook Air.
Both should have a 256G SSD at least.
I think it totally depends how much screen real-estate you want vs. how portable you want to be.
Phil loves his Air, I love my 15” Pro.
The difference is not much, you should however opt for the better Processor and 8G option on the Air.
2) Reasons for doing so?
Both have 2 USB slots which usually is enough or you have a hub anyways.
Both are active cooled, which is important in some very hot environments that you will work in.
The air is lighter, does not cover you up as much and is easy to store and place anywhere.
The 15” Pro has more screen size (obviously) and even more power, so running multiple apps (Serato + Ableton,…) is much easier on the processor.
Now of course you can say both can run that: Again hot environments, the less your processor has to do, the better.
3) Are there professional DJs out there using the new macbook and is it easy to use? Are all these concerns over 1 port really something to panic about or can you make do without issues? (usability of just 1 port for charging and USB….which means I have to use an adapter and then a USB hub – to be able to charge, connect controller and what have you a the same time)
I have not seen any. I personally would not use it as it has 1 more thing that can go wrong. If on my book a USB dies I have another, if the one on the MB dies you cannot even charge it. Too many things that can go wrong.
Also it has no active cooling, same problem that I saw with iPads. Direct sunlight during a gig or a really hot light -> you are dead.
4) If I replace my new macbook for another – should I replace it with macbook pro or macbook air? What would you recommend?
Totally depends how much screen you want and for what else (production?) you want to use it.
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