The Apple MacBook Pro M1 audio power test is a series of tests we are conducting on various DAWs, to see how they perform at this early stage. We have already run the Apple MacBook Pro 13" M1 Audio Power Test with Apple Logic Pro and Space Designer, if you want to see how that performed.

Over the last few years we've run our Pro Tools power test session, which although isn't perfect, it's the benchmark we use to see how different computers perform when put under strain on a Pro Tools session. 

However, conducting the MacBook Pro M1 audio power test presents us with a couple of issues to consider.

Firstly, Pro Tools isn't supported on the new Apple M1 silicon Macs. However. Apple is ready for this with their Rosetta 2 translation tool that allows you to run applications not yet ready to run natively on the Apple Silicon M1 CPU.

Secondly, this all sits on macOS Big Sur, which isn't officially supported when using Pro Tools at this time.

If you want to see which software is supported then check out our Big Sur audio compatibility guide

With that said, how well can Pro Tools perform on a chip and OS that isn't supported, and with a layer of software translation taking place? Will it even run without crashing?

Our Test Apple Mac

• Apple MacBook Pro 13" M1 2020

• Apple M1 SoC chip

• Memory 16GB

• 1TB SSD

The Pro Tools Power Test

The test session is as follows;

• We create 128 audio tracks with audio on every track, with audio edits taking place every few seconds.

• Every track has fader automation throughout playback for the entire session.

• On every audio track, we insert Channel Strip and Dverb, so that's 128 instances of each.

• We add 256 instrument tracks, insert Boom and MIDI so all instances at playing the virtual instrument.

• Then we add as many instances of Avid Eleven II until the session no longer plays without giving playback errors.

As we say, it's not perfect, we're sure you could think of a thousand variants in a test, but it's one we've used for years, which means we can compare previous test results.

You can download the Pro Tools power test here. If you don't have the Eleven plugin then use Eleven Lite, the free version.

How Did Pro Tools Perform On An Apple MacBook Pro M1?

The simple answer is that it worked, not only that, it worked incredibly well. So well that we could happily work on a session with Pro Tools running through Rosetta and get excellent results.

BUT, before you rush out and order a new M1 powered Apple Mac, if you are making a living using Pro Tools then we suggest you wait. This is not an exhaustive compatibility test of Pro Tools, hardware and all associated plugins. It's an early test to see what we should expect from Pro Tools once it can run natively on a new Apple Mac with the M1 CPU. Furthermore, for many professionals, it gives you a taste of what the later versions of this new generation of Arm-based, Apple Silicon Macs will be like, the ones aimed at professional studios.

First the numbers for comparison…

What Do We Think Of The New Apple MacBook Pro M1 With Pro Tools?

In a nutshell, we are flabbergasted at the stunning performance we are getting from Pro Tools running on an unsupported OS, via Rosetta 2 and on a chip, it's not designed for. As you can see it outperforms several higher powered machines, some of which are professional models, including the Mac Pro 6,1 and the iMac Pro.

Another important point to make for those working in audio, especially same room studios, this Mac doesn't seem affected by heat. In power tests both with Pro Tools and Logic Pro, the temperature of the Mac under heavy load seldom passes 28 degrees C. Conversely on both our office MacBook Pro i9 and Mac mini 2018, it wasn't long before the temperature was in the 90s and the fan was generating enough power to take off. Whatever Apple have done with cooling, it works!

If this is what we can get from Pro Tools on the new entry-level, 1st generation, Apple MacBook Pro M1 now, imagine what we should expect once Avid has ported Pro Tools to support both Big Sur and the pro versions of the Apple M1 chip!