Logic Requirements

[nickle15]

Good afternoon,

I am contemplating a purchase of Logic Pro X for recording. I will be using mostly virtual instruments, along with some external keyboard sounds and maybe a guitar once in a while. I don't know if any of that matters but thought I'd better explain my intentions just in case.

I have a mac mini, late 2012. I don't know how to interpret the processor specs. I know I have upgraded to 16GB of memory and I put in a 500GB SSD. I'm currently running Mojave and don't care to upgrade any further due to losing some of my apps.

Basically my question is this. Can anyone tell me based on the specs I will copy here, whether or not my machine will capably run Logic? I will also put the Apple requirements here as well.

Thanks to anyone for helping interpret this for me!

Mac Mini:
The Apple Mac mini "Core i5" 2.5 (Late 2012/Aluminum Unibody) features a 22-nm "Ivy Bridge" 2.5 GHz Intel "Core i5" (3210M) processor with two independent processor "cores" on a single chip, a 3 MB shared level 3 cache, 4 GB of 1600 MHz DDR3 SDRAM (PC3-12800) memory, a 500 GB hard drive, and Intel HD Graphics 4000 which shares system memory. It does not have an internal optical drive, although an external one was offered for US$79.

Connectivity includes a Firewire "800" port, four USB 3.0 ports, HDMI, Thunderbolt, combined "audio line in (digital/analog)" and combined "audio line out/headphone (digital/analog)" minijacks, a 10/100/1000Base-T Gigabit Ethernet port, 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, and an SDXC card slot.

Logic Requirements:
macOS 10.13.6 or later
4GB of RAM
OpenCL-capable graphics card or Intel HD Graphics 3000 or later
256MB of VRAM
Logic Pro X requires 6GB of disk space for a minimum installation or up to 63GB of disk space for the full Sound Library installation

[muzines]

Yes, it'll run Logic - my laptop is an i7 from 2011, and while High Sierra is the latest I can go, if you're on Mojave you'll probably be good for the next major version of Logic which is likely to happen this year (don't worry, you can buy Logic now, and you won't need to pay again with 10.5 comes out.)

Whether it will capably run your projects I can't tell you as I have no idea of your project requirements - if you're sticking a few EXS24 sampled instrument and some audio tracks, you won't have problem, but if you're planning on running virtual orchestras with 16 Omnisphere instances, then expect to have to juggle resources.

The only other thing is your machine might not support Metal graphics (you can check), which means some displays won't be available in Logic - currently, this is the swirly colour Chromaverb display only, but more might happen in the future - but all this means if your machine doesn't support metal is that you won't get that display option - the plugin will still work.

[nickle15]

That is very helpful information and I appreciate you sharing with me!

It will probably be a couple of months before the Christmas $ recovery is complete, but I have a birthday coming up then, so that might be a great time to take the plunge.

I'm also wanting to grab the new Triton VST from Korg as that was my first workstation and I had to sell it when baby 2 came along. The thought of having it in a virtual setting is super appealing! So I may have a tough decision to make in March...

Thanks again - I really appreciate it!

[muzines]

No problem! I'll sure you'll enjoy either/both!

[ConcertinaChap]

That is very helpful information and I appreciate you sharing with me!

Our Desmond is the hero of this place.

CC

[muzines]

Well thanks, but I think everyone here who has a good attitude and a willingness to help where we can are *all* heroes of this place, yourself certainly included!

[redlester]

I have same spec as the OP but the i7 2.3 model. It runs Logic beautifully without a hitch.

It even handles Spitfire's BBC Symphony Orchestra sample library quite well, providing you don't attempt to load up everything all at once. Logic's dynamic plugin loading is wonderful for things like this.

[nickle15]

Thanks redlester - that's some additional reassurance!

[Dave B]

You actually have one of the best Minis for running Logic - mine is a similar vintage but the i7 version and it happily whipped my older Mac Pro (admittedly not a fantastically highly spec'd one) on a regular basis. As you point out, it has a bunch of ports for devices and the subsequent models were mostly lower spec'd designs as Apple tried to push more people into buying iMacs / iMac Pros.

Enjoy!

[nickle15]

Thanks Dave! I've been so happy with this machine and really appreciate the flexibility it offered. The upgrades have been lifesavers and I hope to keep using it for years to come. It really has been sad to watch Apple put the clamps on the user's ability to modify their machines.

Right now I'm working in GarageBand and will probably continue along that path for a while yet. But I'm really glad to know I have the option to upgrade to Logic if wanted/needed. Thanks again!