new MacBook Pro 16"

Does the new 16-inch MacBook Pro have any known issues with either Hauptwerk IV or the new Hauptwerk V?

[mdyde]

Hello fermata,

I don't have first-hand experience with it, nor feedback from other users so far that I recall. I understand that there was (and perhaps still is) an issue whereby Macs containing Apple's T2 chip (as the 16-inch MacBook Pro does) had issues with occasional audio glitches with audio interfaces attached via USB. Hence it might be best to use an audio interface connected via Thunderbolt instead (e.g. RME and MOTU make some).

In terms of hardware specification, it should be excellent for running for Hauptwerk. (I would go for the 2.4 GHz 8-core i9 CPU and 64 GB of RAM options, with at least 1 TB of storage.)

Any new Mac will ship with macOS 10.15 ('Catalina'). Hauptwerk v4 wasn't compatible with macOS 10.15 and couldn't be installed on it -- I definitely wouldn't recommend trying that. v5 installs properly on 10.15 and is supported on it, although there are still a couple of minor (mainly cosmetic) compatibility issues with it, to be resolved in a future version. In general v5 should be fine to use on macOS 10.15.

I agree with Martin's comments, and would just like to add a few things.

Apparently the T2 bug is very system and hardware specific. I have a 2019 MacBook Air, which has always worked perfectly (no T2 audio glitches) with my Steinberg UR22 USB 2.0 interface. Apparently it has been this way since the earliest days of the T2 bug. Given that, if you have a USB (2.0 or 3.0 apparently) audio interface that works well, it is worth trying it with your new Mac, in case it works without any problems. If you do experience the T2 glitches, you can always buy one of the Thunderbolt 3 dongles (like the ones from Caldigit), to connect it. It should solve the problem as long as the dongle has an onboard USB driver (and doesn't use the Mac's USB driver).

I haven't had any problems running Hauptwerk V on Catalina (10.15), though I have a two channel setup, and don't run any organs that task my computer's memory (16GB). I agree with Martin's comments regarding Hauptwerk IV.