In my opinion, individual effects are better than most typical jumbo effects processors. The only catch of course is buying the quality pedals you want individually will likely be more expensive. I’ve also found the distortion for jumbo processors to usually be complete garbage. Now all that said, if you’re thinking of buying higher-end processors like the PODHD500 or especially the AxeFX, you’ll probably be pretty happy with those.
I personally use and love Cubase for my DAW, I’m on PC however but they do offer a Mac version. Cubase is awesome, very easy to use.