Resolved Is the Macbook enough?

[eddikal]

Hi there, I am planning to buy a new Apple laptop. If it is enough for my use I would like to buy the Macbook, if it isn't I would go for one of the new MBPs. I study Computer Science so I work with IDEs like Eclipse for Java, PyCharm... I also do some Web development. Further than that my use is quite simple, web browsing mainly.

Do you think that this Core M will be enough?

Thanks in advance.

 

[brewmonkey]

If you're doing CS work and doing tasks like compiling Java, you will definitely notice a difference between Core M and the i5/i7 CPUs in the MBPs.

 

[eddikal]

If you're doing CS work and doing tasks like compiling Java, you will definitely notice a difference between Core M and the i5/i7 CPUs in the MBPs.

Yes, I will be doing tasks like that . Thank you for the advice.

 

[viperGTS]

If you're doing CS work and doing tasks like compiling Java, you will definitely notice a difference between Core M and the i5/i7 CPUs in the MBPs.

This is most certainly false, and I say this from experience. Have you compared the two machines in real world usage?

 

[eddikal]

This is most certainly false, and I say this from experience. Have you compared the two machines in real world usage?

Which processor do you have on your macbook?

 

[viperGTS]

Which processor do you have on your macbook?

m3.

 

[protoxx]

MB is more of a light duty extreme portable. Not especially good for a primary one. The base MBP outperforms even the upspec versions and for $200 more.

 

[Ma2k5]

Hi there, I am planning to buy a new Apple laptop. If it is enough for my use I would like to buy the Macbook, if it isn't I would go for one of the new MBPs. I study Computer Science so I work with IDEs like Eclipse for Java, PyCharm... I also do some Web development. Further than that my use is quite simple, web browsing mainly.

Do you think that this Core M will be enough?

Thanks in advance.

For basic development, it will be slower, but not so much slower that you'll likely notice it. If you were telling me you was compiling for hours or having to do extended loads, then I'd say go elsewhere. If, being a student, you do it now and then - and most of the time being spent just reading or coding, the MacBook is sufficient. I'd go for the m5 though, the turbo boost is quite a bit higher than the m3, so those short bursts that are required for compiling/decoding etc will feel more snappy. In fact, probably almost just as snappy as any i5/i7 (as clock speeds are similar on turbo's), the limitation is only heat, which happens after pro-longed use. That isn't even the whole story as, even pro-longed use will be fine if it isn't completely taxed to 100% usage.

 

[evec]

For Amateur and student work, MacBook enough. For business development, not good.
I use MacBook 12 2015 1.1ghz in home for amateur game programming, android studio a little been slow but acceptable,
full compile time is about 4min - 6mins (Very large game with so many texture and self build game engine),as compare MacBook pro retina 2015 i5 need 2-3min for compile. For recompiling fast build it require 20-70seconds for working compare as MacBook pro 15-30seconds.

As most student project the compile time will much faster that our project, i thing it acceptable you just need wait additional 10s.

One of the advantage is this totally silence, so the machine will not flying (like airplane engine sound ) went compiling.

 

[timbals]

I've been developing with xcode on an m3 rMB and a rMBP, in terms of speed, I don't really notice much difference between the two. The main issues for me are the usb-c hdmi port is very fussy compared to the macbooks and the extra inch of screen makes a big difference.

 

[legioxi]

Hi there, I am planning to buy a new Apple laptop. If it is enough for my use I would like to buy the Macbook, if it isn't I would go for one of the new MBPs. I study Computer Science so I work with IDEs like Eclipse for Java, PyCharm... I also do some Web development. Further than that my use is quite simple, web browsing mainly.

Do you think that this Core M will be enough?

Thanks in advance.

It will be plenty. I've been using the 2015 with the m5 and I write a lot of code. I also do a lot of automation builds with VMs using Vagrant/Packer and never have any issues. I do have a 13" rMBP from work, but it sits collecting dust. Never had a moment where I thought the laptop was too slow for the job.

Most of my coding is in Python (Sublime Text/Visual Studio Code/vim) or Objective-C/Swift (Xcode). If you're writing in a compiled language, look for an IDE that does compilation in the background as you write. That'll remove a lot of the compilation time.

Also if you have a really large project to compile, most universities have systems for you to use for compiling your projects. It's been over 10 years since I went to college for computer science, but we always had access to a high end system for uploading code and compiling.

I only chose the m5 because I wanted the larger drive, not for speed.