Just started using Claude on my M1Max MBP

[StrollerEd]

I wanted to overhaul a website I use to host a one place study [a variant of local history] and have turned to Claude to assist with the redesign, including production of html. I started with the free version using it online and have since progressed to downloading the app on my 16in M1Max 32gb MBP. I'm also trying out the subscription upgrade to the Pro plan.

So far the experience has been good although with some minor frustration in the workflow. It is not fast and I am occasionally hitting limits which require me to wait for 3 hours before re-engaging.

Anyone with experience to share?

PS I will eventually replace the 16inMBP with a later model. Not sure when and with what.

 

[throAU]

I have built a couple of apps with claude code.

I’ve uploaded them to github, claude code can help you download, compile and run them.

4grvxt9mrk-rgb - Overview

Sysadmin, MacOS, Windows, Linux. Vibe coding (or human coding) sysadmin tools to solve problems I encounter. - 4grvxt9mrk-rgb

github.com

Check them out, totally free.

Whilst i do know how to write code in a few languages, i did not write a single line of code or edit a single file for either of those apps.


Both of those apps were written with the $20 pro plan.

I ran out of tokens once whilst adding features on a weekend and rapidly iterating on diskogram. They were additional things i thought of that i’d like it to do after playing with the initial and subsequent versions. Plus a couple of bug fixes.

BigMacExchange was basically a 1-shot, i think i added one or two features after playing with it… oh and made a native mac app version. 😀


To be fair, diskogram was a 1-shot as well, for the original feature set i asked for.

One tip:

When you start writing some thing, start off by telling claude not to generate any code before you review the plan. If you want to sketch out a basic graphic showing the layout, that can help too.

For BigMacExchange i gave it no guidance really on what it should look like.

Oh also, claude doesn’t use your local CPU much, so it will run approximately the same as on your M1 Max even if you upgrade. However the paid service may run faster as i think the free account will probably only get lowest priority processing in the cloud.

 

[chrfr]

I wanted to overhaul a website I use to host a one place study [a variant of local history] and have turned to Claude to assist with the redesign, including production of html. I started with the free version using it online and have since progressed to downloading the app on my 16in M1Max 32gb MBP. I'm also trying out the subscription upgrade to the Pro plan.

So far the experience has been good although with some minor frustration in the workflow. It is not fast and I am occasionally hitting limits which require me to wait for 3 hours before re-engaging.

Anyone with experience to share?

PS I will eventually replace the 16inMBP with a later model. Not sure when and with what.

Any limits you’re hitting aren’t due to your Mac’s performance since Claude isn’t doing any of this work on your local computer.

 

[throAU]

Any limits you’re hitting aren’t due to your Mac’s performance since Claude isn’t doing any of this work on your local computer.

Well… not *entirely* true.

All the thinking about what to do is in the cloud, but if you have it compiling apps and running tests on them, that does run locally.

But yes, the majority of the performance impact is likely from the cloud service if using it to write code for you.

 

[chrfr]

Well… not *entirely* true.

All the thinking about what to do is in the cloud, but if you have it compiling apps and running tests on them, that does run locally.

But yes, the majority of the performance impact is likely from the cloud service if using it to write code for you.

Yes, but my answer was specific to the OP who’s using Claude to do a website redesign. There’s no compiling involved there.

 

[throAU]

Yes, but my answer was specific to the OP who’s using Claude to do a website redesign. There’s no compiling involved there.

It will however run tests by using an on device webserver and on device internal browser to preview, screenshot and send back to claude in the cloud how the page looks when it has written the code, and that does run locally.

Any javascript may be JIT compiled to do that so… yeah there’s still local processing, and most likely local compiling happening even if you’re using it for web. And if it isn’t JIT compiled, it will be run-time interpreted by the local CPU anyway.

I’m not saying the speed difference will be massive. But it will exist between different models of mac.