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dave72

macrumors member
Original poster
Oct 29, 2021
31
13
Evening,

I currently have a MacBook Air 2020 8GIG RAM, which is good enough for daily usage.

I am considering a MBP 14 for my programming needs; ie Python to start with.

Is the MBP considered overkill?

Many thanks
Dave
 
Probably..

Python is not intensive, it's what you do with it that could be intensive. Data Science / ML might be much on the MBA, but eventually you can just use the cloud to do it.

I know people who use the MBA M1 to do xcode, and it's fine, if I had a beefy mac computer or a nice display, I'd prob go with the MBA M1 16GB ram. You definitely need more than 256 of space though, Xcode will easily gobble that up.
 
Probably..

Python is not intensive, it's what you do with it that could be intensive. Data Science / ML might be much on the MBA, but eventually you can just use the cloud to do it.

I know people who use the MBA M1 to do xcode, and it's fine, if I had a beefy mac computer or a nice display, I'd prob go with the MBA M1 16GB ram. You definitely need more than 256 of space though, Xcode will easily gobble that up.
Thanks for your reply

When you say in the cloud, you mean like a VM in the cloud, or using a specialist hosting provider?

Sorry, it's been along time since I've looked coding.

Thanks
 
Hey Dave,

This question is kinda hard to answer without more context. What kind of software would you like to build? Some paths are more intensive than others and could benefit from the improved hardware (missing context on config too).
For simply learning, I think for the next few months you will be set with this machine. As you explore further you could get a better idea if you need a stronger machine.

However, putting just the raw performance aside for the question of "overkill", there are other factors to consider. IMO, the display might be the biggest reason to consider an upgrade for programming as you stare at text all day long.
Not only is it slightly larger, brighter (I think MBA maxes at 400 nits), it has improved PPI and MiniLED.

If the price isn't an issue, I think you can get a solid machine for the next few years that will suffice for most programming needs.
 
Hi Maxim,

I want to start off with Python, and then progress on to other languages.

This is partially a hobby, partially my wanting to "skill up".

Thanks
Dave
 
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Hi Maxim,

I want to start off with Python, and then progress on to other languages.

This is partially a hobby, partially my wanting to "skill up".

Thanks
Dave
Glad to hear it's a hobby, that's how I got started :)

The computing power needs is less about the language you choose but rather what you're going to build. For example, developing mobile applications would be a more CPU intensive task (compiling) and probably benefit from more RAM (16 or even 32) so that makes more sense to upgrade.
Working on games would certainly benefit from an upgrade including GPU.

Finally, there's another limitation of the M1 machines (MBA, Mini and 13" MBP) which is external displays support. AFAIK they can only support 1 external display.
Many programmers (including myself) enjoy working with more than one external display, typically with high pixel density for crisp fonts. If you plan to work with more than one external display in the future you might have to upgrade anyway.

I will iterate again over my previous point - if the price isn't an issue you would certainly benefit from any of those machines in the long term. Your interests should affect the configuration of the machine.
If you are sold on those machines, providing more information regarding your interests would help others to recommend a certain config so you get a better idea of the budget.
 
You don't need a powerful computer to learn programming. If you don't know if you need a more powerful computer you probably don't.
You can start on your MacBook Air, that is already more powerful than what many full time developers are using. Once it is clear you are doing something that would benefit from more power you can upgrade.

But obviously if you just want one, then yeah just go for it.
 
Glad to hear it's a hobby, that's how I got started :)

The computing power needs is less about the language you choose but rather what you're going to build. For example, developing mobile applications would be a more CPU intensive task (compiling) and probably benefit from more RAM (16 or even 32) so that makes more sense to upgrade.
Working on games would certainly benefit from an upgrade including GPU.

Finally, there's another limitation of the M1 machines (MBA, Mini and 13" MBP) which is external displays support. AFAIK they can only support 1 external display.
Many programmers (including myself) enjoy working with more than one external display, typically with high pixel density for crisp fonts. If you plan to work with more than one external display in the future you might have to upgrade anyway.

I will iterate again over my previous point - if the price isn't an issue you would certainly benefit from any of those machines in the long term. Your interests should affect the configuration of the machine.
If you are sold on those machines, providing more information regarding your interests would help others to recommend a certain config so you get a better idea of the budget.
I think, for the basics (Python) which will take X amount of time to learn, a MacBook Air 2020 will suffice.

I already have a MBA 2020, which is used for day-to-day activity.

If Python leads to other things, I can then let my eldest have the MBA 2020 and purchase a MBP 16 with 32GB memory some point next year; possibly next model won't have the notch, or notch with FaceID.

Thanks
 
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