MacBook Air 2018 for web development

[hameleonick]

Hi everyone, surprisingly have a question about air 2018. I already have new macbook air ( have not yet unpacked ). After reading/watching a lot of reviews I'm not sure that it could be enough for web development. Maybe some of you have any experience with it? Normal use case chrome 10+ tabs, IDE (webstorm, visual studio code etc.), some builds processes webpack, etc.
As I mentioned before ( have not yet unpacked ), maybe better to sell it and buy macbook pro 2017? I really worried about keyboard issue in pro version.

Thank you)

 

[jpn]

its always been true about the Air, since its first model many years ago, and remains true with the new 2018 model:
- always max out on RAM
- always get the fastest processor
as long as the model you have has done this, then the new 2018 Air is a great machine that will be able to handle yr work in web development.
and the keyboard is amazing. really improved.

 

[hameleonick]

its always been true about the Air, since its first model many years ago, and remains true with the new 2018 model:
- always max out on RAM
- always get the fastest processor
as long as the model you have has done this, then the new 2018 Air is a great machine that will be able to handle yr work in web development.
and the keyboard is amazing. really improved.

Thx for feedback, I have Air 8/256 .

 

[robvas]

its always been true about the Air, since its first model many years ago, and remains true with the new 2018 model:
- always max out on RAM
- always get the fastest processor
as long as the model you have has done this, then the new 2018 Air is a great machine that will be able to handle yr work in web development.
and the keyboard is amazing. really improved.

Only one CPU option in the new air

 

[hameleonick]

Maybe someone had a chance to test some IDE, etc?

 

[webcrab]

Hello. Have you tested the MacBook? Is it enough for your needs?

 

[hameleonick]

Hello. Have you tested the MacBook? Is it enough for your needs?

Hi, No)
it is still in box) currently I use my hp4530s with hackintosh onboard. I did some tests in some kind of apple store. Pro and Air (side by side). I would not say that I saw huge difference in screen (by the way). From performance perspective, I did some html5 + webgl test (https://www.goodboydigital.com/pixijs/bunnymark/). And I had some FPS drop to ~45 on Air when 110000 bunnies for Pro on 170000. But when I had 170000 bunnies on Air , difference in FPS was ~10 between Air and Pro. Will try to have also test with webpack )

 

[Ma2k5]

Can it handle it? Probably, but I wouldn't advise it. A lot of web technologies have gone quite complex and managing them with applications can get resource intensive in my opinion. We develop a lot of SPA web apps and they already sometimes struggle on quad core CPU's.

 

[hameleonick]

Can it handle it? Probably, but I wouldn't advise it. A lot of web technologies have gone quite complex and managing them with applications can get resource intensive in my opinion. We develop a lot of SPA web apps and they already sometimes struggle on quad core CPU's.

You know... In general, it’s possible to work on my 4530s ( I have El Captain on it) with old intel i5 and 8gb/256 ssd. (System works more than fine). I use it only for additional development ( also web browsing of course). And for small projects it’s ok. For big with 2 webpack processes I can see how it is difficult but possible to work.

If I compare hp4530s and Air 2018... according to tests Air 2 times faster. But still, have no idea with real work

And I agree with you, that nowadays you need more resources for development

 

[kurtatx]

Only one CPU option in the new air

16 GB of RAM is available, though.