MBA for software development

I build Android on my 11" Air with i7, 4GB, 256GB, and it never throttles, even under full load my temps don't go above ~180F.

Edit: Just to be more informative, they use GCC to compile, and without CCACHE, the builds run just short of an hour. Cut that in half with CCACHE.

 

I don't usually compile things that require 15min+, but it works great for iPhone and web development (not that web development requires compiling...).

 

My longest compile is about 2 minutes, and I've never heard the fan turn up on my MBA 11. The SSD in the Air will often more than offset the advantage of compiling on a server with a faster CPU but running off of HDs.

CLang/LLVM seems to give more informative warnings and error messages than gcc in many cases. But one can always run ones favorite Linux distro in a VM, and use both.

 

A snip at double the price.

 

I do intensive Java development with long compile times on a 2011 Air with an i5 without issue. I bought it as an interim purchase to tide me over until the then-rumored retina displays, but I'm sticking with it for now.

However, if you have the option, I'd recommend the i7 for $100 more. I don't mind the i5, but for major development, the additional speeds of the i7 would pay off, I think.

Retina displays are nice, but I don't think they're worth it in many cases - save the money and put it towards a nice monitor and use that when at home.