Need help choosing a laptop for Engineering running Mac, Windows, and Linus on the same machine.

[doach]

Need help choosing a laptop for Software (cloud) Engineering running Mac, Windows, and Linus on the same machine. Will be working with Docker etc. Cloud mainly.

My choices.

M4 Air 15

1. 15 Air with M4 with 32GB RAM and 2TB SSD.

2.14 MBP with M5 with 32GB RAM and 2TB SSD.

3. 16 MBP M4 Pro with 24GB RAM and 1TB SSD.

4. 14 MBP M5 with 32gb RAM and 1TB SSD.

Looking at option 4 as of now just want some in sight on the other two. As far as price option 1 and 4 are about the same price. With option 2 and 3 being about $360 more.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[mystery hill]

Your engineering programs are probably x86, and will need to be emulated when running Windows 11 ARM virtual machine.

Have you tested your software to see how it runs with emulation?

 

[doach]

Your engineering progress are probably x86, and will need to be emulated when running Windows 11 ARM virtual machine.

Have you tested your software to see how it runs with emulation?

Yes. It runs well on my Mac with 16gb ram. But not great. I just have Linux on a separate mini PC. I want all 3 on the same machine. Not sure about specs.

Edited to say Software (cloud engineer). So I need access to all three OSs.

Ram is more important here. SSD yes. CPU not that important.

 

[richmlow]

Hello doach,


For your usage, I would recommend the 14 MBP M5 with 32GB RAM and 1TB SSD.

Good luck on your decision!


richmlow

 

[iHorseHead]

1 or 2.
The lack of storage bothers me more on my Mac than the lack of RAM tbh.