Software dev buying advice

[DrWojtek]

I have scoffed at posts such as these for many times. How can other people have a better idea what you should get? Alas here I am.

What I have today:
MBP 15inch 2018 16 GB RAM
External monitor
Wireless keyboard and mouse

What I do:
Software dev. Stack is Java and React Native. I run my own company, which means I don’t do code and dev all day every day. However when I do, the old 2018 MBP is quite slow at compiling fresh builds. It can take up to about 8-10 minutes to compile an archive in xCode.

What I will do:
I will study electro this fall. This means I may have to do/study CADs. Possibly other things as ML.

What I think I would enjoy sometimes but I’m not sure:
Occassional gaming. Such as Baldurs Gate 3. If I game it’s only Game of the year titles. I’m not a ’gamer’.

The problem:
I don’t know what the **** I should get. These are factors that makes the decision harder:

* If I go mac mini, I can upgrade storage much cheaper via expandmacmini.com or similar option. This is not an option for any other model.

* I don’t know how much portable power I need.

* I don’t know how easily a MBA throttles. If I can compile a build, or have two React Native simulators running next to each other, this would be one less factor. Obviously it would throttle if I was to game on it.

* My MBPs screen and speakers are still very good. Feels like such a waste to just turn it in for almost no value.

* On the other hand, it will give up eventually. And I have to have a laptop. That makes it unnecessary to get one desktop and one laptop when I could just go MBP.

* On the other hand I would not be comfortable mulling around with a $3000 machine in my backpack. Not so worried about getting mugged, altough it’s a possibility, but rather dropping the bag and destroying it or even just forgetting the bag somewhere during stress and outright just lose it.

* I can deduct the cost for the machine(s) I get on my company. Meaning price, while it is an important factor, is not that important.

What it boils down to:
* Either I get a base MBP M5 Pro. Will then have buyers remorse next year when OLEDs come out. Will also have problem of fearing to lose/accidentally destroy it.

* Or I get a Mac Mini 24 GB and chug along with my current MBP until it dies, and then get a base 13” MBA for office and slighty slower coding. Would be super portable and can manage on 256 GB probably. I will then have two machines which is not such a bad thing. I must have a working machine at all times. Good for redundancy.

* But if I do, should I instead get a mac mini M5 Pro? And if I do, I could just as well go M5 Max. Which can be a year off. On the other hand, I might not even game at all. Don’t have much spare time. That much GPU is not needed for software dev.

* … and then maybe I should just as well go with the single MBP route. Mac Studio plus MBA costs a lot. I’ve had my current MBP for 8 years and it’s been fine.

Decisions. Do you see my problem? Thanks for any insights.

 

[DrWojtek]

Now that I have this overview of everything I know what I’ll do. I will get the mac mini M5 Pro with all cores in the fall. Upgrade storage cheaply with expandmacmini. This will work as private backups and dev machine for years and years. Will also handle gaming if I try that.

Then when my current MBP dies I’ll replace it with a cheap base M4 13” MBA or something. I’ll have the security of two machines, one that has performance for heavier work, and be portable with a cheaper machine.

 

[casperes1996]

At work I have a compile task that takes my M1 Pro 10 minutes that my M4 Max Studio does in like 2. Minutes. Worth noting the M1 Pro is under extreme memory pressure all the time and the studio isn’t.

 

[DrWojtek]

At work I have a compile task that takes my M1 Pro 10 minutes that my M4 Max Studio does in like 2. Minutes. Worth noting the M1 Pro is under extreme memory pressure all the time and the studio isn’t.

Interesting, how much memory on the M1 Pro? I was gonna go with base (24GB). Or whatever M5 will use.

Although it’s worth bearing in mind the M4 Pro, not to mention the M4 Max, has more CPU power than M1 Pro. A lot more. M4 Pro has almost twice the processing power in multicore vs M1 Pro. I figure the M5 Pro will score over 25k in GB6.

 

[casperes1996]

Interesting, how much memory on the M1 Pro? I was gonna go with base (24GB). Or whatever M5 will use.

Although it’s worth bearing in mind the M4 Pro, not to mention the M4 Max, has more CPU power than M1 Pro. A lot more. M4 Pro has almost twice the processing power in multicore vs M1 Pro. I figure the M5 Pro will score over 25k in GB6.

Yeah there’s a substantial difference in compute power too. But the memory kills it. It’s 16GB and for two Android emulators, 2 iOS simulators, Android studio, Xcode, a variety of other auxiliary apps and custom tools; it ain’t enough. The studio is 48GB

 

[DrWojtek]

Yeah there’s a substantial difference in compute power too. But the memory kills it. It’s 16GB and for two Android emulators, 2 iOS simulators, Android studio, Xcode, a variety of other auxiliary apps and custom tools; it ain’t enough. The studio is 48GB

Ok, thanks! I will likely use only 1 iOS and 1 Android simulator simultaneously. Probably without xcode or Studio open. But good to know!

 

[goldmac2006]

Hey everyone, I’m in a similar situation, but I’m coming from Windows.

I left a thread a few months ago about getting a MacBook Pro for Xcode, Autocad, and Fusion. https://forums.macrumors.com/thread...-and-fusion-coming-from-a-windows-pc.2448834/
Now that summer break is upon me and I’m graduating from college, I have to return my ThinkPad P15 this Tuesday, my last day of school.

I don’t have a powerful enough personal laptop. I only own an Acer Chromebook 315 as my personal laptop. Now, I’m back on the hunt for a Mac again this summer .

I know some of you here told me that I need maxed-out RAM, M4 Pro, or Max chips for a Mac. Many people on the thread I linked said that 24GB of RAM won’t cut it, and even told me that a MacBook Air wouldn’t work at all!

I have the same requirements as the original poster. I want to be able to compile Java and C++ code alongside Xcode for Swift. I’m really interested in building Apple apps for iPhone and iPad .

Initially, I thought I’d get a 16-inch MacBook Pro when it came out as an Intel model during the pandemic. I wanted to try out SwiftUI and Xcode to build a COVID-related app. But that didn’t happen because I wasn’t sure if I could get a good deal, even when I tried to find scholarships to cover it during high school.

But I also use my laptop for work. Previously in my old job I used LEGO spike to code the rovers and get guides on how to assemble them. Now, my new job has a Siemens NX training program that’s rarely given away for free. So, I’ll have to add another thing to the mix: free virtual machines or remote desktop applications like VMware Fusion that emulate Windows.

I can’t get NX 12 because it’s the last version that macOS supports, and it’s pre-ARM, it’ll have to depend on Rosetta. I don’t think the company I work at will offer it if it’s an older version, based on what I read in their policy. I think I’ll start with the parallels/virtual machines method first.

I also use AutoCAD and F360, so some Mac users told me that these eat up a lot more memory than Final Cut and Xcode. That contradicts the claim that Airs aren’t worth it for engineering purposes.

from what my MR folks said, I’ve been doing some research on the MacBook Pro M3 and M4, and I’ve found some interesting stuff. I checked out sites like BBY and B&H Photography, and they have a variety of chips and RAM options. I’m not too keen on spending over $2.5K, but I’m open to it if I can afford it. I’d definitely prefer at least 512 GB of storage, but ideally, I’d go for 1TB.

I recently spoke to a friend of mine at my school who’s a former Apple employee. He owns a M1 MacBook Air 2020 and knows all about Apple products. He told me that an Air could work just fine as long as I get 24 GB of RAM. I realized that the latest MBAs also have 32 GB RAM options.

If I need the Mac sooner, he suggested that I try out the latest MBAs. He also mentioned that some customizations aren’t available on third-party sites like BBY. Here’s the link to the Apple Online Store on the MBA config he thinks it’s the best option for me, even with student discount: http://www.apple.com/go/dt/sharelis...IBaKJBfVhV33tGMuzckEVG1Ccm2gEKL6YmXd70vscW30c

I’m thinking about skipping the add-ons of MacBook Pro’s extensive RAM and upgrades for the processor. I still want to enjoy Apple intelligence and Apple silicon chips, but I don’t need to worry about getting different beefed-up chips for a single family of Macs! Only promotion if I have to go pro.

Oh, and I learnt something interesting from my Apple Watch Series 7 edition friend. macOS on ARM Macs behave a bit differently than Windows when apps run in the background. There’s no energy saver on the memory, and it’s prioritized differently.