Trying to decide which MacBook to buy.

[techhuman]

I am a iOS developer and have mainly used MacBook Pro's at work. I had a old MacBook Pro with smaller screen size which I had purchased in 2012 or 2013, but I am unable to upgrade it to any new OS version and is extremely slow, so thinking of buying a new one but also in money saving mode at the current moment.

I can use my company laptop to learn anything new in iOS and my company does support that, but I am planning to start looking for other work opportunities and may start interviewing soon for which I need a new laptop. Having used MacBook for many years now, I would like to stick to MacBook with 15+ screen and sometimes develop lighter apps for learning purposes.

I haven't used MacBook Air's before, but looks like if I buy a MacBook Air with higher configuration, I may save some $$$$ and can still get a bigger screen. Has anyone used it for developing apps? I am talking about smaller apps and nothing major that I plan to publish to app store.

I am confused between:

MacBook Air - https://www.bestbuy.com/product/15-...e-gpu-24gb-memory-1tb-ssd-midnight/JJGCQLKHZ5

MacBook Pro - https://www.bestbuy.com/product/16-...ore-gpu-24gb-memory-1tb-ssd-silver/JJGCQLZQRQ

I am leaning more towards MacBook Air so I can save some money, but wanting to know if it's good for iOS app development (i.e. install all the development tools) and streaming movies/show.

Thanks in advance!

 

[MacCheetah3]

I suggest the MBA. It’ll do plenty fine with your described software development intentions.

[...] and streaming movies/show.

The MBP could be better for this usage, that is, it features a better display and sound system — sound system especially on the 16-inch. However, in my opinion, not $1,000+ worth.

 

[Alameda]

The MacBook Pro has a better screen.
Don’t compare them side by side or else you’ll want the Pro. Instead, just take a while looking at the Air screen and make sure it will work well for you. After all, you don’t need ultra-ultra-rich colors to write code.

As long as you have enough memory, all of these CPUs today are super-fast.

 

[techhuman]

Thanks for replying! I ended up buying MBA today. Setting it up now and liking it so far. Even the sound is ok for me since I live by myself, so there is hardly any noise in the room. Will install Xcode and see if there is any difference when it comes to app development.

 

[Jeff__100]

Thanks for replying! I ended up buying MBA today. Setting it up now and liking it so far. Even the sound is ok for me since I live by myself, so there is hardly any noise in the room. Will install Xcode and see if there is any difference when it comes to app development.

Could you send us some pictures of how the MBA looks like? I have not gotten a new mac book in some time.