Which one is better for big data coding between high end macbook air vs lower end pro.

[arindampal]

I am looking for a new laptop but confused between high-end MacBook air vs low-end mac pro 2020. I don't video editing but does coding by running multiple virtual box/vmware and in big data platform which required high volume data i/o. Also need some thing for long term. The virtual box needs enough ram and CPU to work properly. The followings are the specs in my mind but getting confused which one to choose in terms of performance and long term use.

I am comparing the below two model and need to choose which one will be better for high end coding to run multiple virtual box or VMware. I found some threads discussion about heat issue for MacBook Air hence not sure about will that be good for running VirtualBox for coding.



2020 MacBook Air :

• Retina display with True Tone
• 1.1GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
• 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English
• Touch ID
• Force Touch trackpad
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports

2020 MacBook Pro:

• 1.4GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
• 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English

 

[bill-p]

Pro with 32GB RAM is what you need. Honestly.

 

[pshufd]

I am looking for a new laptop but confused between high-end MacBook air vs low-end mac pro 2020. I don't video editing but does coding by running multiple virtual box/vmware and in big data platform which required high volume data i/o. Also need some thing for long term. The virtual box needs enough ram and CPU to work properly. The followings are the specs in my mind but getting confused which one to choose in terms of performance and long term use.

I am comparing the below two model and need to choose which one will be better for high end coding to run multiple virtual box or VMware. I found some threads discussion about heat issue for MacBook Air hence not sure about will that be good for running VirtualBox for coding.



2020 MacBook Air :

• Retina display with True Tone
• 1.1GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
• 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English
• Touch ID
• Force Touch trackpad
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports

2020 MacBook Pro:

• 1.4GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
• 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English

If you really are going to run multiple VMs, then I'd go with a Pro and get at least 32 GB of RAM. If you are working for a mid-size or larger company, though, I'd expect them to provide you with a cloud-based VM or other SAAS platform to work on.

 

[arindampal]

If you really are going to run multiple VMs, then I'd go with a Pro and get at least 32 GB of RAM. If you are working for a mid-size or larger company, though, I'd expect them to provide you with a cloud-based VM or other SAAS platform to work on.

My company provides me cloud base VM , but I maintain a small scale virtual box with linux OS for my own hands on practice and learning perspective. Hence considered 16 GB ram. The major heavy lifting bog data works I do in my office VM cloud. I am more concerned which one is more powerful between those two configurations in terms of performance and low heating issue.

 

[pshufd]

My company provides me cloud base VM , but I maintain a small scale virtual box with linux OS for my own hands on practice and learning perspective. Hence considered 16 GB ram. The major heavy lifting bog data works I do in my office VM cloud. I am more concerned which one is more powerful between those two configurations in terms of performance and low heating issue.

The Pro is going to be a better choice because it is physically better and you can do more with cooling with more physical size. The best would be the 16 which gives you a lot of options. If I needed to run Linux for personal stuff or experiments at home, then I'd just use an old desktop to run a VM that I could access via Remote Desktop or VNC. Basically use the cheapest hardware that will get the job done. If you need to do it while mobile, then you'd need to run it on your laptop.

The advantage of doing your experimental work on another system is that you don't need that powerful a machine.

 

[Queen6]

MBP as the Air can be easily thermally constrained. Air is better suited to more basic usage. I have a W10 UMPC with same Y series CPU. it's actively cooled and needs to be for the CPU to stretch it's legs to pass 4GHz and sustain reasonable clock speeds under full load.

Q-6

 

[KPOM]

Pro with 32GB RAM is what you need. Honestly.

That’s available only with the higher end model, so would be $2199 before any education discounts.
[automerge]1588804445[/automerge]

I am looking for a new laptop but confused between high-end MacBook air vs low-end mac pro 2020. I don't video editing but does coding by running multiple virtual box/vmware and in big data platform which required high volume data i/o. Also need some thing for long term. The virtual box needs enough ram and CPU to work properly. The followings are the specs in my mind but getting confused which one to choose in terms of performance and long term use.

I am comparing the below two model and need to choose which one will be better for high end coding to run multiple virtual box or VMware. I found some threads discussion about heat issue for MacBook Air hence not sure about will that be good for running VirtualBox for coding.



2020 MacBook Air :

• Retina display with True Tone
• 1.1GHz quad-core 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.5GHz
• 16GB 3733MHz LPDDR4X memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English
• Touch ID
• Force Touch trackpad
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports

2020 MacBook Pro:

• 1.4GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
• 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 512GB SSD storage
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English

The MacBook Pro would be better for running virtual machines. I would seriously consider the 4-port model, even though it is more expensive at $1799, since it has a faster CPU, faster RAM, and potentially a faster SSD than the base model. 32GB would be best if you plan to run multiple VMs at a time, but if it is just one or 2, you might be able to manage with 16GB. 32GB is available only on the higher end Pro, so that would be $2199 before the education discount.

I just checked. The base 4-port model would be $1699 with the educational discount, and the 32GB model $2059. They are showing late-May/early June shipping dates, but some of the early orders are set to arrive tomorrow, a week ahead of schedule, so perhaps Apple is just under-promising, as usual.

 

[arindampal]

I got below configuration in amazon with 2019 year model in $1499 , will it be better than 2020 MBP 13 inch lower model with 16 GB RAM. The magic keyboard is not that matters to me as long as keyboard does not get broken frequently. I am more concerned about performance.

Apple MacBook Pro (13-Inch, 8GB RAM, 256GB Storage) - Space Gray (Previous Model)

• 2.4 GHz 8th-Generation quad-core Intel Core i5 Processor
• Brilliant Retina Display with True Tone technology
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655
• Ultrafast SSD
• Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports
• Up to 10 hours of battery life

• 802.11AC Wi-Fi
• Latest Apple-designed keyboard
• Force touch trackpad

2020 MacBook Pro:

• 1.4GHz quad‑core 8th‑generation Intel Core i5 processor, Turbo Boost up to 3.9GHz
• 16GB 2133MHz LPDDR3 memory
• 256GB SSD storage
• 13-inch Retina display with True Tone
• Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645
• Two Thunderbolt 3 ports
• Touch Bar and Touch ID
• Backlit Magic Keyboard - US English

 

[pshufd]

You're going to wan 16 GB at least if you're running VMs unless you can put up with a lot of paging. I'd go with higher specs on a 2020 though. Can you manage with what you have now?

 

[arindampal]

You're going to wan 16 GB at least if you're running VMs unless you can put up with a lot of paging. I'd go with higher specs on a 2020 though. Can you manage with what you have now?

I have 2015 Mac book Air with 8 GB and produces lots of heat and slow as well. Hence looking for upgrade to use virtual box with less heat and better performance.

 

[pshufd]

I have 2015 Mac book Air with 8 GB and produces lots of heat and slow as well. Hence looking for upgrade to use virtual box with less heat and better performance.

You could try a 2015 MacBook Pro 15. I've run VMs on it with no problems. The 15 will give you good airflow and cooling. I'm running one of these for work right now. I don't do big data work on it. I have machines with 90 cores, 1 TB RAM and a few hundred TBs of storage for that.

 

[jerryk]

The MBP 13 is likely going to be better for what you want. The biggest limitation of the MB Air is thermals. The cooling system on that unit is not designed for moderate high and above workloads.

The MBP 13" has more room in the chassis and better airflow. Therefore, it can be pushed harder before the fans spin up and the CPU become thermally throttled.

If you do want the slightly smaller Air is there an option to move the workflow off to a cloud based platform? I am moving more and more of my ML work into the cloud because of the much higher performance I can achieve for little additional money. And then there are free could based options like colab.