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Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#101

Post by zebnyc »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #72
6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m so frustrated by what apple has done with externals in the last few iterations, especially displays. I am an outlier in that I use three external displays, and my current MacBook can just barely support it if I make sure to spread my devices over separate usb-c dongles. If I try to put keyboard, mouse, power, and monitor on a single advertised as supporting multiple USB and power and HDMI, the keyboard and especi…

Have you looked at the larger Thunderbolt hubs, rather than one of the cheaper and more ubiquitous USB-C dongles? I use a 15" MacBook Pro and a Caldigit TS3+ – more expensive, but I have a single cable supplying power, a bunch of USB ports, Ethernet, audio, an SD reader and 2x4k monitors. It pretty much feels like magic and has been completely flawless. It won't run three screens though – I do sometimes use a third m…

I usually use 3 external monitors and I just ordered the new M1 Mac Mini last week. I am having trepidations about buying a port expander which is almost half as expensive as the machine itself.

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#102

Post by zebnyc »

blunte wrote: post #24
Abishek_Muthian wrote: post #11

Also M1 owners, I would also like to know how much 8/16 GB memory has affected your workflow/productivity assuming you previously had at least 32GB RAM? e.g. Those who never closed their apps before, kept several browsers with several dozen tabs, Note taking apps, IDE, VM etc. all the time. Is lighting fast opening of apps on M1 = Never having to close the apps in any machine with large RAM?

TL;DR: 16GB is enough for most use cases on Intel Macs, so it should be as good or better on M1 Macs. In my experience with 16GB Intel Macs for years, I have never had memory problems. I'm sure there are some large data migration cases which could make it a problem, but for my typical development (1-3 instances of a JetBrains IDE open, PostgreSQL and MySQL servers running, Docker running, sometimes even VirtualBox ru…

Have a 2019 2.6 GHz 16 GB Macbook pro. Between Chrome / Docker the machine can barely keep up. I notice that after Slack / Google hangout calls my laptop overheats and becomes generally unusable. Sometimes requires a reboot. Zoom calls don't cause same issues though.

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#103

Post by blunte »

jayd16 wrote: post #88
blunte wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TL;DR: 16GB is enough for most use cases on Intel Macs, so it should be as good or better on M1 Macs. In my experience with 16GB Intel Macs for years, I have never had memory problems. I'm sure there are some large data migration cases which could make it a problem, but for my typical development (1-3 instances of a JetBrains IDE open, PostgreSQL and MySQL servers running, Docker running, sometimes even VirtualBox ru…

You also lose any dedicated VRAM. That's an extra 4-8 gigs the Intel Macs have. If you don't need it, you don't need it but to say 16 gigs on an M1 is somehow "better" seems silly to me.

In the developer use cases I described, video memory should not be a big concern. (Edit - also, my described scenario is on my 2019 13" MBP with 16GB RAM, i5 CPU, and puny Intel GPU.)

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#104

Post by blunte »

zebnyc wrote: post #102
blunte wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

TL;DR: 16GB is enough for most use cases on Intel Macs, so it should be as good or better on M1 Macs. In my experience with 16GB Intel Macs for years, I have never had memory problems. I'm sure there are some large data migration cases which could make it a problem, but for my typical development (1-3 instances of a JetBrains IDE open, PostgreSQL and MySQL servers running, Docker running, sometimes even VirtualBox ru…

Have a 2019 2.6 GHz 16 GB Macbook pro. Between Chrome / Docker the machine can barely keep up. I notice that after Slack / Google hangout calls my laptop overheats and becomes generally unusable. Sometimes requires a reboot. Zoom calls don't cause same issues though.

Strange. My work laptop is a 2019 13" pro with only an i5 and 16GB RAM, and I very rarely have any problems. On the rare times I do, it's usually because some app went nuts and needs to be killed. Google Hangouts, however, is a pig.

But then, when on a Hangouts (now Meet, I guess) call, I typically won't be pushing any of the other apps; they'll be idling.

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#105

Post by 6gvONxR4sf7o »

matthewmacleod wrote: post #72
6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m so frustrated by what apple has done with externals in the last few iterations, especially displays. I am an outlier in that I use three external displays, and my current MacBook can just barely support it if I make sure to spread my devices over separate usb-c dongles. If I try to put keyboard, mouse, power, and monitor on a single advertised as supporting multiple USB and power and HDMI, the keyboard and especi…

Have you looked at the larger Thunderbolt hubs, rather than one of the cheaper and more ubiquitous USB-C dongles? I use a 15" MacBook Pro and a Caldigit TS3+ – more expensive, but I have a single cable supplying power, a bunch of USB ports, Ethernet, audio, an SD reader and 2x4k monitors. It pretty much feels like magic and has been completely flawless. It won't run three screens though – I do sometimes use a third m…

Even that wouldn't support three monitors, right? I think I read somewhere that the 2019+ macbooks only support two monitors per side of the laptop, so not three through one USB-C port.

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#106

Post by beagle3 »

ataylor32 wrote: post #64
tbrock wrote: post #59

I have the M1 MacBook Air and it’s best computer I’ve ever owned, hands down. Brought me back to Mac from my X1 carbon 6th gen running Linux (arch btw). The machine itself? - Faster than blue blazes - Dead silent - Cold to the touch (even when cranking) - Has excellent screen and keyboard - No touchbar - Has bonkers battery life - Comes with tiny a/c adapter that charges it quickly When I say fast I mean desktop proc…

Can you elaborate on this?: > I do all of my development remotely via ssh and local forwards I do a little with SSH tunnels, but not much. Do you mean you have it set up so that on your Mac you can go to localhost:8080 (or whatever) in your browser and it will actually go to the remote machine?

It’s worth reading a bit about sshuttle. It basically leverages ssh into a simple one way VPN as far as ergonomics and user experience go (but the underlying implementation is closer to opening LocalForward connections on demand).

Highly recommended.

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#107

Post by kcartlidge »

joubert wrote: post #76

Mac Mini, 16GB RAM. Managed to compile FreePascal and Lazarus for M1 (aarch64); was fairly straight forward. I’ve been playing / prototyping with FPC/Lazarus over the holidays so it’s nice to run without Rosetta. Compiles are super fast, but of course fpc/Lazarus is pretty quick already. ;-)

Shout out for FPC/Lazarus - so underrated, and too often ignored. Like Delphi, but for free. If you want native binary GUI apps for multiple platforms it's great. And I can confirm it works very well indeed on the M1 MacBook Air 8GB base model too (for developing apps; I didn't need to compile the toolchain personally).

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#108

Post by [deleted] »

gabereiser wrote: post #7
coding123 wrote: post #3

No OP but looking for people with any reactions on using Docker, Node or Python on the M1? Likely going to get an M1 mini at some point.

Stuck on a docker tech preview on my M1, it works but only with arm64 images. Docker for me is the main crux to get me to use the M1 as my daily driver. Python works fine, node as well, but I don’t like modifying my environment and like to encapsulate it in docker (docker everything) and so far I’m not 100%. Docker works like I said, but it’s still a WIP and all. I think Q2/Q3 of this year we’ll see more mainline sup…

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#109

Post by kcartlidge »

gabereiser wrote: post #7
coding123 wrote: post #3

No OP but looking for people with any reactions on using Docker, Node or Python on the M1? Likely going to get an M1 mini at some point.

Stuck on a docker tech preview on my M1, it works but only with arm64 images. Docker for me is the main crux to get me to use the M1 as my daily driver. Python works fine, node as well, but I don’t like modifying my environment and like to encapsulate it in docker (docker everything) and so far I’m not 100%. Docker works like I said, but it’s still a WIP and all. I think Q2/Q3 of this year we’ll see more mainline sup…

Docker with Intel images = `--platform linux/amd64`

Re: Ask HN: How do you like developing on an M1 Mac so far?

#110

Post by matthewmacleod »

6gvONxR4sf7o wrote: post #105
matthewmacleod wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you looked at the larger Thunderbolt hubs, rather than one of the cheaper and more ubiquitous USB-C dongles? I use a 15" MacBook Pro and a Caldigit TS3+ – more expensive, but I have a single cable supplying power, a bunch of USB ports, Ethernet, audio, an SD reader and 2x4k monitors. It pretty much feels like magic and has been completely flawless. It won't run three screens though – I do sometimes use a third m…

Even that wouldn't support three monitors, right? I think I read somewhere that the 2019+ macbooks only support two monitors per side of the laptop, so not three through one USB-C port.

Nope - as I mentioned above, it won’t work with three screens. You’ve got a minimum of two cables for three screens, unfortunately!
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