MIcrosoft Surface line (Book 2 in hardware comparison)is just as solid if not more solid than a MBP. You can use Windows 10 and the WSL as others have stated.
Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
111–120 of 502 posts
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#112I switched from a 2014 13" Retina MBP to a 2018 Thinkpad X1 Carbon (6th gen) and I'm extremely happy with it. https://www.notebookcheck.net/Lenovo-ThinkPad-X1-Carbon-2018... is the most objective/detailed review I've seen. One of my biggest anxieties was the fear of "upgrading" to an inferior device after a decade of being on Apple devices. Thankfully, that has not been the case. - The 14" WQHD HDR screen is remarkab…
I just got the 16GB/i7/512 with 2 year warranty from Costco for $1599. And I agree totally that it's an amazing machine! I have left it running W10 for now because I don't want to have to modify the DSDT for S3. Modern standby on Windows is magical - instant desktop after lid opening with the fingerprint reader! I wish it had better speakers though and I still feel like the low power CPU in a thin package might get b…
> I don't want to have to modify the DSDT for S3.
While I did end up doing that (it wasn't as scary as I thought), turns out just adding `acpi.ec_no_wakeup=1` is sufficient on many distros (I presume ones with recent kernel/systemd versions, older versions seem to require hitting power to wake up).
> I wish it had better speakers though
I find the speakers fairly comparable to my old MBP, fwiw.
> and I still feel like the low power CPU in a thin package might get bogged down when thermally throttled compared to full wattage one in a bigger config.
Yea, kinda mixed feelings on this. I really like how cool/quiet it runs with the default config, but you're right that the throttling is fairly aggressive. I mostly went with the i7 for the L2 cache size rather than max freq so it doesn't bother me too much.
You can override the throttling thresholds a fair bit. The whole machine is fairly hackable (in the good sense). I plan to play around with underclocking at some point to get a few extra hours.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#113Not a hardware req, but I've recently become quite enamored with Win 10 + WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) after years of using a Mac. WSL lets you run a lightweight Linux shell (Ubuntu, SUSE, Kali are supported atm) without a VM. It's purely for command-line purposes, no X, but that's fine for me. Windows for UI, then I can run all my bash in the Ubuntu shell almost seamlessly. You can run the shell directly from s…
A win32 X server like mobaxtrem absolutely works.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#114MacBook Pros haven't changed much since 2012, at least not in ways that would affect your work, in particular. You might upgrade the storage, but unless (or until) Apple replaces the Intel processor with one of their own (rumored), you're golden. Rumor has it Apple might switch to an internally-developed processor at some point, and that might mean a significant memory upgrade, but that's at least a year away, near a…
I used a MBP for 6 years, professionally, and this past fall switch to a Dell Precision 15". The new macbooks have a terrible keyboard, lost the magsafe connector, lost the lit apple symbol (loved it, because I could put an amusing sticker over it), have a ridiculously sized trackpad that I was constantly touching, only two USB C - one of which is always needed for power, and replaced the top set of keys with the "meh" touch bar thing. You can only get 16 GB of ram, and the guts are just fine.
Windows 10 + WSL is awesome, the only minor issue being some permissions stuff. I find Windows 10 to be a more interesting, an effective interface. The only thing I miss is that the Mac trackpad has a bit better detection for when I accidentally brush it. Otherwise, I'll take my 3 USB C, 2 USB B, HDMI, SD, and audio ports any day - all of which I have used at some point in the past 6 months, incidentally.
The new Mac keyboard alone was enough to make me want to toss the laptop into the trash. But, hey, it's slightly thinner, so you know, major productivity gains there!
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#115I wrote a bit about this [0] in terms of exploring Dell and Lenovo as options with a focus on Linux. I also quite like using LTE with my development machine, I'm doing so with the T470s and Fi [1]. I feel like for Linux the primary advantage that Lenovo has is the historical RedHat/IBM partnership where many RedHat developers are issued/choose Thinkpad as their primary machines to hack on. This typically leads to the…
This is awesome, thanks! The biggest problem I had with even considering Linux on any of these machines is that the High DPI support is... non-existent, which just kills it for me :(
I think your information about High DPI support with Linux is outdated. I've been using a 4k screen with Ubuntu for more than a year now without any particular issue.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#116Not a hardware req, but I've recently become quite enamored with Win 10 + WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) after years of using a Mac. WSL lets you run a lightweight Linux shell (Ubuntu, SUSE, Kali are supported atm) without a VM. It's purely for command-line purposes, no X, but that's fine for me. Windows for UI, then I can run all my bash in the Ubuntu shell almost seamlessly. You can run the shell directly from s…
Indeed, I love WSL, and find win10 to be a better interface than OS X. Updates for OS X just move things around and change the looks, Windows 10 adds great new things - like new options for Linux distros under WSL.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#117Not a hardware req, but I've recently become quite enamored with Win 10 + WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) after years of using a Mac. WSL lets you run a lightweight Linux shell (Ubuntu, SUSE, Kali are supported atm) without a VM. It's purely for command-line purposes, no X, but that's fine for me. Windows for UI, then I can run all my bash in the Ubuntu shell almost seamlessly. You can run the shell directly from s…
I think that in the most recent versions X runs just fine. At least a collegue of mine is running the whole Kali linux (you now find it in the window store) inside WSL using the full desktop (and indeed just looking in the store right now it is showed with the full desktop active)
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#118Seriously? There's hundreds of alternatives.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#119Just got the Thinkpad T480.... It has 2 SODIMM slots, you can put in a SATA or NVME drive (only 1, and only of the same type as shipped), it has great hinges, enough ports, excellent battery-life with the extended and swappable batteries and has good options for screen (1080p mat non-touch here). It has good linux support, and I got mine (i5-8350, 8GB, 128GB ssd for about 1200,- incl on-site warranty. I then replaced the RAM and SSD with some I still had lying around (32G and 800GB intel DC-ssd).
The Thinkpads have good keyboards, good-enough touchpads and screens.
Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?
#120+1 for a ThinkPad. I'm running Ubuntu 16.04 on an x230 that I purchased for $200 and it works great for me for limited dev work.
I'm thinking about purchasing a new one with maxed out specs and it seems like Ubuntu/Debian support is pretty solid on the new models, with some exceptions of course. The p51s looks like a good compromise between power and portability for me.
edit: And the keyboard is amazing! you'll love typing on these things.