Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#11

Post by CookWithMe » Wed, Jan 15, 2014, 11:15 PM UTC

I'm developing iOS on a mini and am happy, I don't have any issues with it at all. The fan is nearly silent even when it's running. Don't have any performance issues with XCode or so.

If you don't need a laptop, save the money and get a mini. Even though it hasn't been updated for well over a year, it still buys you the most RAM/$ and CPU/$.

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#12

Post by koberstein » Thu, Jan 16, 2014, 1:27 AM UTC

I would get a refurb late 2011 17", upgrade the ram to 16gb and put a SSD in it.

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#13

Post by mattquiros » Thu, Jan 16, 2014, 1:27 AM UTC

iloveshw wrote: post #8

If you have limited budget don't worry about retina. You're a developer, not a designer so that shouldn't be your priority. Think about getting some used macbook pro, replace the hdd with ssd for system and apps, and super drive with case for hdd and put there some larger hdd for data. The money that you save use to get more ram (and maybe faster ssd) and bigger display to fit simulators. This setup should work for m…

Can attest to this. You're gonna have to buy an iPhone or iPod touch anyway, so don't bother with retina.

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#14

Post by stasy » Thu, Jan 16, 2014, 5:00 AM UTC

CookWithMe wrote: post #11

I'm developing iOS on a mini and am happy, I don't have any issues with it at all. The fan is nearly silent even when it's running. Don't have any performance issues with XCode or so. If you don't need a laptop, save the money and get a mini. Even though it hasn't been updated for well over a year, it still buys you the most RAM/$ and CPU/$.

Is there any way to upgrade to 8gb of ram on a mini by myself?

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#15

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Jan 16, 2014, 5:51 AM UTC

stasy wrote: post #14

CookWithMe wrote: post #11

I'm developing iOS on a mini and am happy, I don't have any issues with it at all. The fan is nearly silent even when it's running. Don't have any performance issues with XCode or so. If you don't need a laptop, save the money and get a mini. Even though it hasn't been updated for well over a year, it still buys you the most RAM/$ and CPU/$.

Is there any way to upgrade to 8gb of ram on a mini by myself?

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#16

Post by balac » Thu, Jan 16, 2014, 10:07 AM UTC

stasy wrote: post #14

CookWithMe wrote: post #11

I'm developing iOS on a mini and am happy, I don't have any issues with it at all. The fan is nearly silent even when it's running. Don't have any performance issues with XCode or so. If you don't need a laptop, save the money and get a mini. Even though it hasn't been updated for well over a year, it still buys you the most RAM/$ and CPU/$.

Is there any way to upgrade to 8gb of ram on a mini by myself?

Yes, the RAM is user-serviceable and is very easy to upgrade yourself.

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#17

Post by 27182818284 » Fri, Jan 17, 2014, 4:51 PM UTC

I bought the Macbook Pro Retina for Python+HTML dev, it is overkill and I don't find the retina screen to be a game changer on a regular basis. I'd go with the Air if I had to make the decision again. I do suggest maxing out the ram and such when you do it, though.

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#18

Post by dchuk » Fri, Jan 17, 2014, 8:09 PM UTC

dougbarrett wrote: post #9

I have a current model Macbook Air 13" w/ 4 Gb of ram. I do a whole variety of development (PHP, golang, python) with MongoDB and MySQL. Currently, I have a few tabs in the terminal open connected to a few servers, MongoHub (MongoDB client), Sequal Pro (MySQL client), Firefox (2 open tabs), Chrome (15 open tabs), Sublime Text 2, Spotify, Cyberduck (FTP/SSH client), MAMP Pro, iTunes (phone is backing up), Adobe Reader…

Can you provide a link to the SD card you're using? I have the exact same Air and would love to do what you're doing with the card...

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#19

Post by Maximal » Fri, Jan 17, 2014, 8:43 PM UTC

I have used a Macbook Air 13" (i7 2GHz, 512GB SSD, 8GB RAM) for over a year exclusively for software development. The machine has been great, except I am frequently swapping windows back and forth, because of the screen resolution (1440x900).

I develop using numerous tools including Emacs, Xcode, IntelliJ, WebStorm and Visual Studio (running inside VMWare Windows 8 Pro). I have never noticed any lag whilst coding

Would I buy the same size machine again? Yes. The trade off is weight against screen size, although I think a higher resolution screen might put a strain on my eyes considering how long I use the laptop.

For me desktop was never an option, because I code on the train often. I also do not use either an external monitor nor a keyboard.

Re: Ask HN: Which Macbook is best for development?

#20

Post by yizzerin » Sat, Jan 18, 2014, 4:54 AM UTC

If you don't have that much $$, get a Macbook Air. I did all my development on a 13" Macbook Air before my current job (and I still use it in my personal time) - I love how light it is and easy to carry around. If you're doing iOS + Rails you don't need any fancy power to do the majority of your work (and if you do, go buy time on AWS or something).