I don't think there's any sense in getting the Max, since you aren't even getting the highest amount of RAM. $1000 spread over 8 - 10 years vs starting to waste your own time in maybe 5 if the air gets slow. I'd recommend #2.
Thanks!
MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
11–20 of 25 posts
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#12I made a similar switch a year ago. I bought the 16 inch M1 pro (32GB ram). My usage is similar to yours (but I don’t do Neural networks) and I couldn’t be happier. I imagine the M2 would be even better.
Thanks!
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#13a macbook pro 100%, or even better a PC, you could have such a beast with that budget
Thanks! I already have a Linux box for half the price for ML training, but I travel a bit so need a laptop
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#14Go for the pro version. IMO, it's much better for the kind of work you note. I see that you used the last one for 8 years. Considering that, even if pro is costlier, that difference in amount will not be visible or relevant for such long usage. If you were going to replace it every year or two or every time a new version is released, then the cost difference becomes a factor.
Thanks! I hope to use this one for a long time too.
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#15How much do you need a laptop? I had a similar setup for a long time, and when I finally upgraded I went with a studio and two monitors. I kept my old laptop for travel, and it keeps up reasonably because I don’t tend to have as many projects open at one time when I’m traveling. Getting away from a laptop let me get a better-specced machine for the same price. I’m loving it so far.
I’ve a Linux desktop for ML training and love the machine. But I also travel and keeping the machines in sync is difficult, so I primarily work on my laptop.
Unfortunately I’m sole developer and need most projects open for demo, etc.
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#16I use my M1 Air daily and couldn't be happier. The only issue I've had is I couldn't get TFX installed. https://discuss.tensorflow.org/t/i-want-to-use-the-tfx-1-6-1...
Thanks!
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#17I don't have this many windows open constantly, but I can say that I do a lot of C & C++ stuff with VSCode and my M1 MBP 14 has absolutely zero trouble keeping up. In fact, I often think I should have just got the Air. I'm pretty sure the fan doesn't exist (okay, I know it does, but it is seriously quiet: you should never hear it unless running something super intensive). What ultimately swayed me towards the MBP was…
Thanks for the display tip. I hadn’t considered that.
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#18Any of those options will outperform your 2015 MBP considerably. https://www.cpubenchmark.net/compare/2327vs5189vs5183vs4922/...
Thanks!
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#19I was happily using 5 Airs for several years, whilst my colleagues had to carry their bulky Pro around.
Now my wife switched to the M2 Air, but I cannot use them anymore since they abandoned 32 bit support, and I need that for my embedded simulation work. Also the keyboard and OS sucks.
Re: MacBook Air vs. pro for development work
#20You mentioned wanting to use dual-monitors.
MacBook Air only supports one external monitor.