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

#1

Post by robotcookies » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:15 PM UTC

I know VMs don't work for it yet. How has been otherwise programming on a mac with arm chip?

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

#2

Post by evtothedev » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

I was literally just coming on here to ask this question! Specifically, whether or now homebrew is happy with the m1.

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

#3

Post by coding123 » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:29 PM UTC

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.

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

#4

Post by gjsman-1000 » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:30 PM UTC

Web development - works great through Homebrew and Rosetta. Native versions are available of most JetBrains IDEs, and I can't really complain. However, my workflow doesn't use Docker, so I can't speak to how well that works.

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

#5

Post by tehjoker » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:31 PM UTC

I think it'll be another month or two at least before doing scientific programming will be pleasant due to the lack of support from e.g. numpy and hacked versions of gfortran being used for R.

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

#6

Post by thefourthchime » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:33 PM UTC

I mostly work in VSCode, the latest insiders build work much faster compared to my 2019 MBP. Browsing is also significantly faster with Chrome.

I have tried the Docker beta, it runs well, even with 8gb, but being limited to ARM images limits its use.

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

#7

Post by gabereiser » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:34 PM UTC

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 support.

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

#8

Post by lddemi » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:34 PM UTC

So far have been very happy :)

Still waiting on native VS Code but rosetta works fine.

Recently after several big apps like Chrome, iTerm and Slack updated to native binaries everything has been _very_ smooth.

I use docker heavily with zero issues - arm64 or amd64.

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

#9

Post by qeternity » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:35 PM UTC

It’s pretty amazing. I’ve had it since launch and it was rougher at first, but at this point most things are native. I really miss having a Windows VM and I opted for 8gb RAM which means a lot of swapping and I’m a little worried about the NVMe drive failing.

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

#10

Post by shmoogy » Sat, Jan 16, 2021, 6:36 PM UTC

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.

I couldn't get pymssql and pyodbc to work, but I didn't try very hard. Other than that, most things I use have no issues.