Should I BUY a MacBook for programming?

as someone with master degree in cybersecurity you will need a very powerful computer doesn’t matter if it’s Mac or windows since it’s a personal choice I made the switch in junior because I wanted to get M1 (M1 Pro enough mostly ) Max with all my saving my friends got PC gamers because they wanted the ability to play games. and you will need them to run JetBrains products smoothly, docker containers , multiple virtual machines if your Pc or Mac isn’t powerful enough you will struggle and I did struggle with my 2017 HP elite book until I upgraded and I’m struggling as not only the Mac user but also the arm user because I choose to use a Mac

I agree and when i have much amount of money then i buy mac pro with max chip because i really want😂

Please dont waste money in all the hype, totally waste of money. Something like a raspberry pi 5 will do the job for you. I use a 20 year old core 2 duo desktop to do my job and a 10 year old Intel i5 mac as a regular use. No need to upgrade or buy these expensive M1/M2 systems, totally worthless

i doing app and web development. i plan to buy a mac but i would like to know if i could just install macOS on my desktop so i could just use xcode.

ps. i am a react dev and a flutter and react native dev.

Developer, on private thinkpad e495 (cause awesome keyboard and grest quality) work laptop is some dell latitude cause that what employeer provide

i using hackintosh its take me around 3 weeks to complete setup all drivers , and now its working perfectly , geekbench show me performance parallel to M2 macbook pro performance, i hope he will support selicom apps in feature, its better to use them inside use one platform use both at the same time be greate for multiple tasks and performance enhancement

I am using whatever laptop my company buys for me :D

The employer provides this to us

I’m using a lenovo flex 5, I got it because I was going to college and I wanted a 2-in-1 because I thought it would be good for note taking. Turns out pen & paper or a tablet is usually much better for note taking and I never use the 2-in-1 feature. I dual-booted it with windows 11 and Linux mint and it works great for programming and daily tasks, but if I were to go back I would have gotten a $300-$500 thinkpad with 16gb.

But Mark Zuckerberg is using Mac and he was a programmer a successful programmer

I'm using my galaxy s9 ultra tablet with vscode server, and it works perfectly. It has much more battery lifetime than my MSI laptop

Employer like giving MacBook Pro to staff due to the longevity of the Mac can last and less problem that virtually do not need help desk to support

Thanks man... Your video save me👍

Once you go Mac, you never go back!

After I got a 16" M1 Pro from my work, Windows feels like it's far behind Mac OS. Though there are some things in MacOS that are infuriating(looking at you file explorer). I would just hate to give it back when I quit (soon 😅).

In my university days I used an Asus laptop on which I dual booted Windows and Linux and it was more than enough.

Nowadays I use a dual-booted desktop PC and an office provided Macbook.

Also I should mention that if you're going to be doing any iOS related development then Mac is pretty much your only option.

I started with a 7 year old i3 2nd Gen with 2 GB of built-in RAM and was using it for over a year at work. Laptops from 10 years ago aren't going to be stumped by whatever you managed to code in your first or second year of programming. Unless the game is AI where you can just pay for Colab on cloud or something. Same for docker.

He is right, all IDEs will slowly move over to cloud. The backend compilation will happen directly on a VM or docker container....

Bdw... I use a Samsung s22 ultra with Nexdock wireless and compile codes on a ubuntu VM in AWS... Who am i to judge 😅

I want to study AI in fall and i think C# is the language i'll use most, im not sure tho. Anyways, it's a University so I will need a laptop for studying there in breaks and on the train ride home. At home, were i'd spend my weekends, I have a PC that works for programming. So, my question is, what Laptop should i buy for University? I dont really wanna spend more than 1k.
(It doesnt have to be apple. I dont even have an iphone or ipad so it doesnt matter which brand it is)

Does anyone have any opinions on MacBooks for cyber security degree? Or a Lenovo?

"do you need macbook for software development in uni" this was what I searched and this video was the first to pop up. Needless to say this video is exactly what I'm looking for.

I use a MacBook Pro 16" but only because it came wit my school launch box. (So I'm paying for it through student loans basically). I'm not very educated in computer hardware. Which desktops are popular among web developers? Is my MacBook Pro sufficient?

I think your opinions suck in this regard.
you can buy second hand laptops and you also should use mac because it can let you code with everything because you can code all of your apps and have access to coding for apple devices

I think learning to work around the limitations of low end hardware is really valuable for beginners. I got a nice $2k Thinkpad when I graduated high school, but before that I learned a lot with my old $400 dell laptop that I got in like fourth grade. Learning to work efficiently on whatever device you have access to can really help you to be more efficient once you can afford a better device.

I mostly on backend and rarely use xcode and like android development

Is macbook Air below m1 worth it?

I gave you a thumbs up in the first 30 seconds for being honest and giving the answer upfront, then getting to the details. I've always gotten by quite well with Windows machines and VirtualBox VM's running my IDE's.

❤

Please can a Acer Aspire one netbook used for coding

Thanks. I “had” to buy a MacBook for a code boot camp. I have a 2015 13 inch pro. It’s honestly a high quality product but the speakers are busted and there’s a couple dead pixels…while I could get a new MacBook, the cost isn’t justified. I could get an amazing gaming laptop for the same price AND SF6 😂💀

I saved $1000 and wanted to buy a M1 MBA but i’m only 18 and starting in programming so for now I’m gonna stick to my parents old Acer laptop. Maybe next year, when I get better experience I’ll invest in a better laptop but we’ll see. Thanks for the video! It helps even a year later ^^

Lenovo think pad series intel i7 simple

I work as a professional software dev. I recently decided to ask for a MBP when I switched jobs.
I kind of regret it to be honest. The reason is I have to re-learn a lot of keyboard shortcuts, and the Swedish Mac keyboard is even worse than the standard PC keyboard when it comes to writhing characters like {. To write this I need to press shift+option+8. That's ok on the laptop apple keyboard, but really sucks on any external keyboard I connect to the Mac. And of course some keys are flipped when you use a USB keyboard and you need to fix that with manual re-mappings. And what do people recommend me? Use an US keyboard! Well, then I have to learn to type on that as well.

So as nice as a Mac is, if I could go back in time, I would just order a Think Pad. No need to re-learn anything.
I already struggle to be productive, I don't need another distraction when learning new languages for example.

I've been using Macbook Pro 2017 professionally since 2019, and it's working perfectly. Although I'm upgrading this year, my sister is having it for her first year of college.

If you spend a lot of time coding then you’d want to make sure the hardware and development environment you use is as comfortable and pleasurable to use as possible. That means using quality hardware and while it isn’t cheap the investment is worth it. If you do your work in one place then an iMac, mac mini or desktop PC running Windows or Linux, depends on which OS you prefer or need. A colour accurate IPS monitor is also important so forget about the TN monitor with high refresh rate, all they’re good for is gaming but a high refresh rate IPS monitor is good for both. A cheap keyboard and mouse is horrible to use, the keys are mushy and the response is inconsistent. The magic keyboard and magic mouse are ideal for mac or mx master if you prefer a more ergonomic mouse. For a PC nothing beats a mechanical keyboard with cherry mx switches and gaming mouse that feels comfortable in your hand, even if you don’t game. I’ve got no problem with using any of these all day everyday. On the go nothing beats a MacBook. I’ve got a few MacBooks as well as Windows and Linux laptops. The PC laptops just aren’t well built where the typing experience is subpar, hinges are creaky, colours aren’t always accurate and battery runs out quickly. And some of those were high end laptops at the time. I can use my M2 Max MacBook Pro all day without being anywhere near a power outlet with only slight battery drain. My 11 year old Intel MacBook Pro also still holds a few hours charge and runs well after a RAM and SSD upgrade. The built quality of MacBooks are unmatched in the PC world.

tl;dr for a desktop it comes down to preference but for on the go definitely a MacBook provided you like macOS

I bought macbook and it is waste of money too expensive and i cant install all the programs i needed it’s so annoying

Currently I use a 2020 M1 MacBook Air that I got about a few months ago, and I love it! I'm graduating with my degree in CS in May, and I've developed on Windows as well at the beginning of college, but honestly I think both are perfectly fine. I've ran into so many people throughout college and online that absolutely trash on using Macs for programming, but I just don't think they realize that they are capable of pretty much the same things when it comes to development - especially for college education. I mean, my CS professor/capstone advisor uses an intel MacBook Air, and we've bonded a little bit over the fact that we love MacOS and the fact that it works perfectly fine for us. The only problem that I have is that Visual Studio does not natively support C++, but thankfully I'm using Angular (JavaScript and HTML) with VS Code for my capstone project, so I don't really have to worry about that this semester. Everybody has a budget, and you need to do whatever is best for you and provides the features you are most interested in. Over the last year I've switched from Android and Windows to Apple just because I really like the quality of Apple products, the operating systems feel better to use than Windows personally, and the Apple ecosystem is just really nice and is something that I wish I could have adopted sooner. I mean, I can use my iPad as a second monitor when I'm not in my room, and it's so convenient for me! Plus, I'm hoping to get into MacOS or iOS app development at some point. Also, I just use my Xbox Series S for gaming, so I'm not really in need of a gaming PC.

I realize I'm kind of just hyping Apple products with this comment, but It's all about personal preference, and I don't want to judge anyone on their own preference over something so simple. I'm glad you took the time to make this video. It stands out from most other videos on this subject because you actually acknowledge both sides and put effort in explaining the point that I think everyone should take to heart - do what's best for you. It's not often I see a video like this that's so down to earth in explaining this, let alone see someone care to make the point that you need to go with what you can afford. That may be the most important point you made by far.

Sorry for the long rant, just figured I'd make this comment because I could actually really relate to this video. Thanks!

If you are a backend developer or full stack dev just get the most expensive one you can get with 96GB of Ram if you can afford it 😅

I use a MacBook air (M2) and it works fine for me. I use it mainly for programming in C to build software for Microcontrollers and as a hobby writing Computing Code... i can recommend it blindly!

I’m using a 2015 Mac book pro

I’m a newbie to programming, I use a 2012 13” Mac Pro, I updated the drive to ssd, it’s still hanging in there.😊

I am learning front end after am done I will then move to back end then turn to full stack I am using my phone now am saving for 2 months to buy laptop my target is 300 and I will be saving 20$ monthly please if you don't mind can you make a video about the cheapest laptop to start programing

I hate using Apple computers,I am forced to,AT TIMES,in my final stage of testing,when I'm working on Apple based products/software,I can do A LOT of testing on my main laptops luckily though/I run VMs,to test my code, to start with and once everything runs well from VMs,then if its an Apple project, I then have to transfer over to Apple machines,ones I test in VMs and then, like I said, for my final stage of testing, I have to use Apple machines,most of the time, I try my hardest to make sure I'm using an Apple Desktop vs an Apple laptop,but I do have to use Apple laptops at times too.

I hate them,because they are limiting, at least the portable versions of their computers/laptops are,their desktops I can work with/their more powerful,but their laptops leave off A LOT,but on top of this, I still don't have exactly what I want,when using an Apple Laptop and thats Linux/Manjaro Linux,to be specific.

Also more indepth on what I mean by, Apples laptops are limiting/when I use their laptops I am constantly having to be really strategic about what I'm running/which tasks I plan on executing/tackling first/what can run simultaneously and what can't run simultaneously, meaning unlike my other machines I don't have 128GBs of RAM,I also can't have optimal setups/I can't utilize multiple internal NVME SSDs, so I can't have my OS on one SSD and my projects on another and no extra SSD for Manjaro/Linux/I like to have Windows and Manjaro Linux on two separate internal SSDs and other internal SSDs for storage,projects and VMs/Virtual Machines,to test my code;Also Apple doesn't have any laptops with 17.3 inch displays/my main laptops all have 144HZ 3840X2160p displays,they also have num pads,in my eyes,from my point of view Apple machines are low end machines, with a high price tag/your paying for a name.

I need to be able to run multiple VMs at once to test multiple projects at once,I also like a big clear display on the go,I also use cuda cores/Nvidia graphics cards, for software compatability,but on top of this, I like the option to have a dedicated 4090,in my laptop, if I want one;Apple doesn't offer this/they offer an APU;Also all cores in CPUs aren't created equal/my i9-13980HX has 24 cores vs the M2s 16cores,plus like I said,the M.2 is an APU,it has no dedicated graphics,also no 128GBs of DDR5 RAM/I prefer my MSI Titan GT77 laptop,for on the go and my Desktop has an i9-13900k,128GBs of DDR5 RAM and a 4090,my point is Apple doesn't have ANYTHING high end/even usable in my case/what I USUALLY do,IF I have an internet connection, which I usually do, when I am forced to use one of my Macbook Pros with the M.2 CPU,I utilize hyper visors/multi box setups, the same thing I do when I'm gaming at 8k/7680x4320p/being able to use multiple machines is a necessity,when using an Apple laptop/my hyper visor,with its combined machines has 98 cores, 640GBs of DDR5 RAM,60TBs of Kingston KC 3000 NVME SSDs and now a few Samsung 990 NVME SSDs and multiple graphics cards, again when combined,but I do the work I can/have to from the Apple machine and use my hyper visor/home server to handle my other projects, that don't require dedicated Apple hardware,sometimes, I do also connect to my Apple Desktop too, to divide the work load/to save time, when testing Apple code,but over all Apple laptops are fairly useless compared to high end machines.

Excellent take James. I got the M1 air a year ago and it's definitely a steal for just the general programming as such along with school work. It's an excellent buy for overall usage and portability, just the basic necessities and whatever one's needs be met. Going for other viable workspace options such as standing desk, quality ergonomic chair, monitors, keyboard, mouse, lightings, cable management, and even some plants for decoration is going to be so much more practical than whaling on a $2000 MacBook Pro in my personal experience, the rest of the money to buy for other spaces speaks volumes.

Unfortunately, the ONLY regret I have is not spending the extra for 16gb of ram as for longevities sake its going to be worthwhile.

I appreciate you mentioning the iPad because that’s what I was considering using.

M1-M2 pro really good for mobile development period

I've been loving Linux for about a year now, and now the terminal is my new home for productivity.
I'm still running my Acer Chromebook N7 11 from my school, and I think I've been using it far beyond what it was meant for. Running Ubuntu on it instead, no Chrome OS. It only has 16 GB of eMMC, and 4 GB of RAM. Only about 1.5 GB free to install dependencies for new projects, so I have to only work on some things at a time.
For how goofy this setup is, I love it a lot! Definitely in need of an upgrade.

I am currently using a Asus Rog Zephyrus with 32 GB of Ram and two 1TB ssd nvme with windows and wsl - mainly developing in WSL and Tmux with Neovim as a full LSP but dual boot wit Pop OS when I really need linux . Did not make the whole switch because still I need to play with my kids. I've gotten my hands on a Macbook air m1 and the experience is full imerisible into the OS and everything is at your fingertips.

Let me know, right now i'm intrested in cyber security and thinking buying MBA M1 am i make a right decision? Or taking windows laptop like asus rog g14 or thinkpad x13

I'm using a custom built desktop. However I am in the market for a laptop as my 6+ year old HP envy x360 is starting to give out.

Tell me please, to study javascript, react in the future, docker, databases such as SQL Server, Postgres, and other web development technologies, will the MacBook Air m2 16/512 be enough? If I work for 12 hours will there be no problems with such a laptop due to passive cooling?

I have an M1 and my girlfriend has an M2. So far, the only major problems were:
Visual Studio (not visual studio code) is not available on the Mac.
Dual booting Linux or Windows is not as simple as it (hopefully) will become.
And, standard x86 vs ARM issues.


I was hoping this video would talk more about CPU architecture, assembly language, dual booting, etc. This felt more like financial advice, which I’m sure most people needed to hear. These computers are awesome, but they are also trending. So, too many people will buy on emotion. However, I still wish I had more info on the true limitations that people who *already purchased*.