Coding/Programming: Macbook Air or Pro?

BrettK

BrettK

BrettK

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So I'm just hoping I can get some info here to help me decide which would be the better purchase for my needs. Long story short I'm opting for a 13 inch Macbook over the 15 inch pro because portability will be important to me. I'll connect up to a bigger screen when at home if need be. But of the 13 inch Macbooks, which would be better suited to my needs?

Right now I'm only learning HTML and CSS, but I will probably move onto Javascript eventually, or PHP or something. Beyond that I may even go into Java. I'm trying to think ahead in terms of hardware though, while keeping affordability in mind. The Air is cheaper than the Pro, but will it be sufficient for learning the above languages on without needing to be replaced in a few years by a more powerful Macbook? If not, the Pro might be my better option. That's what I'm trying to determine, so any help on this would be great, thanks!

(And if this is a stupid question because of my lack of understanding of languages, please be patient in your response to me).

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Also a secondary question for those wanting to answer: if I bought either the Air or Pro and opted for a faster processor/more RAM in the customisation section, would either of those upgrades have much of an impact on the already great battery life these two laptops have?

Thanks again!
 
It doesn't sound like price is a major factor so the retina Pro surely, the screen alone has to be worth it?
 
They will both be fine machines for what are scripting languages - e.g. no compiling.

Your eyes will thank you for getting a Retina display though, and if you move onto iOS / OS X applications then it's nice to be able to preview what your high-resolution assets will look like.
 
Both are pretty expensive to me, but I save money well. I actually completely overlooked the fact that the Air apparently doesn't have a Retina screen though. I know that will a major factor for me, so I guess I'll go with the Pro.

Thanks again!

EDIT: I can see why adding extra RAM would be a good thing to do, but is it worth upgrading the processor from the standard 2.7GHz Dual-core i5 (which is Turbo Boosted up to 3.1GHz) to either the 2.9GHz Dual-core Core i5 (Turbo Boosted up to 3.3GHz) or the 3.1GHz Dual-core Core i7 (Turbo Boosted up to 3.4GHz)? Especially if I eventually use languages that need compiling?
 
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If I had to choose between CPU speed and RAM for programming, I'd go for the RAM. You won't need either in the beginning but some development environments are an enormous memory hog.
 
In general when it comes to upgrades I'd say the following applies to the majority of cases:
  • If you need to ask you probably don't need it;
  • If you really need extra performance, you're probably going to want to look at a whole new tier of machine, not just an upgraded processor.
There are of course exceptions to the rule (the MacBook Air i5-i7 difference is around 30% IIRC and could be one of these exceptions, but even then, likely not).

For the record, the upgrade you've mentioned absolutely isn't worth it IMO. Trust me when I say the new machine will be more than enough.
 
As above - by the time you are getting frustrated by the performance of your laptop for reasons that the CPU is responsible for, going back in time and picking the i7 wouldn't save you. RAM is always worth having, but I would leave the CPU at stock.
 
I use a MBP i7 with 16GB ram, the Mrs MBA i5.. is slow - even with it's SSD advantage. However that's with Xcode programming.
 
Get the pro. I had a MacBook Air and found it was underpowered for anything more than html/css and a bit of other stuff.
 
NickK said:
I use a MBP i7 with 16GB ram, the Mrs MBA i5.. is slow - even with it's SSD advantage. However that's with Xcode programming.
Click to expand...

Without knowing what the CPUs are it's hard to say whether that's an age thing or the fact that totally different CPUs are used in the MBP and the MBA. The difference between an i5 and an i7 in a current-gen MBP won't be anywhere near the difference you're seeing.
 
Future wise the biggest thing holding you back would be ram. I think all around the best thing would be the 13" rMBP with 16gb ram, maybe the middle model with upgraded ram. I currently have a 13" rMBP and 15" rMBP, I do a lot of programming, JS/HTML/Python mostly these days, but I do android on the side and iOS. I don't notice huge difference in CPU, but my 15" has 16gb ram and it gives it so much more to breath and I can do a lot more.

Also if your getting a 15" I think it might be wise to hold out for Skylake.
 
The 13" retina screen is surprisingly good for programming. Lots of text on the screen at a time. Processor performance is yet to be an issue - grinding through lots of C++ in a virtual machine isn't great, but it's still quick enough.

4gb of ram would essentially mean no virtual machines though, and that'll be annoying whenever you want to check whether your front end stuff works under different browsers / operating systems. 8gb is fine for OS + one virtual machine, but I'd rather have 16 really.
 
Thank you all for your replies, it's really helping me to feel like I'll be picking up the right Macbook for me.

So based on all that's been said the 13 inch with 16GB ram is the one to choose. As for the processor, stick with the stock i5 or maybe the next i5 upgrade, but don't bother wasting money on the i7 as the performance boost will be minimal for all but the heaviest of programming, correct?

Thanks again!

EDIT: One more thing... I could always buy cheaper external storage at a later time, but how much internal storage would be recommended for the tasks I'll be performing? I was looking at 256GB as 512GB is quite expensive from Apple, and 128GB I'd feel is a bit limited. Good decision?

Thanks again!
 
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yeah I'd go for the base speed cpu, 16gb ram and 256gb SSD personally. The cpu upgrades just don't look like they are worth it. If you really need more power then you'll need to go to the 15" and the quad core cpu.

I've been playing around with some python in pycharm, some html/css and keeping a bunch of iTerm and chrome windows open on my Air 13" with 8gb ram. TBH it's been absolutely fine, I've not hit any memory issues but saying that if you wanted to open up large projects or run a couple of local VM's then 16GB would be really handy.
 
DanF said:
yeah I'd go for the base speed cpu, 16gb ram and 256gb SSD personally. The cpu upgrades just don't look like they are worth it. If you really need more power then you'll need to go to the 15" and the quad core cpu.

I've been playing around with some python in pycharm, some html/css and keeping a bunch of iTerm and chrome windows open on my Air 13" with 8gb ram. TBH it's been absolutely fine, I've not hit any memory issues but saying that if you wanted to open up large projects or run a couple of local VM's then 16GB would be really handy.
Click to expand...

Yeah the real issue is fricking IE testing, once I have to open up some VMs at work things would just die on my 13", but on my new 15" with 16gb ram I just keep IE8,9,10,11 open at all times and it doesn't care.
 
Thanks for all the info and replies! If I come across any testing or anything that puts a Macbook under too much strain, hopefully I can just switch to my Windows desktop to deal with it.

Thanks again guys, I really appreciate the help!
 
If you have a desktop as well you're definitely onto a winner. I leave my desktop switched on most of the time and remote desktop into it from wherever my laptop happens to be if things are running too slowly. That works really, really well.

By "remote desktop" I mean connect to emacs over ssh, but it's much the same result :)
 
JonJ678 said:
If you have a desktop as well you're definitely onto a winner. I leave my desktop switched on most of the time and remote desktop into it from wherever my laptop happens to be if things are running too slowly. That works really, really well.

By "remote desktop" I mean connect to emacs over ssh, but it's much the same result :)
Click to expand...

It's a gaming rig so it should have the extra horsepower should I need it. And I didn't consider doing a "remote desktop" thing, but that's actually a good idea.

Thanks buddy!
 
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