M2 or M2 Pro (13/14" MBP) for a developer

[platypus]

Work are looking at getting me a new laptop and one of the offerings is a macbook pro. I've never ever used a Macbook so I'm not really sure what the best chip would be to go for, as it makes significant difference. Adding 16gb of ram also makes for an eye watering cost uptick! And whilst work are paying I need to make sure I'm getting value for money.

Essentially, compiling lots of code in both Visual Studio VS Code, SSMS, Azure, AWS, working on large databases both locally and in the cloud, would the M2 provide enough grunt? I don't need to care about the graphics capabilities, but I've never had less than 32GB of ram and usually have 64GB, so the max 24GB for the M2 is of vague concern.

I've spent some time trying to read around but lots of reviews just seem to claim the MBP is a great dev laptop without going into much detail about the processor.

TIA

 

[Steedie]

M2 would be fine but I'd get the M2 Pro if you can just to make it last a little longer. I'm still on an M1 on my Mini and that handles just fine for app dev with XCode and Visual Studio. Even when I occasionally use it for work and work in Windows via Parallels. Builds some hefty solutions with no issues at all.

 

[platypus]

M2 would be fine but I'd get the M2 Pro if you can just to make it last a little longer. I'm still on an M1 on my Mini and that handles just fine for app dev with XCode and Visual Studio. Even when I occasionally use it for work and work in Windows via Parallels. Builds some hefty solutions with no issues at all.

Ok I'd be using virtualisation a fair bit, but not all the time. I will push for a M2 pro then, thanks!

 

[HACO]

Work are looking at getting me a new laptop and one of the offerings is a macbook pro. I've never ever used a Macbook so I'm not really sure what the best chip would be to go for, as it makes significant difference. Adding 16gb of ram also makes for an eye watering cost uptick! And whilst work are paying I need to make sure I'm getting value for money.

Essentially, compiling lots of code in both Visual Studio VS Code, SSMS, Azure, AWS, working on large databases both locally and in the cloud, would the M2 provide enough grunt? I don't need to care about the graphics capabilities, but I've never had less than 32GB of ram and usually have 64GB, so the max 24GB for the M2 is of vague concern.

I've spent some time trying to read around but lots of reviews just seem to claim the MBP is a great dev laptop without going into much detail about the processor.

TIA

M2 Pro if you're developing, maybe even M2 Max for more ram.

 

[andshrew]

Ok I'd be using virtualisation a fair bit, but not all the time. I will push for a M2 pro then, thanks!

You need to think about how the type of development work you do is suited to being done on an ARM platform. You cannot virtualise x86 from ARM, only emulate it. So for example if you're using Docker then all of your images need to have ARM variants to be able to run locally.

Visual Studio for Mac is not the same as Visual Studio for Windows and is being discontinued, so if you need full VS then you'll need a Windows VM. You'll also need this if you need SSMS - unless you can remote access a Windows machine; if you're going to run it all locally then you have to use Windows 11 ARM and software compatibility with that is not 100%. You'll likely need a Parallels or VMware Horizon license, unless you're happy configuring something like QEMU yourself and your organisation has access to Windows 11 ARM Enterprise.

I'd suggest the 14" MBP is the smallest you'd want to consider unless you're going to be permanently attached to an external screen.

 

[HACO]

You need to think about how the type of development work you do is suited to being done on an ARM platform. You cannot virtualise x86 from ARM, only emulate it. So for example if you're using Docker then all of your images need to have ARM variants to be able to run locally.

You can build and test x86 docker images locally with M1/M2 macs. It works out of the box with no config necessary. They will of course be emulated but it's perfectly fine for testing.

 

[Mesai]

The processor itself won’t matter too much, but you can’t change memory or storage once specced so make sure those meet your requirements. MacOS memory management is decent but there’s only so much you can do with 16GB.

Get the base 14” Pro and add some memory if needed.

 

[platypus]

Thanks for all the advice, lot of stuff I wasn’t aware of, yes I’ve only ever used VS for windows, had no idea it was being discontinued for Mac, and need SSMS daily. Maybe a MBP just isn’t the optimal choice then, but I’m also not that keen on the Windows based options .