Web designers, working on a Macbook?

JamesM

JamesM

JamesM

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I work as an Estate Agent and do website design in my spare time, which is mostly coding with a touch of graphic design.

I'm toying with the idea of getting a Macbook to make me more mobile with design work (especially as I'm working on a large project for my current employer so doing it at work would help) and wondered if there was anyone else here who used their Mac in the same way? What your impressions and thoughts were?

Whats the eco system like when you do not have other Apple products? I have a Pixel phone and windows gaming PC. Am I better off sticking with a windows laptop?

(I did look at Chromebooks but I don't think I could cope with the pure 'online' experience)
 
Hi James,

I'm a freelance graphic designer and I also do web dev. I live and work from a 2015 15" MBP.

When I'm at home, I hook it up to a 27" external monitor, full-size keyboard and a Wacom tablet because it's too small to work on for prolonged periods. I couldn't work from a 12" Macbook.

Power-wise, the MBP is more than enough for most tasks unless you're doing something strenuous in Photoshop or Illustrator. The fans can make a bit of a fuss but usually not on battery power - it must be something to do with the extra heat of charging…

I can't comment on the Macbook for this sort of work but I would be concerned that it would be a bit underpowered, although it depends on the kind of thing you're doing.

From a software point of view, there are some great apps for web development but many/good alternatives can be found for Windows and of course, Adobe Creative Cloud is cross platform.

For development I use a combination of Sublime Text 3, CodeKit, Transmit, GitHub, Sequel Pro and good-old Terminal.

I have an iPad, an iPhone and an Android phone for testing. A connected iCloud account is good for syncing things but I don't think buying into the full ecosystem is essential.

If you're planning on working on your Windows gaming PC when you're at home and a laptop when you're out-and-about, then it might make sense to get a Windows laptop just so that all of the applications are the same, menus and shortcuts are in the same place etc. This will speed up your work.

However, you may feel that having a toe in both the Apple and Windows 'waters' is beneficial to your professional development. If your PC is going to be kept purely for gaming then looking at a Mac for work might not be a bad idea, keeping everything in one place.

If that's the case, I would seriously think about a MBP over a Macbook. I just don't think it's big or powerful enough as a proper workhorse.
 
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I'd agree with what Irish_Tom has said, the Macbook may be a bit to underpowered to handle some strenuous work, especially if you are dealing with large PSDs, databases etc.

I'd recommend at least an MBA or ideally a MPB or if you don't want to spend that much I'd recommend the new Dell XPS 13 which starts from around £900 or the Lenovo X1 which is about the same price of the Macbook. They are both very good machines and will serve you very well.
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

I was under the impression that the Macbook was better than the Macbook Air? Plus with me having some USB-C devices already, I liked the idea of having a USB-C connector onboard, which the air doesn't have?

I'm not sure I could stretch to a pro funds wise, as much as I'd love to :(

I also use Sublime 3, Github, Hometsead (laravel) etc and if needs must, I could always do the graphic work on my home system.

I spend about 4-5 hours each day doing coding and currently drag my home PC into work every day at the moment in order to 'get things done'.

My plan was to do all of my coding on the Macbook so that, no matter where I was, I could continue doing it without having to drag the 'beast' around with me.
 
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Depends on your definition of better. The current Air is slightly faster than the current MacBook but the MacBook is thinner, lighter and the retina display is far superior to the Air.

It's worth checking the refurb store, I got a decent price on my m7 MacBook from there.
 
I have a 2016 Macbook, and a 2015 rMBP - I use the Macbook as a super-iPad, it's just wouldn't cut it as a general day to day work machine.
 
Feek said:
Depends on your definition of better. The current Air is slightly faster than the current MacBook but the MacBook is thinner, lighter and the retina display is far superior to the Air.

It's worth checking the refurb store, I got a decent price on my m7 MacBook from there.
Click to expand...

The m7 upgraded MacBook is pretty much as quick as a mba
 
Thanks for the replies guys.

After looking around, it seems as though the 13" MBP actually works out slightly cheaper than the m7 Macbook, go figure.

So I'll be looking at getting one of those!
 
So took the plunge today and grabbed a Macbook Pro 13" base model. Had a play with both the MBP and the MB in store and felt that the MB was just too small for me and was worried about the performance.

Love it :)

Thank you everyone for your advice.
 
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