macbook pro 2017 Is the macbook pro 2017 15" the right choice for a developer ?

[Raouf]

Hi guys,

 

I'm a developer and my current laptop is Lenovo T440p (Core i5 with 16GB RAM and Dedicated VGA) I really like Lenovo T series .

I develop using Java for my company and also C#, Android for my part time jobs. I'm going to develop apps for ios and work on Unity also.

Currently, I have macOS Sierra as virtual on VMware and I'm able to make apps on XCode and install them on my iPhone (I'v already checked it with a sample app) but with lags and it's not easy of course. so, my current laptop can't handle my tasks. I'm going to buy a new one. I always like (in some scenarios I love) the way Apple moves and works 

 

I know that I can do Java and Android developing on the mac and I have to use windows as virtual or using boot camp for dotNet but my main question (maybe problem) is that

I've heard the new macbook pro isn't for developers and it's not worth buying and ... on the other hand, I can buy powerful laptops like Razer Blade 2017 or T470P with high spec almost the same price.

 

Because of portability I have to buy a lightweight laptop.

 

Could you guys suggest me please ? 

 

On more thing , If your suggestion is a windows based laptops, there are tow things that I want to know. 

First, Am I able to submit my apps to App Store using a virtual machine or not ?

Second, what about the lags and performance on the virtual mac.

 

Thanks in Advance ! 

 

[That_PC_Kid]

Nothing made by Apple is the right choice.

[Damascus]

No idea about the VM specific stuff but heres a list of better alternatives to the MacBook pro and razer blade

 

Gigabyte aero 14/15

Incredibly light and well built with a 1060.  The 15" version is stupidly light and slim and the lineup are basically better razer blades.

 

Aorus x3 v7 (13.9")

Most powerful in class with an overclockable cpu and a 1060 while still being light and small

 

Alienware 13.9"

1060, stellar battery life with a stunning OLED screen and relatively light.  Built like a tank

[comicsansms]

If you need to use xCode, I guess you have to have a Mac.

 

Honestly, the macbook pro will be a nice laptop, so it isn't a wrong purchase. I would stay away from the Razer lineup, they are hot running, poorly designed laptops, and gaming laptops in general, and really, do you need a powerful GPU? (I know I don't, I just need a fast CPU and a quick SSD)

[bsodmike]

I primarily code on Mac, but as of the last 2-years have been transitioning to also coding in linux, a la tmux/vim/<you name it>.

 

On the Mac side though, there are some really nice tools such as homebrew (for open-source stuff), and I suppose the journaled HSF filesystem has its advantages, I can move a file while it is being accessed etc.

 

That said, given that I tend to lean towards a minimum of 16GB to 32GB RAM for a workstation - my current 2017 MBP (before the touchbar came out) is the last Mac laptop I'd own.  My other Mac is a 5k iMac 27" + Thunderbolt 27" display.

 

As long as Apple keep the iMac high-end platform alive, I'll have options for a Mac-based dev system.  On the cost side - I easily spent close to $3500-4,000 when my iMac was a BTO, delivered to Singapore - and has been my sole dev-machine (for ~80-90% of my work) since Jan 2015.  I never order RAM or drives from Apple as they fleece you.

 

Just make sure you order Crucial RAM and install it yourself, save a bundle.

 

TL;DR depends if you need a lot of RAM; most devs running multiple Docker containers or VMs do - look elsewhere.  System76 is probably where I'd go if need a serious mobile-workstation running linux.

[SCHISCHKA]

34 minutes ago, Raouf said:

Android for my part time jobs

i have the i7 macbook air. A really basic android app in android studio with gradle takes 30s for clean & build. All laptop CPU are crap for mobile development. Im hoping the new ryzen APU will do better but have to wait. Maybe in a few months the mac mini might get an upgrade, the mac mini is very portable actually fits better in a backpack than a laptop. I really don't use my laptop for development of android anymore, it is 10X slower than my AMD-FX desktop. Right now my laptop is like a tablet, just used for presentation and not actual work just because of the 2-core low GHz performance.

[SCHISCHKA]

11 minutes ago, bsodmike said:

TL;DR depends if you need a lot of RAM; most devs running multiple Docker containers or VMs do - look elsewhere.  System76 is probably where I'd go if need a serious mobile-workstation running linux.

for this it pays to have a cheap ex-lease or cheap i3/AMD-FX or APU. The cost of a cheap desktop running ubuntu server is about what Apple charges for RAM alone  

[bsodmike]

1 minute ago, SCHISCHKA said:

for this it pays to have a cheap ex-lease or cheap i3/AMD-FX or APU. The cost of a cheap desktop running ubuntu server is about what Apple charges for RAM alone  

Hah agreed. I'm running ubuntu on a Pentium G4600 with 16GB RAM (soon) - should be a beast for simple docker-stuff.

[SCHISCHKA]

2 minutes ago, bsodmike said:

Hah agreed. I'm running ubuntu on a Pentium G4600 with 16GB RAM (soon) - should be a beast for simple docker-stuff.

What do you need 16GB for? I havnt used docker yet, I havnt been asked to. Iv got 4GB in my dev server. I'm self employed so I only need the one service that I am working on at any one time to be running. If something needs to be used or accessed by a customer i just make them pay for cloud hosting. its easy to invoice with cloud services.

[bsodmike]

Just now, SCHISCHKA said:

What do you need 16GB for? I havnt used docker yet, I havnt been asked to. Iv got 4GB in my dev server. I'm self employed so I only need the one service that I am working on at any one time to be running. If something needs to be used or accessed by a customer i just make them pay for cloud hosting. its easy to invoice with cloud services.

Agreed - I'm running these for internal services at home. Ubiquity cloud controller, video NVR software etc.  Docker containers can eat as much RAM needed as their isn't a bound on that really - it depends whether your container forks multiple processes or not (crude example, run Unicorn in a container and it can spawn as many workers as needed).

[SCHISCHKA]

22 minutes ago, bsodmike said:

Agreed - I'm running these for internal services at home. Ubiquity cloud controller, video NVR software etc.  Docker containers can eat as much RAM needed as their isn't a bound on that really - it depends whether your container forks multiple processes or not (crude example, run Unicorn in a container and it can spawn as many workers as needed).

if a unicorn forks, is it still a unicorn?

[Raouf]

Thanks for your quick replies but I've expe

3 hours ago, Damascus said:

No idea about the VM specific stuff but heres a list of better alternatives to the MacBook pro and razer blade

 

Gigabyte aero 14/15

Incredibly light and well built with a 1060.  The 15" version is stupidly light and slim and the lineup are basically better razer blades.

 

Aorus x3 v7 (13.9")

Most powerful in class with an overclockable cpu and a 1060 while still being light and small

 

Alienware 13.9"

1060, stellar battery life with a stunning OLED screen and relatively light.  Built like a tank

Thank You, I'll check them 

[Raouf]

3 hours ago, Comic_Sans_MS said:

If you need to use xCode, I guess you have to have a Mac.

 

Honestly, the macbook pro will be a nice laptop, so it isn't a wrong purchase. I would stay away from the Razer lineup, they are hot running, poorly designed laptops, and gaming laptops in general, and really, do you need a powerful GPU? (I know I don't, I just need a fast CPU and a quick SSD)

Thanks for the reply...

Yes, I think Unity needs a powerful GPU 

[Raouf]

Thank You guys for all replies ... but i haven't got my answer yet ! 

Can I go with the macbook pro 2017 or not (based on my requirements of course) ? 

 

As I told I have to buy a portable device, although a PC or iMac are better at all 

[captain_to_fire]

4 hours ago, Raouf said:

On more thing , If your suggestion is a windows based laptops, there are tow things that I want to know. 

First, Am I able to submit my apps to App Store using a virtual machine or not ?

Second, what about the lags and performance on the virtual mac.

First of all, running macOS on a non Apple computer is against the community standards. Secondly, I don't think any operating system can run at native speed in a virtual machine so I think the MacBook Pro is the better pick because:

1. You can natively run Windows 10 on a Mac via Boot Camp assistant. 

[Pavilion]

I just want to tell you one thing about the new MacBook Pro 2017 the lake of ports is really disturbing and the keyboard is really bad I would suggest that you go to any shop with a display model and try the keyboard If you like it or not.

[System Error Message]

the wrong time to choose apple is when you need to deal with different hardware. For example its not straight forward to get eGPUs working on MBPs but other normal windows laptops will work straight away when you plug a GPU in. If you work with arduinos and electronics for example, same thing.

 

In terms of software check what software you use. MBPs has everything soldered on so you cant upgrade ram or storage either. If you do virtualisation like running VMs you'll have to start out with a high end model straight away and this is very very expensive compared to just buying a normal laptop and upgrading what you need when you need it.

 

Also louis rossmann pointed out a couple of flaws with MBP design (screen frame prone to cracking, wifi fails when usb is used, etc) so quality isnt an apple advantage anymore and they lock you in to their ecosystem too.

 

Stick with the thinkpad T series, i have an old one and its been great. Though mine was before you couldnt do the cool stuff you could before (dock with PCIe slot that fits GPU, expresscard). Hot swappable drive bay that can use a battery too. The only replacement now would be a thinkpad with thunderbolt for the same features.

[Raouf]

15 hours ago, System Error Message said:

the wrong time to choose apple is when you need to deal with different hardware. For example its not straight forward to get eGPUs working on MBPs but other normal windows laptops will work straight away when you plug a GPU in. If you work with arduinos and electronics for example, same thing.

 

In terms of software check what software you use. MBPs has everything soldered on so you cant upgrade ram or storage either. If you do virtualisation like running VMs you'll have to start out with a high end model straight away and this is very very expensive compared to just buying a normal laptop and upgrading what you need when you need it.

 

Also louis rossmann pointed out a couple of flaws with MBP design (screen frame prone to cracking, wifi fails when usb is used, etc) so quality isnt an apple advantage anymore and they lock you in to their ecosystem too.

 

Stick with the thinkpad T series, i have an old one and its been great. Though mine was before you couldnt do the cool stuff you could before (dock with PCIe slot that fits GPU, expresscard). Hot swappable drive bay that can use a battery too. The only replacement now would be a thinkpad with thunderbolt for the same features.

Thanks for your suggestion... 

Yes, as I told before, I really like T series, I had a T430 before the T440P, but what about the ios developing ? I'm not sure a windows based laptop is able to handle it, on the other hand as hey_yo_ told it's against the community standards. This is my problem for about a month when I think to these points I don't have any other choice except the macbook but seems it has some limitation. I haven't had any experience with the Apple computers before and so I can't make a decision. I'm using iPhone(s) for 5 years and I love it but I'm not sure about the Apple computers 

That would be great if someone who had a same developing experience with the new macbook can suggest me. 

[Raouf]

On 7/23/2017 at 1:56 PM, Pavilion said:

I just want to tell you one thing about the new MacBook Pro 2017 the lake of ports is really disturbing and the keyboard is really bad I would suggest that you go to any shop with a display model and try the keyboard If you like it or not.

About the keyboard, Yep, I agree with you, I don't like the new keyboard but most of users found it great after sometime

Ports aren't an issue to me, I can bear them 

[System Error Message]

when it comes to making software for macs or IOS you do need a mac, but you can also make a hackintosh as well. Look at successful hackintosh laptops and what apple offers too. Determine the hardware performance you need to design the software needed for IOS/mac.

[3NMa]

On 7/23/2017 at 8:43 AM, That_PC_Kid said:

Nothing made by Apple is the right choice.

Osx is actually pretty good. If u run it on a hackintosh

[vyx]

22 hours ago, Raouf said:

About the keyboard, Yep, I agree with you, I don't like the new keyboard but most of users found it great after sometime

Ports aren't an issue to me, I can bear them 

I've had no issues with the keyboard, I actually really like it.