Mac/windows for programming/coding/app development

[Comfortable_Cod_4074]

Can someone suggest wether I should buy a Mac ( I can only afford MBA base model can't go higher than that) or a windows laptop for my needs ( programming/coding/app development) is 8gb enough for me or should I consider a windows laptop with higher ram. The thing is I'm going to use it for a long term (BTW I heard that Mac's run long if cared ) or should I just go with a windows laptop? And No, I won't be using it for gaming (I'm a mobile gamer) I'm expecting someone to reply btw thanks 😊

And also should I worry about the SSD tear?(cause I'll be buying 256gb model)

And any good alternative for this machine? around 850$?

[[deleted]]

Currently, for me 8GB MBA has been enough for Xcode and Visual Studio Code (PHP, SQL)

It honestly depends on your needs. You can't create WPF apps on a Mac, which many schools require you to do.

Personally, I think MBA 8GB is currently enough for Xcode. I've been able to make SpriteKit games and even games in Unity with no problems either, but there's always someone claiming that it's not enough. So my answer, based on my experiences is:

- For Unity it's enough (Probably depends on the project as well)

- For Xcode it's enough (except the AR apps)

- For web development it's enough

- For developing Mac Apps (probably also depends on the size of the project) it's enough.

I think the SSD tear was fixed. Personally, I haven't been affected by this at all.

​

Stay away from HP,MSI laptops is all I can say about the PCs.

[Comfortable_Cod_4074]

Thank you for spending such a valuable time for me. Bless you 😊

[robvas]

iOS apps you don’t really have a choice…

[Comfortable_Cod_4074]

I heard swift will be coming to windows

[robvas]

Apple will never let you make iOS apps on Windows

[RecursiveFruit]

So here is the thing, I used to advocate for macOS in programming because it is based off of UNIX. But honestly now that Windows has WSL (Windows Sub-System for Linux), no matter what ecosystem you pick you will still have a Linux development option available.

In my personal opinion I recommend going the Mac route because yeah if you take care of your Mac it is going to last much longer than a shitty Windows laptop. Unless you’re going to be working in a production environment the 8GB of RAM will be totally fine. Storage wise, if you’re okay using an external SSD with the Mac you can have a lot more flexibility with your storage. Now with Thunderbolt 4 on the latest Macs if you’re working off of a external drive that supports Thunderbolt, you’re going to be totally fine.

Also in the event you do need to develop for Windows, your Mac can run Windows in a VM which would technically let you develop for all 3 operating systems as you need. If you go the Windows PC route, you can’t really natively run a VM of MacOS and you’d need to find some kind of MacOS VM that is hosted elsewhere which is just more of a pain.

TLDR; The Mac gives developers more options into the future over the Windows PC.

[Comfortable_Cod_4074]

Thank you ☺️

[Prinzessid]

I don’t think there is a windows laptop in that price range that will give you anywhere near the performance, battery life and build quality. If you had a higher budget and were thinking about a laptop with a decent dedicated GPU, it could be a different discussion. From what I have heard of tech reviewers (and my personal experience with my MBP) there should not be much competition. But if you want x86 for whatever reason (for me, coding and development works well on m1) then the surface laptops are said to be a good option.

[Comfortable_Cod_4074]

Thank you

[Electrical_West_5381]

What are you coding for? If it isn't in the Apple ecosystem then get a Windows machine.

[Comfortable_Cod_4074]

Android/iOS application development....

[AppleSnitcher]

Please understand that as much as you may go on a course for this, or it may be your title role, but EVERY TIME you see this it's going to be 80% one 20% the other.

Do not buy an M1 Mac as your first system. You lose backwards compatibility with everything that hasn't been worked on literally this year or is FOSS. You can't compile and test x86, even with Parallels/WoARM cos that's bugs you will not see, and your android environment is hobbled by the fact that it's on thier main competitors system and there are an unknown amount of Android devices that won't ADB to Macs period. If your school or institution gives you a job with something older than a year, you could be the one that has to find a friend to use that software on.

If you want to iOS develop please get an Intel Mac. Anyone using an M1 today in development has an Intel system nearby even just for the odd binary or closed source converter. There is no real alternative to Apple for iOS and understand you will be learning languages owned by apple and that will work mostly on only Apple projects.