Android DEV on the M2 MacBook Air

Let's check out Android software development on the M2 MacBook Air. Will the base model do or should you upgrade? How does it do against the MacBook Pro?
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[@abdulazeez.98]

I use MBA M1 8GB RAM for flutter development. Usually I have several programs opened at the same time (VSCode, iOS simulator, android emulator, figma, chrome). Swap memory reaches 4Gb, probably 5Gb with android studio, but the memory pressure graph stays in the yellow zone. It works really nice for me. Build times around 1 minute and the system runs smooth with no lags. For me, the performance degradation isn’t that noticeable (when the machine uses swap). I’m just sharing this because I didn’t find this info when I was searching before buying it.

[@LeetDroid1]

I use the MBA M1 8GB RAM too for native android. Just Android studio and the emulator and the swap memory reaches 7GB on average. 9GB is the highest I’ve seen it at.

[@booksquotes948]

does android studio work smoothly ?

[@abdulazeez.98]

​@@booksquotes948 I mostly use VSCode with iOS simulator for development (with flutter). Now I opened android studio, created the sample app (Basic activity) with android emulator (Pixel 5 API 33). Build time was around one minute, during the build the system was running normally with no lags. I tried changing some strings and rebuilding the app, there were no lags. The swap memory right now is 5.5Gb, the graph is still in the yellow zone. The programs I have opened are VSCode, Chrome (15 tabs), MS PowerPoint, MS Word, Android studio, and the android emulator. During my use (two months) I noticed the memory limitations appear when you frequently switch between the apps. To my understanding, the system tries its best to keep the active programs in the actual RAM and move the inactive ones into the swap.

[@abdulazeez.98]

@@LeetDroid1 My system do sometimes reach 7Gb of swap. But I noticed it more depends on the nature of the opened programs. For example Figma uses a lot of RAM (around 3Gb) but the memory used are mostly cached assets which are fine being in the swap. What is more important is the memory "pressure" which is the graph in the activity monitor. To my understanding, the operating system is fine as long as the memory pressure isn't in the red zone.

[@upendra6916]

Thank you bro for this comment..i was searching whole internet for this

[@nthehai01]

The RAM size is pretty essential for building these kinds of projects

[@broccoloodle]

Alex, you’re a software engineer, you don’t need a mechanical engineer to press the button for you, write a software

[@tarunjoshi4542]

Exactly

[@atssen]

I think it is probably for seeing the maximum performance from the laptop (Even though it wouldn't do more than 0.1 seconds).

[@AZisk]

😂 true. but a big mechanical hand is so satisfying

[@Leonardo-ik9fx]

@@AZisk it looks much more fun

[@TungNguyen-lz4wd]

The fingers are definitely more fun though. Also he said he could use the time command but I agree it's a bit boring.

[@Zendrael]

That was fun! At some point people used to ask "does it run Crysis?" now the question is "Does it run Android Studio?"

[@user-qt4ct5eq1x]

I own two M1 MacBook Pro 14, one with 16GB and another with 32GB of RAM. Our Android project is quite large, and we've noticed that the build process takes significantly longer on the 16GB laptop, up to two to three times more than on the 32GB laptop. This is because the 16GB laptop frequently needs to use the swap file, which significantly slows down the build performance

[@shawaizafzal4031]

Hey hope you are fine I have macbook pro m1 2020 i want to run emulator the AVD manager is showing your cpu doesn't support VT-x

[@ScottLahteine]

Cool to see QEMU is used for the Android emulation. The project is really impressive and has matured a lot in recent times.

[@UsamaIndieDev]

Great video as always. 1 super important suggestion, I'm always waiting for a graph/chart at the end of the video to see the summary of the results but never find one :(

[@meeeeeow]

I am a Korean university student who dreams of becoming an Android developer. This video was very helpful to me. Thank you😊

[@Weefle]

THIS is the type of video that I like ! you show exactly what I needed to know, thanks a lot man ! I definitely need a 16gb ram macbook air

[@sakabas28]

I think 16GB RAM with 512 GB SSD is best value for money variant.

[@Dominaer]

Great finds! I expected to have slower results on the M2 8gb just because of the swapping but is it with 512gb ssd or the (much slower swaping) 256gb?

[@adrianpaul9962]

Hey Alex, I’d be interested in also seeing the temperatures for each machine when you run comparison tests like these. I wonder if the high temps the M2s reach will shorten the lifespan of the computers in the long run. If that is the case, it would drive someone like me to pick up a MacBook Pro with the fan instead

[@shabaazkhan5229]

Even that pros go over 💯 before the fan kicks in

[@kshitijd9877]

Useful content to android dev, Just started learning android studio, useful content about ram vs build times Alex appreciate it👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽.

[@adbm210]

Do you have a benchmark with different upgraded models? For example, with almost the same price we can buy: 1) a M2 with 16GB RAM and 512GB 2) a M2 with 24GB RAM and 256GB. Which one is better? I'm seeing a lot of people talk about the one NAND chip limitation in the 256GB base model, but what does it represent in terms of performance running together with 24GB of RAM?

[@balkeep]

@Yoyo Usually enough for what? I have 16Gb mbp and always have swap used (8Gb of swap used at this very moment, having just firefox+simulator+vscode+iterm2+react native debugger running... I would go for 24 ram and 256 SSD. Storage you can easily add by using clouds, nas'es, even tb3-4 drives. Ram you can't add at all...

[@theaungmyatmoe]

@@balkeep that's true I am super confusing with that lol 😂

[@MarkTrudgeonRulez]

To be honest, a few seconds in a dev build flow does not make a difference in the real world, unless it turns out to be hours!

[@pcprincipal345]

30 secs difference in a small project can turn into a few minutes in a bigger one. So keep that in mind.

[@yktoledo]

Apparently 16 GB of RAM is sort of like mandatory minimum to dev android if do not have real device to run the project.

[@balkeep]

Cool , need to know this, eyeing my main system upgrade atm, I do RN development and often have both Simulator and Emulator running at the same time =))

[@rajverma5051]

Really informative content.subbed

[@ThienPowChong]

if you are a fullstack programmer, running multiple dockers or kubernetes wtih 2 or 3 emulators, and 3 different browser at once, 16gb ram is preferred... 24gb ram seems unnecessary.

[@rudybertazzo]

Nice video, very informative, thanks!

[@svkers]

Hi Alex, thanks for your videos. I really appreciate it! Just a quick question with respect to the emulator issues with MacBook Air M2 24GB RAM that you mentioned. Does this issue still exist as of today, e.g. with an updated Android Studio dev env?

[@pcprincipal345]

I am actually using m2 air right now for Android development, so far so good

[@sakabas28]

How much RAM and SSD Storage do you have?

[@luisalbertmorlasanchez3020]

@@sakabas28 i would recomend at least 16 GB of RAM and 512 GB SSD to start…always go for the model with the Max specs you can get with the budget that you have

[@Frank2tek]

Hey Alex , perfect timing with this video. In my company we have 5 new developers ( 60% of the time on web dev and 40% on mobile dev ) and we have to buy 5 new macs. What do you suggest : M2 with 24GB with 512 GB ssd or M1 Pro 14 Base Model ??? ( consider we develop for Andorid and IOS with React Native so we need to run 2 emluators at the same time ) ( I have M1 Pro with 32GiB and 1TB of ssd and i know is the right choice but is too expensive : we have to buy 5 new macs )

[@lambert1024]

I own both of those and do similar development. I think both of those systems will 100% do the job with not much difference in performance between the two. It really comes down to if you like the weight and portability of the Air vs slightly better screen and speakers of the Pro (and 2 monitor support). Personally I would take the Air over the Pro any day, it's so much nicer to take with you everywhere and hold with one hand, Pro feels like a truck after being used to using the Air. Ideally you would give them a choice instead of just deciding for all of them.

[@Frank2tek]

@@lambert1024 Thanks for your replay. I think we will buy 2 M1 Pro 14 with 32GB of ram for Mobile dev and 3 M2 Air with 16GB or ram for web dev. I think is the best mix.

[@christianalejandroflores8501]

@@Frank2tek That mix sounds good since mobile developers will require more RAM

[@uchung2890]

As a Java dev. Could I buy macbook air m2 16GB for work ? I really impresive with design of it. Please tell me some advice ! Alex

[@pjmanning]

Would love to see a comparison of the M2 16GB vs 24GB RAM (both with 512GB SSD or higher). Is it really worth the 200 bones upgrade? Front end dev - VSCode always on ;) with 5-10 chrome tabs open and probably 5 other apps (email, calendar, spotify, notion, figma).

[@HuntingKingYT]

5-10 tabs is not a lot

[@HuntingKingYT]

Idk meanwhile I have got a 16gb mini and I don't think it has ever used the swap...

[@ichigo-roku]

Web development is less demanding in term of resources, so I really doubt you need more than 16GB.

can you record for also xcode please ? how exactly it is for avarege ios project? build time , indexing time or etc

[@WillAlonzoF1]

For example, some more demanding use, how to have many Chrome tabs open, use a monitor, some office and for example an IDE like eclipse or intellij, what about 8 gigabytes of ram and 256 gigabytes of SSD, all of this open at the same time

[@shershas4329]

my MacBook m1 8GB is too slow when open android studio ?

[@danielrice5474]

Thanks. Tells me I’m glad I’m getting the MBA with 24 GB.

[@goldsharon2296]

Can u sugest a a laptop for Machine learning around $1000 Best than mac ???

[@aaronkoch77]

The efficiency cores in the M2 saw a significant upgrade.

[@sukumaar357]

Winning of m1 macbook air over m1 pro macbook pro is soo confusing and frustrating. Anyway thanks for tests though.

[@Billy123bobzzz]

Very entertaining! Thank you!

[@AZisk]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ozerrozge]

Hi! I use Android Studio for Android development and I only open 2-3 tabs at a time, I was wondering if I will be okay with the 8gb Mac M2 512GB SSD?

[@Giggs995]

I was thinking about this comparision yesterday

[@eyehear10]

I've found that you have to send mouse clicks into the emulator while it's booting to prevent it from misbehaving

[@Aashish99999]

What do you suggest MBA M1 Base or MBA M2 Base ?

[@MiguelMunoz-zv3cw]

I want to buy a MacBook air M3 16gb, to learn xcode and use android studio, will it be worth it for that?

[@penjaganyalankri9271]

Good info👌

[@goodToBeConfidential]

I would like to know about thermal throttling while working on mobile app as well as web app projects. Its the only concern for me in MAcbook M2 airs

[@WillAlonzoF1]

Which is better, both with the same characteristics, choose between the air m2 or the pro m2

[@thoughtfulriderakj]

Hi, I did the same test with my Asus TuF A17 2020 (Linux) model with following specs: 0. OS: Endeavour OS, linux kernel 6.1.x 1. Cpu: Ryzen 5 4600H 2. GPU: 1650 4gb 3. RAM: 32 GB (16x2) 3200Mhz Dual channel 4. ROM: Nvme SSD 500Gb Samsung Evo 970 pro Following are the test results: 1. Solo building project: 2 mins 14 sec 🙂(approx double time than macbook pro) Ram consumption: 5 gb 2. 2nd build with cache available: 41 sec 🙂 3. Same Android emulator running with KZbin open and building project: 1 min 10 sec 🙂 Ram Consumption: 8.7 gb I am pretty happy with my laptop performance. Will wait for M4 in 2025 😅

[@AdityaKumar-su2oe]

Processor or RAM, which is more important for android development? Is a quad core i5 processor enough for development?

[@PavitraGolchha]

​@@AdityaKumar-su2oe RAM, because Android builds are massively IO heavy

[@frangalarza]

Waiting on my M2 with 24Gb of ram and 1TB SSD 🔥🔥🔥 Should last for a couple of years :)

[@x_y_e_n]

this video is a little bit unrelated to me because i want to see how much m2 air can handle usually when you do android debugging there are few tabs of browsers that are also opened on the other hand maybe a software for db

[@gig73]

Alex, thank for all your review, all are great, Between the m1 max pro and m2 pro, which of the two is efficient when programming with xcode and with android studio?

[@AZisk]

they are both really good

[@taikhoanxemphim1228]

@@AZisk Alex, I am planning to get a m3air for android and iOs apps but I am concerning about the heat. Do you have any ideas about this?

[@corvinyt]

I'm curious. Who's interested in making Android runtime and/or development performant on Apple hardware?

[@vizualyse]

Could you test nested virtualization on the M2 macbook, since it was a hardware limitation on the M1 series ?

[@casperes0912]

Still a limitation in hardware

[@vizualyse]

@@casperes0912 Oh. Has it been tested by anyone - any link(s) for the same?

[@rohithmekala2608]

@@vizualyse M2 has nested virt but macOS kernel does not yet support Apple sillcion nested virt

[@vizualyse]

@@rohithmekala2608 thanks for the info.

[@borknagarchile]

How did you install emulators in the MacBook Air with m2 chip? It says to me that there is not compatible versions of android

[@AxlAxeMan]

hey, you forgot a link for Android Studio on Apple Silicon is HOW FAST? in related videos

[@geekmustafa]

There is project use servo motor to click add multi servo and will make it😬if you need i can do it for u😄

[@itgmaster098]

returning my mac mini 8gb ram, had no idea it used so much ram :(

[@utpalbharali7586]

Sir please test MAUI application build in release mode on M2. That takes a lot of time. As it builds 4 builds ( android, iOS, windows, mac) together.

[@b68h4]

maui is still not fully optimized for the mac ecosystem

[@G-816]

Respected sir I have a question👇 👉Can I develop a dynamic ecommerce application on Mac mini m2 8gb .

[@AZisk]

yes you can

[@staborama]

We're gonna need a bigger Schwartzeneger!

[@AZisk]

😂

[@adhriadly4815]

I installed the Android Studio software on the Macbook Pro M2 Chip Pro, and I got an internal error after opening the Android Studio software on the Macbook.

[@CodingByAmp]

omg use ram with android studio somtime i think ram 16 minimum for developer

[@robchr]

Add --rerun-tasks

[@ahmedabdelwadod5823]

"For all the nerds who care about these things" My man, you're benchmarking Android Studio on MacBooks, everyone here is a nerd

[@AZisk]

🤣

[@himanshuprajapati5358]

i have m2 air, 8gb ram and 512gb ssd. will it perform the same as you showed?

[@pqsk]

Not all projects will build the same. If you're working on some complex app it may take even longer. I would say it's better than most machines for the price you paid.

[@bvr9954]

How you run android emulator? in my mac m2 says that not support VT-x

[@AlmightyPyro]

what hard drive did each had?

[@hayaletmami]

Which app are you using

[@nicksrandomness8116]

My networking teacher was grilling Macs so much in school "When have you heard of a Mac server? You dont!" . Kid next to me realized he made a mistake owning a Mac lol. Proprietary BS

[@vangelis_amg]

Thanks for the video!

[@AZisk]

You bet!

[@trekimpossible2850]

What commands did you run at 4:35?

[@elliotk6764]

This test is for the simple project ,if you have a big project,the m1 pro will win because it has faster multi cores

[@Gramooneer]

I think it's not bad if a build takes a little bit longer, anyways you want to have some time for a cup of coffee

[@user-mm3xz3py9j]

Stick run is cool :о)

[@manojband3184]

most usefull youtube video

[@AZisk]

Many many thanks

[@exitbot5597]

Thermals?

[@AZisk]

yes. thermals

[@VikasGupta-xg3uv]

Don't you think guys this guy looking like bear Grylls from man vs wild show🙌

[@johnidogun7830]

I wish I had the least of them to use🥺

[@RunForPeace-hk1cu]

Who does web development running emulators with 8GB of ram? LOL. Nothing good comes out of it. Any serious developer would upgrade their system to min. 16GB. And for any sustain loads ... get the m1Pro, m2 mbp. It'll save you alot of headaches and pain, maybe upgrade to a 512GB+ SSD while you are at it. Nobody said being a developer is cheap. Gotta invest in your equipment for the right task.

[@SunglimLee]

I agree it with you. I bought M1Pro 16Inch base model 16GB 512 3 weeks ago and have been using it at least 12 hrs a day. I never have any problem and it is a very quite machine. I think you should go for any Pro models for the stressful use a everyday

[@fahadassiry224]

16gb is enough for mobile development

[@omarbouassida]

please can you give me one of those please im really want it and i cant buy it

[@brandonw7390]

I think there’s a website to find mechanical fingers already.

[@AZisk]

please link it :)

[@brandonw7390]

@@AZisk I don’t think KZbin allows those kinds of links. 😂

[@fakislam4560]

Nice 👍👍👍

[@AsifSaifuddinAuvipy]

Android java is memory hog

[@kennongri]

A conclusion required

[@AZisk]

um. the end. 😂

[@enovitskiy]

you bought a macbook with a million cores so you can type code in a notepad? Seriously?

[@Amine382]

i cant understand why is the m1 pro mbp almost the slowest ??!! its so weird

[@h4m74ro]

Really strange

[@osman2k]

someone got any idea?

[@paulwoodward8265]

@@osman2k Sure. The M2 is (about 15%) faster than the M1. The CPU is faster and the memory bandwidth is better. This is primarily a CPU test, so M2 should win. However, if the workload was sustained, the Pro would do a lot better because it actually has a cooling solution onboard. Air is fine for short bursts.

[@osman2k]

@@paulwoodward8265 thank you

[@h4m74ro]

Why's M1 faster than M1 Pro? 🤔

[@yezperdk]

3:25 I'm sure Michael Reeves can help you come up with something brilliant and completely safe.

[@pqsk]

The Schwarzenegger must evolve! All hail the Schwarzenegger!

[@kaxopubg]

Hello Alex I am a big fan can you please reply

[@AZisk]

Cheers! 😀

[@asutoshpandey5959]

Can you give me one as a gift?

[@AZisk]

one

[@93hothead]

all these time probably dont really matter lol

[@AZisk]

not in the GRAND SCHEME OF THINGS. 😆

[@RomPereira]

I have a complain: you have being neglecting Schwarzenegger his tattoos for a while now... also we need to talk about slave work, I mean, he is not suppose to be ready everytime you want to make a video. And what about this thing about him missing a finger? Darn man, I will call the union on you.

[@harrisonyg]

HI ALEX Bro, Good video. Which one is better m2 air with 16gb ram and 1tb, m2 air with 24gb ram and 512 gb @Alex Ziskind

[@clingyking2774]

Why don'tt you gift me one of those Macs or any PC/laptop that you no longer use. It will really go a long way to accelerate my coding journey. I am running an Intel Celeron and as a student in Africa, I can barely afford anything better. Incase you feel you might want to get in touch kindly send me an email using this account.Any form of help will really be appreciated.

[@jamesadams3055]

Great video, Thank you 😁 @marcthemessenger at 6:52