M3 Pro MacBook Pro Review: A Web Developer's Perspective After 1 Week

[@RAaaa777]

"i was still able to play a game" - plays solitaire 😂😂😂😂😂

[@shadowstack]

😂

[@malcolmarmstrong7761]

Wonderful review! Informative and very helpful. Thanks so much.

[@Diego_Cabrera]

It looks like you have a very similar work flow to mine. I have the M1 pro with 8gb of ram and mine still slows down when i'm creating videos, I also experience some lag during editing. I might have to pick one of these up in the near future. Great video man!

[@velpcode]

dude your thumbnail designs are top teir haha

[@AkaiFist]

Great video brother, keep going 👍

[@arvi8843]

Nice! Seems like an M3 24gb and M3 Pro 18gb are close in terms of pricing. Did you ever consider M3 as a dev or went with M3 Pro since you're also rendering aside from coding?

[@shadowstack]

If I didn’t render videos I would’ve gone with the M3. I figured the M3 pro would be worthwhile in saving me some time when I export and giving me some extra power building out video projects

[@arvi8843]

@@shadowstack Thank you!

[@himanshudwivedi4065]

Hi @arvi8843, which one did you get ? I am also confused between the two

[@arvi8843]

@@himanshudwivedi4065 The M3 Pro 18gb ☺️

[@pinata227]

Thank you for the review

[@ialimijororakotoniaina3274]

Thanks sir for the review, I was hesitating if 18GB would be enough as a developer with a lot of chrome tab opened haha

[@7chiaster]

Why did you opt for 1TB storage over upgrading the ram to 36gb ram? I'm also a web developer and notice that my workflow eats up to 11gb ram of swap memory on a 16gb M1 macbook

[@shadowstack]

My previous MacBook was 512gb in storage and I always found myself having to clean up my HD for space. I have two user accounts on it (work and personal) and do a lot of video work now so I made the SSD the priority and wasn’t willing to pay the apple tax of $400 for more ram. The 18GB I have works great for my needs but 36 would be even better I just wasn’t willing to shell out the money

[@7chiaster]

@@shadowstack That makes a lot of sense. I'm thinking of spending an external SSD in the future shall the need arise if any tasks require a lot more storage but for now I'm working on 256gb. Thanks for the reply!

[@anmolsharma4049]

​@@7chiasterwhat are your temps like while running docker setup and servers

[@7chiaster]

@@anmolsharma4049 It's not that high or warm to the touch. I would not know what the actual temps are. My workplace also has kandji installed and that can make it warm; one time it completely hang and shut off my macbook due to it.

[@anmolsharma4049]

@@7chiaster damn that's bad, does your MacBook has 2 fans or 1

[@milanbuli]

I am interested in battery life. Is it still couple of hours when you do development or maybe that time is improved? I was hoping it would be at least 6 hours damn.

[@shadowstack]

The battery life isn't much of an issue tbh. When I mention the "couple of hours" that is with screen brightness maxed, and many high demanding apps running at the same time (Docker, FInal Cut Pro etc). This is not a normal scenario for working off power. My initial reactions here nearly a year ago might've been over blown. In normal use 6 hours is for sure obtainable

[@chinoosuke7100]

Good video!. I’m planning to buy a new m3pro but I’m consider that should I upgrade ram to 36gb or 18 gb is enough for long term usage? I’m web developer and might running alot of docker cotainers(sometimes) and should have some mobile dev too, any advise?

[@shadowstack]

Mine with 18GB has been fine and I even installed a VM for windows 11 and it still have headroom, so I guess it comes down to how many docker containers you'd be running at the same time. Hope this helps

[@chinoosuke7100]

​@@shadowstack Thanks for the info!. Normally I have to run like 5 containers at a time. Because it a bit pricey, I wonder if I want to use this mac for 5 years how much ram is enough for the future :)

[@quebuena111]

@@chinoosuke7100how much ram did you get anyway?

[@chinoosuke7100]

@@quebuena111 I chose 18gb becuase I think it's more reasonable for my budget :)

[@varmaggv]

@@chinoosuke7100 how’s it going? Is the 18gb ram working fine or would you suggest to go for 36gb? I have a similar workflow where I need to run docker containers, a number of chrome tabs and maybe mobile emulators as well.

[@Chris4329j]

Hey great review. I am planning to buy the 14inch m3 pro 18gb ram and the 512 gb ssd the base variant. I am a UX/UI Designer and I develop app/software very rarely. And even if i did it will be just light weighted ones not the complex projects. So, can I go with the base variant?

[@shadowstack]

Yes it should be a great choice, I have the base m3 pro with 18gb and it has handled everything software wise very well

[@Chris4329j]

​@@shadowstack thanks for the reply cheers 🍻

[@willielewis2548]

Can i learn coding and run virtual machines with MacBook pro 18gb and 512gb? I've never attempted coding before i don't know where to begin.

[@shadowstack]

yes this machine is more than capable I'm a professional and it does everything I need it to

[@willielewis2548]

@@shadowstack Thank you for answering my question. Greatly appreciated!!

[@lucabonaccio]

That is the same configuration I want! How is it with thermals?

[@shadowstack]

I have not noticed the laptop getting hot and haven't heard the fans running unless I'm exporting a video and even then it's still quiet. So I would say it handles thermals well

[@sena005]

Hi ! I am going to start computer science engineering next year. I can't decide between two options. 1. m2pro 16/1 2. m3pro 18/512 AI development is attracting me. Maybe I can use it for this field. The M3pro with 1 tb ssd is very expensive. Will 512 ssd be enough for me for 5 years? What do you recommend ?

[@shadowstack]

Hey there, to be honest either machine would be ok I think. If you went with the 512GB SSD you might need to use an external storage drive down the road if you start running out of space but they are so fast these days the only real inconvenience is having to plug it in. The M2 pro and M3 pro both handle local LLMs pretty good!

[@sena005]

@@shadowstack Thank you for your answer ! ✨ I have one more question . Can external stroge driver cause trouble like computer lag ? Can it be as efficient as an ssd on the chip ?

[@shadowstack]

@@sena005 SSDs are very fast and they don't cost too much these days. I have a samesung T7 I used to back up files and have never had an issue with it!

[@mdobaidullahal-faruk3457]

Nice video. I've one question. For web development , do you think that 14 inches is okay or 16 is required ? I'm planning to buy one, but the price difference is pretty high

[@shadowstack]

14 is what I use and its great! 16 would give you more space but its also heavier and bulkier. IMO 14 is perfect

[@mdobaidullahal-faruk3457]

@shadowstack Thank you very much for your feedback

[@anmolsharma4049]

I'm considering to buy base m3 pro(11c) model for software development purpose. How much battery life should I expect. PS- I don't do content creation at all, only development

[@shadowstack]

Hard to say without knowing specifics, but probably 5 - 8 hours

[@anmolsharma4049]

@@shadowstack thanks, my stack consists of 1 frontend app, backend server (uvicorn) and sometimes 1 docker instance with kafka

[@nikhilthomas9282]

Hey Leabs! Am looking forward to buy a new MacBook as am a CS student. Do you have any recommendations?

[@shadowstack]

@@nikhilthomas9282 pretty much anything in the M series of chips will work great. If you’re anticipating heavier tasks you should upgrade the ram. And to avoid storage issues I’d say 512gb is the minimum storage amount. The MacBook Airs are portable and less expensive while the MacBook pros are more money but they have better thermals and a much better screen. MacBooks on apple’s refurbished store are also in great shape if you want to save some money

[@nikhilthomas9282]

@@shadowstack Hey there! I ordered the MacBook Pro with M3 pro chip, 18gigs of ram and 512gb of SSD. Took your recommendation on storage and ram! Thanks bro!

[@nikhilthomas9282]

I bought it using the University Student discount

[@shadowstack]

@@nikhilthomas9282 Awesome I have a similar config, enjoy!

[@nikhilthomas9282]

@@shadowstack Thanks! :)

[@LastToP]

Hey, how does it feel after almost one year?

[@shadowstack]

Hey there, I’ll likely make another video when they announce the m4 Macs which is rumored to be any day now. My MacBook has run everything flawlessly and I have no regrets. It’s a great laptop that you can use like a desktop because it’s so powerful.

[@LastToP]

@@shadowstack Thank you for the feedback! I appreciate it!

[@andeesrg]

What’s the camera do you use?

[@shadowstack]

hey there, I used my iphone 15 pro for this video!

[@krizz1638]

Hey! I am thinking of bying a M3 pro 512gb, but do you think it is worth it over picking up an older M1 Pro? And also how long could i expect this Mac to last for?:)

[@shadowstack]

I would assume Apple will support m3 for a year or two longer than m1, but with that said all m series chips are very fast! If you can get a good deal on an m1 that will likely be a better value but might not be supported as long by apple

[@ngamsomset]

How is Docker on yours?

[@shadowstack]

It runs really well! Docker isn't normally a part of my work flow but I have used it with plex and a few other apps and never had any crashes or any performance struggles

[@geraldalanraj]

Is the m3 pro 18/512 enough for Data Science, machine learning and AI tasks?

[@shadowstack]

I would say so! Unless you're given specific requirements for specific software, so it might be worthwhile to check out software that you'd likely use before you order

[@hokage2778]

im starting web dev jun, planning to buy mba m3 13inch 16/512 or mbp m3pro 14inch 18/512. what will be better for me?

[@shadowstack]

Hi there. Both are more than capable for web development. What it comes down to is the screen and bulk mostly. The pro has the better screen but is a bit chunky and heavier and more money. It’s total preference, I went with the pro and have no regrets

[@RahulGuha-lq8bo]

3-4 hours?? What are you doing?

[@sjay3828]

Cool vid !! This is what i waiting for. I am a developer and recently ordered macbook M3 (base model) 8gb. I dont do video editing or any photoshop and i hope 8gb is enough for me.

[@shadowstack]

nice you'll love it

[@baguskto]

how's the M3 perfomance for developing?

[@quebuena111]

How is it going so far?

[@ryxdtv5]

Was 8GB enough?

[@davidi6773]

what are the specs?

[@shadowstack]

Specs: 14" Macbook Pro with M3 Pro Chip (11c/14c) 18 GB Ram 1 TB SSD

[@HunterY0zz]

Je pense que tu n’a pas bien regarder si tu dit que t’est connectiques ne sont pas rayées si tu regarde les arrondis des connectiques la peinture part je le vois juste en vidéo donc bon et sa peut importe le mac et la couleur mais sur le noir sa se vois facilement pareil la bande du coin du mac donc la bordure en angle la ou t’ouvre le mac avec 1 doigt cet bordure la pareil sa s’écaille rapidement

[@sammarthpattanaik432]

Is it ok if I buy a m3 pro MacBook pro with 512 GB as iam student of 11th grade and looking forward to use it for atleast 5-6 years or even more.And later I can buy a SD card of transcend jetdrive as a external storage.

[@shadowstack]

Yes an external SSD or SD card could be used to save extra files you dont need all the time, I think 512 GB would be fine you would just need to keep your storage space in mind

[@sammarthpattanaik432]

@@shadowstack ok thank you very much😃😃

[@DigiDriftZone]

For just £400 more you go from 6P cores up to 10P cores and 18 GPU to 30 GPU cores, you also get 36GB of ram instead of 18GB, that's quite a leap. That's the config I opted for, waiting for it to arrive :) - The Pro models are a downgrade in some ways vs last year, less memory bandwidth and the entire 6 Efficiency cores take up less space on the die than a single Performance core, so it feels like Apple is robbing us giving so many useless cores and removing 2 real cores.

[@shadowstack]

nice looking config you got, enjoy. Loving mine so far. It is amazing how many cores we can get in a laptop these days

[@logoutandrew4569]

they robbed you of an extra 400 that's for sure 😂

[@quebuena111]

And for another 400€ you can get more, and on top of that, for another 400€ you can get more… and so on and so on

[@DigiDriftZone]

@@quebuena111 You cannot get more than 12P cores but then you will thermal throttle more on 14", so the 10P cores is the sweet spot if you need CPU performance in your type of workload.

[@thiagogregory1]

hello Steve you're kinda cute