Should I BUY a MacBook for programming?

If you are a computer science student or just learning to code, this is my advice on buying a laptop for software development. As much as I like MacBook Pro's, this is why you probably shouldn't buy one for programming when you are just starting out.
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[@postfinem9795]

I think learning to work around the limitations of low end hardware is really valuable for beginners. I got a nice $2k Thinkpad when I graduated high school, but before that I learned a lot with my old $400 dell laptop that I got in like fourth grade. Learning to work efficiently on whatever device you have access to can really help you to be more efficient once you can afford a better device.

[@Longsleeveshirtless]

liked and subscribed immediately after he said "I'm not going to make you wait till the end of the video". thanks for being a decent human

[@adev_312]

Agreed. I have developed professionally on both Macbook and PC, and honestly there isn't that big of a difference. I have a Macbook M1 and I love it, but I would not spend $3000 on laptop if i was just starting. Also, if you are really into gaming and don't want to have two machines a PC might be a better option for you. You can do the exact same thing on either, so it just come down to personal preference and your financial situation.

[@lucajacovig8159]

if you're into gaming you just buy an ps5, xbox or Nintendo Swich, a Mac is needed if you do cross platform development for example.....and you need Safari to test things out , so..

[@TheSoulCrisis]

@@lucajacovig8159 But Windows is needed if you do Windows development and cross-platform things can be built on PCs though (although not everything works as smoothly from what I hear). It just depends what applications and tools you'll need access to I suppose.

[@simp-slayer]

​​@@TheSoulCrisisYou can't build for iOS without XCode, which is only available on Macs unfortunately. I've tried it on a VM but the performance is terrible.

[@johnson554671]

I gave you a thumbs up in the first 30 seconds for being honest and giving the answer upfront, then getting to the details. I've always gotten by quite well with Windows machines and VirtualBox VM's running my IDE's.

[@IllD.]

Binged most of your popular uploads, and I have to say this is a really good advice channel. No annoying sponsors or padding/filler to get the video to 10 mins and the advice you give is very direct & practical. Thanks a lot bro.

[@jamescross]

Much appreciated!

[@corpsezombiee]

Last year I was attending a full stack web development bootcamp. The instructions to install ruby and ruby gems on mac was easy using a couple of curl bash commands. Even when learning PHP using homebrew to install and boot up a server is by far the fastest and easiest. I try to follow along on my windows PC and found it difficult to install and correctly set up WSL2 and connect my account with SSH for git/github. I grew up with windows 2021 was my first year owning a macbook air m1 and I never looked back and switching I still own a gaming PC but anything development related I use apple laptops. I know a lot of developers try to be humble and drive beginners to use windows and cheap laptop and that is okay but also misleading them to not save up for a apple computers specially since most the guides are written for unix base systems and using zsh and bash terminals are the go to in the modern era

[@undocumentedcodesucks]

Excellent take James. I got the M1 air a year ago and it's definitely a steal for just the general programming as such along with school work. It's an excellent buy for overall usage and portability, just the basic necessities and whatever one's needs be met. Going for other viable workspace options such as standing desk, quality ergonomic chair, monitors, keyboard, mouse, lightings, cable management, and even some plants for decoration is going to be so much more practical than whaling on a $2000 MacBook Pro in my personal experience, the rest of the money to buy for other spaces speaks volumes. Unfortunately, the ONLY regret I have is not spending the extra for 16gb of ram as for longevities sake its going to be worthwhile.

[@rock_0075]

I heard that M1 chips had issues when compiling python code, not sure if its the case now but have heard about it as people having issues.

[@olsenRoyespen]

I am using a MacBook Pro early 2019 mod, however I am not just only programmkng, but also video editing and music recording/mixing/mastering. Great video!

[@jamescross]

Thanks. I now do all my editing on a macbook too. Sold my desktop. It's worked out well.

[@lethiaa]

thank you so much! i am also doing music and studying computer science. i will buy a mac as well! thankssss

[@lucastephan8024]

thanks a lot for starting the video saying your statement, KZbinrs are literally missing this essential step

[@GetGwapThisYear]

Thanks dude, perfect timing 👍

[@jamescross]

my pleasure!

[@Showmatic]

So, I had been using PC exclusively until I found out all the devs and most of the other employees with the company I'm interning with use Mac OSX. And while I could still technically use a Windows machine, the extra steps I'd have to go though to perform the same tasks was just not worth it to me. So, with the wife's blessing, I got myself a new 16" M1 MacBook Pro. And tbh, although there's still a bunch of things I hate about OSX, for coding, it has made my life a lot easier. So I will stick to coding on my Mac and everything else on my PC.

[@jamescross]

that is also what eventually led me to switch to macos too.

[@piccioneviaggiatore8654]

@@jamescross guess we’re all on the same boat 😂 I got the MBP 14 on launch and I couldn’t be happier with that. It changed my way of working, after almost 10 years of programming mainly on Windows machines.

[@jamescross]

@Piccione Viaggiatore Each laptop including macbooks there's always been that one thing more that i wanted. Another port, bring back the card reader slot, better handled multiple layers when video editing. For me i feel like the 14" is that laptop I've wanted for a long time. I don't have that nagging upgrade itch, which feels strange but satisfying.

[@laughingvampire7555]

exactly, this is the biggest thing, lowering friction

[@MrRonanX]

I'm using Macbook Air M1 (16gb ram) professionally (iOS Development) and I'm very happy with it. It is very light and handles all the tasks quite fast. I have an unconscious desire to get Macbook M1 Max with 32 gb, but I just don't think that $3k is worth 2 more CPU cores

[@lowkeygaming4716]

I've been a PC user ever since then moved to Linux before when I studied programming and I like the Unix and bash more for coding, it feels more natural to code in it unfortunately there's a lot of daily stuff that is quite complicated to use in Linux. Currently I use Windows but coding in WSL and it's so complicated to make stuff work than what it should be. So I decided to save money to finally get a macbook because of the M1 performance and it's closer to Linux experience than windows.

[@lethiaa]

finally, someone who is having the same situation. thanks mate. i will go for mac as well.

[@lowkeygaming4716]

​​@@lethiaa 1yr later and I still didn't regret my decision. The build quality of mac is really good. Window management in windows is still better for me but Mac being a unix based OS suits my needs. It is also still as fast as when it's new unlike windows laptops that feels sluggish just after a year of using it.

[@bagery]

I purchased a brand new 2012 model MacBook Pro in 2016 (to keep dvd and cheaper upgrades haha), exchanged the hdd for ssd and updated ram to 16gb. So far so good for learning. I like to keep machines for 8 years. 🤞 I keep Vmware on for any Windows needs. Thinking about trying Parallels.

[@jamescross]

Very nice!

[@benishadnan4471]

Hey is it still working fine to code?

[@bagery]

@@benishadnan4471 Yes, working fantastic. Just having trouble finding a good reputable battery that functions properly.

[@Kinggenton]

As a student no stick to windows, as a professional who develops production level code running on Linux. Mac has been a blessing in disguise. Setting up for developmental environment and your production environment is so easy man. Windows use to introduce problems and issues. So if you use Linux as servers to run your code I believe Mac OS waaayyyy better

[@Tahir_Musharraf]

I’m using hp elitebook 8470p (12gb ram, coir i5 2nd gen) for web development. I mostly use my laptop for react js, php apis and for webflow. It’s working fine for me😊

[@pluto_5109]

Hey, first year college student here, I feel like I'm intersted in many areas of cs, how do I decide which one I should start doing seriously?, Also any resources or yt channels would be helpful for courses like ML and AI, and also web dev, I started doing web dev initially did projects on html, css, js and then didn't go further to js frameworks.. by then got interested in the math of ML, so jumped into it, I feel like I'm doing bits of every career option, is this right?

[@bhavisyaratna8404]

@@pluto_5109 well it'd be fine if u were in school but now u r already in ur college, within 2 years u'll hv to sit for placements so it'd be a lot better if u master a particular field coz der is no use in being jack of all trades but master of none, i totally respect ur curiosity nd passion but thts the bitter truth

[@AZ-wo5ob]

​@@pluto_5109 Appreciate your enthusiasm, I'm also the same as you, by the way to which laptop you have settled with?

[@alekscorona3095]

I have a Windows laptop. Thank you for your honesty. I eventually plan on getting a MacBook further down my learning path.

[@jromain123]

Currently, I have Macbook Air M1 and I'm in the beginning stages of learning software development. I am taking the self taught route. Thanks for the info; I feel a lot better about my Macbook.

[@bansterref]

How you like it and which set up?

[@mattsantana]

same! got my macbook pro and just started self taught. started Odin Project

[@ruccimello3484]

Hows is the self teaching going

[@mikep541]

I am backend engineer and I use MacBook Air on M1 16\256. This laptop is fully appropriate to my tasks and it's quite enough for me. Thanks

[@jamescross]

thanks for sharing your experience.

[@mikep541]

@@jamescross Thank you too

[@nithishwarm880]

I like ur lighting it look amazing man!

[@jamescross]

thanks!

[@sm-zt4ut]

Thank you for putting the answer in the beginning of the video

[@jamescross]

Any time

[@IkigaiLofiBeats]

I am currently using a Asus Rog Zephyrus with 32 GB of Ram and two 1TB ssd nvme with windows and wsl - mainly developing in WSL and Tmux with Neovim as a full LSP but dual boot wit Pop OS when I really need linux . Did not make the whole switch because still I need to play with my kids. I've gotten my hands on a Macbook air m1 and the experience is full imerisible into the OS and everything is at your fingertips.

[@naehalmulazim]

I started with a 7 year old i3 2nd Gen with 2 GB of built-in RAM and was using it for over a year at work. Laptops from 10 years ago aren't going to be stumped by whatever you managed to code in your first or second year of programming. Unless the game is AI where you can just pay for Colab on cloud or something. Same for docker.

[@kodman1991]

No jokes i actually found my laptop in metal recycling container. I installed extra ram and a SSD drive and now it works flawlessly with vs code for web development

[@jamescross]

that's awesome!

[@goksenincakr2466]

I am usually using a desktop PC for programming. I am also gaming on another desktop PC. My main gaming build has an AIO water cooling that makes an extremely annoying humming noise. So, I use my second build for programming, which has a Ryzen 5600G and ITX case. I always had problems with laptops. My Acer Aspire V15 Nitro laptop's temp sensors started misbehaving and causing the CPU to scale down its frequency to the point that the laptop is no longer usable. My new Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon laptop had overheating problems from the day zero. So, I switched to Macbook pro, and I am happy. The only reason for using a mac notebook for me is the mobility advantage. If I didn't have to go mobile, I would not need a laptop.

[@bobr2837]

I saved $1000 and wanted to buy a M1 MBA but i’m only 18 and starting in programming so for now I’m gonna stick to my parents old Acer laptop. Maybe next year, when I get better experience I’ll invest in a better laptop but we’ll see. Thanks for the video! It helps even a year later ^^

[@mohamedsajjadh8340]

what lap did u buy? :D

[@dawidpiechowiak4969]

I'm in a similar situation because I’m 17 and I’m in programmer school (idk what is in English) but my parents old dell laptop is almost doesn't. I’ve worked at schools pc but I want to programming at home and I don’t know which laptop/pc to choose. What did you choose? (Sorry for my English because it’s not my first language and I’m still learning English )

[@abdulazizbargush3190]

I've been using Macbook Pro 2017 professionally since 2019, and it's working perfectly. Although I'm upgrading this year, my sister is having it for her first year of college.

[@user-kx6fg9xl4r]

Is it also good in programming??2017pro I need to start with it advance please

[@offroaders123]

I've been loving Linux for about a year now, and now the terminal is my new home for productivity. I'm still running my Acer Chromebook N7 11 from my school, and I think I've been using it far beyond what it was meant for. Running Ubuntu on it instead, no Chrome OS. It only has 16 GB of eMMC, and 4 GB of RAM. Only about 1.5 GB free to install dependencies for new projects, so I have to only work on some things at a time. For how goofy this setup is, I love it a lot! Definitely in need of an upgrade.

[@hello2131991]

I use vim for coding, and using vim through wsl in windows suck, especially when docker is added into the mix. So I switched to macbook m1 pro (unix core so I can use vim natively) and will never look back.

[@poplof2050]

Thanks man... Your video save me👍

[@shotray]

He is right, all IDEs will slowly move over to cloud. The backend compilation will happen directly on a VM or docker container.... Bdw... I use a Samsung s22 ultra with Nexdock wireless and compile codes on a ubuntu VM in AWS... Who am i to judge 😅

[@artiemorales637]

Just bought a MBA m1 and love the way everything looks/works. Totally worth getting rid of my Dell precision

[@starvingrtist8714]

MBA M1 is in my opinion the best deal ever for an Apple laptop. M1 Mac Mini would be the best deal for an Apple desktop.

[@FatherPhi]

Not worth to buy, totally worth getting one from your employer 😊

[@jamescross]

Which is an important point. Depending on where you live, lots of employers provide a laptop.

[@cattgascoyne3242]

@@jamescross thanks a lot

[@yb-pq8ry]

Employer always provide me a Lenovo😔

[@tauqeerdarve4101]

@@yb-pq8ry Lenovo is awesome for programming.

[@pokegan52]

I would warn against this, if you build applications on your employers property they have grounds to own the rights of your builds.

[@aboyd144]

I appreciate you mentioning the iPad because that’s what I was considering using.

[@trentsmith8427]

I am using a Toshiba Satellite laptop that I bought in the Summer of 2015! The battery sucks, so I just keep it plugged in all the time. I started using The Odin Project (Thanks :) and went the virtual machine route which is going great.

[@jamescross]

nice

[@markmoyo5370]

Well spoken 👏

[@alexbaranoff5499]

Used a Lenovo flex 6 to learn/college and now m1 Mac for iOS app development.

[@TheMaxZakh]

I've been using a 7 year old Asus laptop that has held up surprisingly well, only considering updating for more RAM.

[@abdallahalmanasrah6343]

I just love your content and the way you make your videos. It makes me feel that your trying to help someone out and not just making a video to make money off of it (which is not a bad thing! but some people's content is just garbage and fake and it feels they made the video just for money rather than benefiting people AND making money at the same time). Liked and subscribed.

[@jamescross]

thanks for the feedback Abdallah! I appreciate it.

[@adamrexrode789]

As a game developer for 10+ years, my personal experience has been to use a programming environment that most closely matches the primary target platform for the application being developed. Most companies expect some amount of cross-platform support when it comes to gaming and probably one of the most painful parts of that is working within any sort of virtualized/emulated environment in order to run and test your software. I absolutely love all of Apple's hardware, but with the most recent move to M1/M2 using ARM architecture, I cannot easily justify upgrading to one of those machines since there currently aren't any good solutions to provide an extremely performant x86/x64 working environment (at least none I'm aware of). If you are a student just beginning to set foot into programming, I would recommend doing a bit of research into your course requirements to see what the expectations are for your deliverable work to avoid wasting money on something that will not provide what you need. If you are learning on your own, take some time to research these platform/architecture limitations in regards to your own goals to also avoid wasting money. Personally though, if I didn't have the platform restrictions, I would most likely jump on one of the new M2 systems since they are surprisingly powerful and very well-built.

[@jamescross]

thanks for sharing your thoughts

[@m7mdawa]

Hi there, I’m doing game development as a side hobby (Unity3d and Roblox Studio), and will be starting university (Computer Science BSc) next month. Would you recommend an M1 Pro, M2 or just a windows laptop(new i7 H series + RTX 3050/3060)?

[@adamrexrode789]

@@m7mdawa It really depends on the platform you're targeting, but generally the gaming industry revolves around Windows and PC development. That's not to say there isn't any gaming on Apple devices; just that PC/Windows is much more prevalent in the gaming industry. If you are planning on focusing on a game development career, PC/Windows is probably a good place to start and a safe bet for most of what you will encounter during a career. As a hobby though, I think working in whatever environment you are most comfortable and happy with will lead to the best results.

[@m7mdawa]

@@adamrexrode789 I’m feeling a new MacBook Air M2 with 16/32 gb memory is reasonable. Thank you dearly.

[@m7mdawa]

@@adamrexrode789 I’m feeling a new MacBook Air M2 with 16/32 gb memory is reasonable. Thank you dearly.

[@nicksrandomness8116]

Going to take out my 2016 HP , upgrade the ram and ssd to start my Networking class. Delete everything and install windows 10. Very interested in software to but I want the degree in hardware, then if I want to I could even land a web developer job with it.. who knows. Thanks for the info! MacBook pro would be cool but I already have a gaming computer plugged into Samsung Odyseyy G9 5120x1440. I need Mac experience but good call on waiting a bit.

[@eacardenase]

I'm a web developer and currently my laptop is a Lenovo Ideapad Gaming 3 (Ryzen 5 4600H, 8GB RAM, 256 SSD and 1TB HDD) and it's a pretty solid one. The thing is that I want to learn iOS development for fun (maybe in the future build some apps) and that's the reason why I'm considering buy a new Macbook Pro M1 (16GB RAM and 256/512GB SSD). But if you're just starting any computer would do the trick, my brother in law is just starting to learn and today I helped him setup an old laptop just for him to get started (a Toshiba laptop from 2013 with a 4th gen Intel Core i5 running Ubuntu).

[@jamescross]

great points

[@harenpylla8389]

I have been coding for 4 years now and I use a macbook pro m1 13'', I use it beacuse the terminal is amazing and xcode is available on macbook only. The only bad experience I have had with my macbook is the fact that java is not optimized for macos so my exprience on java was not great but everything else is a dream.

[@jamescross]

thanks for sharing your experience

[@AntonVesnin]

What exactly were the problems with java? I'm still learning java and considering buying a macbook m1. Were these problems when mac came out or are they still there?

[@ainhoaitzacasero8460]

@@AntonVesnin I have the same question

[@MrCostas32]

Switched to mac recently, best decision I have made

[@Pinkqween]

I personally use a window’s and about to by a MacBook on the side, if you’re a beginner there isn’t much a difference but for me I want to learn how to also make my own music for my games, websites, etc. Also if you are wanting to program for apple devices you will have an easier time, I do know for sure I had a iMac it just got too old to use also if you want something cheap I’d recommend linux

[@RayhanSefat]

Huge shoutout!

[@warsmith1294]

I’m using a lenovo flex 5, I got it because I was going to college and I wanted a 2-in-1 because I thought it would be good for note taking. Turns out pen & paper or a tablet is usually much better for note taking and I never use the 2-in-1 feature. I dual-booted it with windows 11 and Linux mint and it works great for programming and daily tasks, but if I were to go back I would have gotten a $300-$500 thinkpad with 16gb.

[@saturn5036]

I know that I wanna be a software engineer or starting a e-commerce business online and for that I need a computer and I’m already in the apple ecosystem with my iPhone, AirPods, and iPad, so might as well get a MacBook Pro 14 inch base model

[@CodeWithBehram7497]

I am using HP Probook 4530s for Web Developments Project and also for Linux Administration and yeah i have upgraded a bit the ssd and the ram.

[@keithwalsham1514]

I’m a newbie to programming, I use a 2012 13” Mac Pro, I updated the drive to ssd, it’s still hanging in there.😊

[@Ali-qj9yv]

mid 2009 at here with ssd and 8gb ram

[@elite.1]

@@Ali-qj9yv i want to get that one of 2012 pro for software development how do you see ? Pov : i have a a 512ssd

[@LetrixAR]

I don't know if I should get a Windows laptop (a lot of options) or a M1 MBA 16GB. I already have a powerful desktop PC which I use with Linux for coding and it works great but because of it, I've been without a working PC for a few days on different occasions. I would like to get a laptop that I can use just for work so I don't have to rely on my PC to be working. I would like a MB for the better laptop experience (Windows is good for laptops but not so much for coding, and Linux sucks), the stability, and for the iOS support. I currently do web and mobile development.

[@chrisba3278]

I have a 2017 Macbook Pro that I used for the past 5 years, but lately I’ve started to do most of my work on windows. Windows Subsystem for Linux changes the game combined with VSCode. However, the whole Windows 11 thing leaves a bad taste in my mouth so we will see.

[@jamescross]

interesting. thanks for sharing

[@k.iskandar]

I was thinking of getting a Thinkpad Carbon X1. I'm too hooked with Windows ecosystem. I'm still able to do Web Dev and Machine Learning with ease.

[@jamescross]

thinkpads are quite common in a lot of areas of software development

[@91lovemusic]

Which laptop should i buy now 😕 I still confuse which laptop to buy. I want to use for graphic design, uiux, coding too

[@jeune.agneau]

I have a 2020 MacBook Air. So far so good.

[@jaydeegabrillo1840]

I always wanted to try what it would be like coding on mac. I am a web developer and have been using only Windows 10 and 11, I also did react on a mobile project. I can say that it is not necessary if you are a web developer since most of your work will focus on, you guessed it, websites. But during my experience doing react, I can say that it would have been easier owning a mac to check if it's working on ios. Besides, why spend money for work when you can spend it on yourself! Just my opinion. Great coding!

[@jamescross]

i also learned on windows

[@TheSoulCrisis]

I wouldn't mind the best of both worlds, Windows for general work and gaming while a Mac for development work. I wouldn't mind trying that in the future, so far I'm a Windows boi.

[@haseebsyed7787]

I'm a second year in college doing my computer science degree and currently i'm using a asus Vivobook, the battery is trash and it only has 12 gb ram which isn't bad but i def ran into some problem while i was coding using Visual studios such as making a mobile app, it took me 10 min just to run the emulator and then another 5 min to run the program. I found my old 2012 macbook pro and I upgraded the ram, battery and ssd and already I saw a difference in run time. Even though it's an old macbook pro with an old CPU it has more GHZ then my current my Asus laptop. I do reccomend anyone that has an old macbook to upgrade the parts. Its not going be the best laptop ever, But for how it peforms and how it works, I think it will last me a while

[@hafsashaikh1299]

I started coding a while ago I mostly do web development, little scripting mostly in python and explore some other technologies like AI & ML, cybersecurity etc I was Confused between MacBook Air M1 or MacBook Air M2, whatever I'll buy I'll upgrade it to 16gb ram and 512ssd. Which one should I buy M1 or M2 Air ???

[@pidge8964]

I'm a third year computer science student interested in full-stack development. Currently on my second internship and I initially bought the M1 Air due to its affordability and portability, but after using it for 1 1/2 years I realize I would benefit from more RAM (i.e. at least 16GB) and a fan. I'm debating upgrading or just waiting until my next summer internship since the company will likely send me a powerful macbook model.

[@giakhiempham4057]

'and a fan' that means is your macbook air1 quite hot ?

[@Furkan_kara]

Do you suggest 2019 macbook pro (16gb RAM 512GB ssd, 16 inc ) Do you think I can still use it for coding another 3-4 years?

[@dragomiradrian8194]

you can buy any machine that can run okay a virtual machine, it will take longer to do stuff through a virtual machine, but technically you can use macOS and windows on a linux laptop with a virtual machine, I write this from a 2019 16 inch base model macbook pro tho

[@jamescross]

yup. use what you have to get started.

[@user-lw2hd8tv7r]

Tell me please, to study javascript, react in the future, docker, databases such as SQL Server, Postgres, and other web development technologies, will the MacBook Air m2 16/512 be enough? If I work for 12 hours will there be no problems with such a laptop due to passive cooling?

[@dex001]

I'm a CS Student and I am going to buy a mac. You're the only youtuber that opposed the purchase of mac and mentioned the dopamine rush for buying a laptop 😅😂

[@jamescross]

To be clear, I personally use macs and like them a lot. They are expensive though so it's not that I am opposed to them, but rather I am encouraging thoughtfulness in the purchase decision and suggesting that starting out it isn't a necessity for most.

[@dex001]

@@jamescross thanks 🙏

[@arfwdd]

Let me know, right now i'm intrested in cyber security and thinking buying MBA M1 am i make a right decision? Or taking windows laptop like asus rog g14 or thinkpad x13

[@crmn_hwr]

I want to study AI in fall and i think C# is the language i'll use most, im not sure tho. Anyways, it's a University so I will need a laptop for studying there in breaks and on the train ride home. At home, were i'd spend my weekends, I have a PC that works for programming. So, my question is, what Laptop should i buy for University? I dont really wanna spend more than 1k. (It doesnt have to be apple. I dont even have an iphone or ipad so it doesnt matter which brand it is)

[@jamescross]

Could be worth checking with your university cs department to see what will be most compatible with the classes you want to take.

[@keyonlewis7574]

i doing app and web development. i plan to buy a mac but i would like to know if i could just install macOS on my desktop so i could just use xcode. ps. i am a react dev and a flutter and react native dev.

[@achintya-7]

Nitro 7 coz I want to play games as well as code. Though ill suggest to install more ram if its 8gb

[@kevinfreeman9652]

LOL at 1:10.... that's exactly how I feel sometimes when looking at my bank account. Thanks for all the great info you have been putting.

[@jamescross]

You bet!

[@evantao589]

I'm been a software developer for many years and I use an x1 carbon, I think it's the perfect balance between portability, size and performance. it's pricey however lenovo has massive sales very often.

[@NoName-eu9bj]

Hi Sir, i have one questions. For software developer should I use Macbook ? Or buy Windows ? Thank you :)

[@bhavisyaratna8404]

@@NoName-eu9bj windows but a high end laptop

[@robvp71]

Great video.. I own a Zenbook Zephyrus Duo (RTX3080, 32Gb RAM, 2Tb SSD).. not because I need it for development (Python / C++) but because I also want to learn Unreal, play the latest games and run machine learning code with CUDA support. If I would only use this laptop for Python / C++ this laptop would be a terrible waste of money and a simple $500 laptop would do just fine. In fact, if I have a day of pure coding I mostly pick up my Google Pixelbook which runs on ChromeOS but has everything I need. Focus on your requirements and then decide.. don't fall for all the extras you most likely don't need.

[@jamescross]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with specific examples!

[@MultiHotrod27]

Honestly I’m using a iPad gen 8 with a mechanical keyboard to learn it’s nothing fancy but it works and I’m on free code camp so it’s very user friendly surprisingly, humble beginnings

[@jamescross]

best to use what you have to get started

[@MultiHotrod27]

@@jamescross yessir, thanks for also being a mentor like figure on this platform your words and advice goes a long way

[@estech3382]

I have it too Can you tell me how !

[@workingonline5082]

Hi. Currently working as an entry level backend developer and my lead noticed during my screen sharing with him that my 2018 lenovo i3 took around 2 mins to reload an express project. He pushed me to go macbook pro. Im eying a 2016 model macbook due to budget consideration, will i be good at this decision?

[@jamescross]

My main work one provide by my company is 2015 or 16 I think. And it still works just fine.

[@hudaalsweadi1974]

So I truly want to pay for a laptop but I don't know which is better I will shortly learn to code plus I'm learnig trending recently, I like gaming also, and for sure I need it for college do you recommend a MacBook or a PC

[@thegreatsupremeleader4487]

I’m a masters cs student and i still use a MacBook Air 2015 with Ubuntu linux

[@nil27]

I'm need a Mac for iOS dev. Should I get the M2 air or a pro 16 or even a Mac mini?

[@wheelingsbravestmediallc]

i got a dell latitude workstation for $170 on Amazon refurb. It's a $700 laptop. No GPU but everything else. Its a good coding notebook. I also have a late 2015 retina macbook pro it's macos 12 monterey and i'm having issues getting xcode installed. i had to download an old version and the download is sluggish for some reason over my 1 gig/ sec network it is turning the download into a 3 hr download. i have a desktop where i create youtube videos, essentially editing in 4k and 1080p and rendering in 4k. The PC is a work station and gaming PC and works well for Photoshop and Video Rendering / Editing like Da Vinci Resolve. I got the macbook pro for $250 refurbed on ebay. I took a gamble on the battery but its good. It did not come with an A/C adapter and I had to drop $30 on that at my local PC store instead of Amazon.

[@luquilo931]

iam using msi modern 14, tbh i really keen for mac, but due to the cost pretty expensive as a student, well yeah i choose windows laptop, especially iam a new person to programming

[@jamescross]

how do you like the msi?

[@PhillipMHarden]

I use a MacBook Pro 16" but only because it came wit my school launch box. (So I'm paying for it through student loans basically). I'm not very educated in computer hardware. Which desktops are popular among web developers? Is my MacBook Pro sufficient?

[@verbisdiablo]

I'm using my galaxy s9 ultra tablet with vscode server, and it works perfectly. It has much more battery lifetime than my MSI laptop

[@onlyfavorite5754]

So what is the best laptop for coding that I should buy ?

[@suhaawad850]

I graduated with a bachelor in CS. And my 4 years in college I’ve been using my dads old Toshiba laptop. I have a good understanding of programming mostly the basics, but now it’s been a year and a half since I graduated and I haven’t practiced programming in quite a while. So I want to buy my own laptop. A lot of people suggested MacBook Pro. But I don’t know the difference between the M1 and M2. I really don’t know that much about MacBooks and weather I should buy a MacBook or an HP laptop. I really would appreciate your help.

[@flame_of_the_west8909]

Did you finally get anything? What did you get?

[@stephanenpng3912]

I use a macbook air i5 8go I should take more RAM, I got some problem when I’m coding on react + browser with 3, 4 tabs I will change for the new MacBook pro M2

[@user-yt2rg2vs7j]

I'm using DELL XPS 15. Works well.

[@victorh8863]

#1 decision in buying any computer is price. Tech specs really have little to do with the final decision making. Aesthetics are probably the second most important decision.

[@Yuxi_lixiii.]

I have a MacBook for school and a lot of things and I’m a beginner, so I don’t really have any other option. Can you give some websites to code, not for learning code to type out the code

[@2pfamilia]

I'm a programmer for around 8 months, and I'm using a Lenovo Legion with Ryzen 5 5600H, 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD and Nvidia RTX 3060 and 165Hz display.. I spend around 1400€ on this machine and is totally worth it!!

[@jamescross]

sounds like a cool setup

[@mariusz5938]

Prior to getting my first job I've learned with Lenovo Ideapad with i3, 4GB RAM (I've purchased 4 GB more), and 1GB memory of GPU (not related as I'm playing a lot of tanks). In 2018 - I'ts not so long time ago. My first Ideapad costed me less than 400$ and when I'm hearing some questions from wannabe coders on what computer to buy in order to LEARN coding (not mentioning development on a 13 GB of code, 25 different projects with many dependencies solution) I'm feeling like a gruuuumpy old man. Because If someone is planning to spend a lot of cash just to have a computer "To learn programming" - dude... Spend that cash on Udemy, Pluralsight and just quit your job while learning... Had anyone seen a driving license student learning on how to ride with a Mercedes AMG ? You don't need 90 % of Apple MacBook's capabilities ! Unless you like to throw your cash away, or just want to shine with an bitten apple then go for it. And as an answer for the video's author - I'm using stationary PC with i9, 16 GB of RAM and 1TB SSD win 11 Pro. And it's very good stuff for coding. No problems with multiple monitors so far ;D

[@TheItchybutthole]

Have used mac as personal machine for years along beefy windows desktops(mostly for gaming) and I will never pick windows as dev machine. I'm not saying they are bad or that mac os is better by any means. It simply comes down to preference. I love spending less time configuring my environment and being able to use the terminal. Everyone always bring up linux in windows but the thing is I don't want to set that up. I also tried buying a high spec windows laptop with an rtx 3070 and as soon as I heard the airplane half a foot to my left start taking off I was like YEA RIGHT! Portable gaming for what? I'm not starting that thing up with people around me lol.

[@jamescross]

i hear you. my m1 macbook pro is so quiet.

[@ryanburgess3762]

I'm using a custom built desktop. However I am in the market for a laptop as my 6+ year old HP envy x360 is starting to give out.

[@udarue]

I am student working on PC and I have recently bought a MacBook 2020 i7 for $500 in ebay for programming outside home like library, and mostly because of my inner child dreams of having one of the apple products like ipad or mac. So buying it closed my gestalt and moreover, I have a device which I can take everywhere whether it's a university or other country, as I do travel at least once a year on summer vacation.

[@udarue]

I also have a Windows Laptop and I usually dropped my projects there for assignment interviews/works at the university, but it's quite heavy to take it with, including heavy charging cable and these all weight like 3-4 kilos. With Mac it's much easier that way :)

[@simp-slayer]

Once you go Mac, you never go back! After I got a 16" M1 Pro from my work, Windows feels like it's far behind Mac OS. Though there are some things in MacOS that are infuriating(looking at you file explorer). I would just hate to give it back when I quit (soon 😅). In my university days I used an Asus laptop on which I dual booted Windows and Linux and it was more than enough. Nowadays I use a dual-booted desktop PC and an office provided Macbook. Also I should mention that if you're going to be doing any iOS related development then Mac is pretty much your only option.

[@markmiranda3364]

I am an industrial Product Engineer Designer. I use solidworks and Rhino, but I use Python for coding.. PC and Mac. since mac cant use SW natively.

[@psyk0l0ge]

Developer, on private thinkpad e495 (cause awesome keyboard and grest quality) work laptop is some dell latitude cause that what employeer provide

[@owenbigwood2246]

I’d love to use Linux but I can’t use that in an enterprise environment… so the next close thing for me is a mac with a native zsh shell

[@nikunjchavda9824]

Is there Magento 2.4.4 supporting properly in M1 and elastic search?

[@its_trenner2900]

I am currently learning code on a old Toshiba laptop I bought off of co-worker that is running Unbuntu for $15 bucks. LOL! Not ideal, but it does the job!

[@jamescross]

If it gets the job done... that's what matters

[@its_trenner2900]

@@jamescross Heck yeah! My goal is to get a Front End Dev job with and then upgrade from if possible. I appreciate all your videos and insight into the industry.

[@morbidcandii]

I want to learn to code I have an iPad Pro can I use that for the time being?

[@LibertyGarden]

Thumbs up just for cutting to the chase early on.

[@rashadarbab2769]

at the price point apple silicon will beat out any other chip. Also as a software dev for work the only reasonable os you can use is either linux or mac. unfortunately linux isn't as popular and so some simple apps like excel isn't available on it. Windows honestly isn't a reasonable solution theres no native terminal and my time coding on windows id spend half of it dealing with some issue where it cant install a package or some other obscure windows error and unfortunately there just isnt a lot os support online for windows youll see plenty of stack overflow posts using mac or linux and the solution is to just copy a line and paste it into your terminal but with windows it just isnt that easy.

[@tiaoraitbg2347]

I currently use an m1 macbook air, and a Windows gaming pc, while I was learning programming in college I was using a $150 Thinkpad with Linux on it

[@jamescross]

great example of making it work in college!

[@rtlau-mk4di]

Linux is great. That is what I use when learning web development. I prefer my Linux distro with its tiling windows and custom keyboard shortcuts over macOS any day. It's cheaper too.

[@tiaoraitbg2347]

@@rtlau-mk4di I used bspwm + sxhkd on an arch linux machine in college, also played around with OpenBSD for awhile tried using Linux on a desktop and had nonstop bluetooth and wifi issues (across multiple operating systems), tried 3 different dongles for bt and wifi, each had their own set of problems, so I just got my m1 macbook and haven't looked back since I'll probably change my Windows pc to a linux pc when Windows 10 stops receiving security updates

[@ankursharma8973]

to the point