Hi team,

would love to hear some of your opinions and experiences.

I am a backend dev and work with java/spring/golang and work with intellij/goland. I also uses stacks like kubernetes and dockers. I don’t run database locally.

For work we are given a macbook pro 15inch M1 16GB ram. It sometimes can get a bit slow.

Now I want a personal computer for coding, and have the flexibility to bring it out when I go travel. I doubt the workload and stress on the computer will be anywhere close to my work laptop, but I still want it to be able to run simple services on a few ports.

I am looking at 13 inch for portability, and preferably macbook air because it is lighter.

What would be a great ram count / chip / storage for this laptop? is macbook air going to be a bad choice as I heard it throttles with simple apps? is m2 chip worth it? Also, if macbook air works, since there is no macbook air m3 yet, should I wait for it to release? (I can wait a bit)

  • ShustOneEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    The base MacBook Air with the M2 model should be more than enough power. The pro chips are not worth the upgrade. It may be worth upgrading to 32gb of ram but even that probably isn’t needed, especially since you are not hosting DBs locally.

    The base M2 is kind of a beast and the battery life is completely unbeatable for length. The last apple product I bought was 19 years ago but I’m looking at the MacBook Pro again because of battery life.

    Good luck!

  • Quozca@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    It sometimes can get a bit slow.

    I’m a Java / Spring developer considering to buy a new macbook. Can you give me more info on this problem? Thank you!

    • jimmyspinsggez@alien.topOPBEnglish
      1·
      1 year ago

      depending on the size of the project, but java applications running in docker containers eat tons of memory, so 16gb ram is sometimes insufficient when we have multiple things running in background and still try to code / open browsers etc.

      I would recommend getting a 32GB ram for java/spring backend dev especially in cooperate situation, but normally they give you the work laptop.

  • deeep_bluee@alien.topBEnglish
    1·
    1 year ago

    Hey, I’d recommend a 24 to 32 ram and 1tb ssd. But I’m curious — there’s no such M1 15-inch laptop…