15" MacBook Air | developer's dream

idk how u bootlickers say its only 100 dollars more. i had to pay 2k for a macbook air with 1tb and 16 gigs.

starting macbook air is 999.

I dunno if it's a developer's dream. It only supports 1 monitor natively. As a developer, I often need at least 2 screen in addition to the Macbook screen.

Larger surface area, more heat dissipation.

As a programmer which one of these choices is better? Buy a Desktop PC with i513400 + 4060ti or MacBook Air m2 8/512?

Sometimes there is a simple explanation: The heat in the bigger MacBook has more space to handle the heat...

What does he use to display temperature sensors in menu bar?

Great comprehensive review, I'd love to a see a comparison between the 15 inch m2 16gb of ram vs the base model 16 mbp m2

I don't understand how you can develop efficiently on a small laptop screen of 15 or 13 inches. I need at least two monitors to be efficient.

Been using 13" Macbook Pro 2018 for 5 years now... Well time to time I would like to have more space, but in general comparing the dell 15-17" with Macbook 13" then the last one is not that bad at all... Will see, maybe going for 14" with M3

I struggled thinking of best laptop and for $100 more i can get a 14" MBP at best buy for $1700 and since display is important I chose that over 15" MBA

Thanks for this video!
I think for me the main question right now is: 15" Air or 14" Pro?

As a developer i am waiting only for M3 Pro

I would buy this on a heartbeat if it supported 2 screens

What about repairibility ? Do developer just change laptops (or pay extreme amount) as soon as their laptop breaks outside warranty..

may i know what's the app you use to measure the cpu temps that is appearing on your topbar ?

i think this is a very nice laptop, even tempting for me as a windows user, BUT, it's too expensive, for just a bigger screen, battery and chassis.
it needs to start at 1000$, otherwise, if you put on it 512gb and 16gb of ram you get to the pro lineup prices.

Can you also do a comparison of the 15-in MBA 24gb vs 14-in MBP 16gb?

Under the display settings, MacOS always scales the UI for "best user experience". You can scale it up or down from there. Go towards native and you'll get a lot more real estate.

Would a base model 15" air be ok for light blender n godot use? I'm learning both and I want to use and 'play with them' as a hobby for rainy days.

In my opinion, no laptop of any form is a developers dream. Desktops are so much better for developing. In a pinch, a laptop will suffice, but I am never choosing to write code or compile it on a laptop.

You means designer and coder? In our team of real devloper 0% use an Apple device. Or you vocabulary is weak or you have a distorted perception of the reality.

I have an M2 Air and I like it, but...the keyboard is awful. I guess I'm spoiled because my primary laptop is an X1 Carbon. The Air doesn't come close to the keyboard quality. Really that (and the weight) is my main complaint with the air.

U use 8gb ram laptop for android/ios development? Whaaaat?
How?! I use 32 gb for that

THX for this "firsttimeisaw" :-) completely clear and great review. Just what i needed now. Developers point was most important for me. I am running to the store now . Keep up the good work!

To All the Programmers Out there is m1 8gb 512gb ssd is enough for building Apps ? like on React native

Developers, Developers Developers!

This device cannot support more than one monitor, for this reason it cannot be considered suitable for DEV work. It’s apparent the reason for this lack of support is purely a product decision by Apple to drive product differentiation with M2 Pro. I found this out after my employer ordered it, my MacBook Air still in it box as it’s useless for front end dev work.

can you help me to fix python error

each time i run any command in python on mac it show killed message

Dont go for base models please. it dies quicly due to limited TBW on the ssd

Thanks Alex

OrbStack is a nice lightweight alternative to docker for mac 😊

When you only know Apple and leave Windows or Linux aside, it is normal for it to be your dream and not to mention the prices, that is for dreamers!

As a real developer I need at least 5-10 docker containers running. You can forget about using the Air for real development. If anything I would look into using a cloud development environment instead, in which case you can use a Chromebook or Air.

Great video Alek! Maladetz

Hey Alex, great video thanks 😄 I've been using MacBook Air M1 16GB RAM and using Docker continously. Experiencing serious throttle after a couple of hours. Do you think that I can expect considerable improvement if I move to MacBook Air M2 15 inch 24 GB RAM ?

You can slice the cliché with a knife.

I want to buy a macbook air for solely iOS development for next 4- 5 years. So xcode and vscode and some chrome tabs. I will buy 13" m2 air 16gb 256 gb( i have a good pc setup for storage). Will it be good investment? Will xcode lag in big projects?

I've been using my 16" M1 Pro model for development work for the past year and a half, but recently got the 15" Air so that I have 1 device for home, and 1 for work (to seperate them out). I develop all sorts, so Java Maven, SQL Server, Web, C# etc and was worried that the M2 wouldn't be enough. However it feels just as quick as my M1 Pro and i really cannot tell the difference. I prefer the design of the 15" Air as its just so light! I can use it on my lap anywhere and hold it up with one hand on its corner. I went with 16Gb 256Gb, the 'slower' storgage didn't effect me at all due to my small file sizes I work with, and I got 16Gb to avoid swap. Boom, perfect work laptop

Can run docker inside VM?

13 inch + xreal glasses.

Hello, I really need your help. If I'm just going to use my 15" macbook air for spreadsheet (with multiple tabs open), with discord, slack and spotify running in the background. Will the base model 8gb ram, 256 ssd be enough for me? This will be my first macbook (switching from windows) and I really don't know if I should upgrade.

Should i not just buy a macbook pro 14 inch with the same specs ? And just invest a little more ? Idk

I've been a very happy Macbook Pro user in the past. I tortured my cheapest, bottom-line 2015 Macbook Pro at uni and not only did it survive, but it delivered without (major) crashes.

I now work in IT and only really deal with Apple devices when they go wrong, and I can honestly say I will never purchase another Apple device. They are very restricted, incredibly unforgiving, and Apple will just tell you to buy a new one when a client can't afford it. Even before my current line of work, I wanted to upgrade the SSD in my uni Macbook, and was told that the chance of success is so low it's not worth it (finding compatible parts, desoldering and soldering them on, then hoping the system accepts it).

Buy a Macbook if you want, I understand why. However, as someone who's job is to try and fix them, I do not want to be dealing with them when they go wrong, which they inevitably will.

Anyone who buys a MBA for dev and doesn't max out the RAM, is an idiot. Even the maxed out 2TB SSD is my bare minimum! Anyway, My 16" M1P MBP 32GB/2TB is fine for me now, but when it comes to replacing it, I'll be seriously considering whatever 15" MBA is available at that time, even if it is still limited to 24GB RAM. I'll be curious to see how the M3 MBA turns out...

As a coder, do you miss having a number pad?
That’s usually a consideration for me.

Thanks for your decent work! Just starting to discover what you've done so far.

lol ok. have fun not being able to replace any parts and getting less and less freedom in what you can do in the software with every update.