Just finished my CS course this year so I feel like I might be able to give some advice here.
I made it 4 years using a 2014 MacBook Pro 15-inch top spec model (but not fully maxed out). Here's what I think.
A MacBook Pro is an awesome development machine and you'll get a heck of a lot more out of it than you would a Windows machine. If you're running Windows for specific classes, you probably don't want to use Parallels or Fusion, just go with Bootcamp. Things might be better now, but I never had a good experience using Windows in a VM, it was sluggish running Visual Studio and other dev tools no matter how much I played with the settings. Bootcamp meanwhile, runs like a champ.
15-inch is probably a must if you're going to be using it primarily as a laptop, though as you mention you've got a monitor to use with it, you could probably get away with the 13-inch model. The weight saving of going with the 13-inch model is also worth considering. Many a time I've wished I went with a 13-incher when I've had it in my backpack - though I'm sure others would argue otherwise - maybe I just need to hit the gym more.
Don't get drawn into the touch bar debate. Realistically, it's less useful than Apple says, but it's not apocalyptically bad as some here claim. I personally don't find myself using the function keys all that often even as a full time software engineer, but if you want them to default to function keys in particular apps, or all apps, this is possible. If you want to do cool stuff with it, try BetterTouchTool which will let you configure it as you please.
In that case, I'd go with the 13-inch. Spend the money you save on some accessories or something. Also, good luck with your course!
I made it 4 years using a 2014 MacBook Pro 15-inch top spec model (but not fully maxed out). Here's what I think.
A MacBook Pro is an awesome development machine and you'll get a heck of a lot more out of it than you would a Windows machine. If you're running Windows for specific classes, you probably don't want to use Parallels or Fusion, just go with Bootcamp. Things might be better now, but I never had a good experience using Windows in a VM, it was sluggish running Visual Studio and other dev tools no matter how much I played with the settings. Bootcamp meanwhile, runs like a champ.
15-inch is probably a must if you're going to be using it primarily as a laptop, though as you mention you've got a monitor to use with it, you could probably get away with the 13-inch model. The weight saving of going with the 13-inch model is also worth considering. Many a time I've wished I went with a 13-incher when I've had it in my backpack - though I'm sure others would argue otherwise - maybe I just need to hit the gym more.
Don't get drawn into the touch bar debate. Realistically, it's less useful than Apple says, but it's not apocalyptically bad as some here claim. I personally don't find myself using the function keys all that often even as a full time software engineer, but if you want them to default to function keys in particular apps, or all apps, this is possible. If you want to do cool stuff with it, try BetterTouchTool which will let you configure it as you please.
In that case, I'd go with the 13-inch. Spend the money you save on some accessories or something. Also, good luck with your course!
