Give me the best choice for programming

[idgamebreak]

Hi thank you for reading my thread,

I have problem,
More better buy Macbook Air 13" 2016 256GB 8GB RAM or Macbook Pro 13" 2015 128GB 8GB RAM. Do not give me an option other than that.

I need more into programming like Android Studio & Xcode, and a bit for editing might be like to create a logo. I'm not too concerned about the retina display, give the best answer about CPU performance to run the programming application.

I have an opinion that macbook air is better, but I am afraid if one day macbook air can not run programming application.

Thank's

 

[QueenTyrone]

The mbp

 

[idgamebreak]

The mbp

Thanks for answer, how about battery life ? are same when MBP and MBA use for progamming ?

 

[leman]

For programming, Retina display is your best friend. CPU performance is secondary.

 

[throAU]

get the air. it has better storage which will give it better longevity. you're more likely to run out of storage and not be able to run software for that reason than the display being inferior.

cpu spec between the two is almost identical.

 

[idgamebreak]

For programming, Retina display is your best friend. CPU performance is secondary.

Thanks you for your answers, but before i say, I'm not too concerned about the retina display.

get the air. it has better storage which will give it better longevity. you're more likely to run out of storage and not be able to run software for that reason than the display being inferior.

cpu spec between the two is almost identical.

Yeah you right, cpu spec between the two is almost identical, but with clock 1.6 - 2,7 Ghz are smoothly to run software ? i'am new in machintosh

 

[ZZ Bottom]

Between those exact two, definitely the MacBook Pro. I've got that exact MacBook Pro model and yes I have had to do some disk cleanup, but honestly keeping code and old projects on external drives or cloud storage works just fine. My MBP is provided by work, but I also own a 2015 MacBook Air. The only thing the Air has going for it is lighter weight and slimmer body.

I know you said Retina display doesn't factor into your choice, but as someone else said, it will make a huge improvement with Xcode and Android Studio.

More importantly, the CPU on the two is definitely different. Higher clocked on MBP. The additional clock speed WILL make a difference.
[doublepost=1501851411][/doublepost]

Yeah you right, cpu spec between the two is almost identical, but with clock 1.6 - 2,7 Ghz are smoothly to run software ? i'am new in machintosh

It IS a big difference. The MacBook Air is an ultra-low voltage CPU, so it's tuned for battery over power. The MBP is more of a balance.

I just checked, and Mactracker shows that the MacBook Air has not been updated since 2015. That means I happen to own both exact models (one from work and one personal). Hands down I always prefer to use my work MBP.

 

[leman]

Thanks you for your answers, but before i say, I'm not too concerned about the retina display.

You may not be, but its what is going to make the biggest practical difference. You are going to work with a lot of text. Text text text. Crisp, readable text is the most significant advantage of the HiDPI displays.

As said before, the CPU performance doesn't matter, unless you are going to do some heavy-duty development on very large software packages (but then you might want to look into getting an appropriate development machine to begin with). For developing your average apps and creating logos, any of those computers are overkill from computational perspective. Someone mentioned the SSD size issue, which makes sense — especially if you are going to develop web applications (nowadays web dev tools tend to take ridiculous amounts of space for some reason). But then again, with APFS, storage space in these scenarios is going to be less of an issue.

 

[Mr Invisible]

Xcode looks beautiful on a retina screen, so get the MBP.

 

[c0ppo]

Thanks you for your answers, but before i say, I'm not too concerned about the retina display.

You should be. As a developer myself, using Macbook Air is out of the question. Old TN panel isn't really that great. Actually, just because of that you should avoid Air. Belive me, you will see a great difference between the two. And with MBP you get to have more working space available, and far better connectivity.

Yeah you right, cpu spec between the two is almost identical, but with clock 1.6 - 2,7 Ghz are smoothly to run software ? i'am new in machintosh

Both of those machines will suffice CPU and GPU wise for your tasks. Even though MBP is better in that department as well, but even Air will do great.

As far as battery goes, Air has better battery. But that is thanks to the really lousy screen panel used, and low res screen. MBP 13" from 2015 has actually great battery life as well. Since I've owned that laptop (but with 16GB of ram and 512GB SSD), I was able to use Xcode or Android studio for 7-8 hours without a problem at all (about 50% brightness).

To conclude:
Air has better battery life, but not by much.
MBP has far better connectivity (2 TB2 ports, HDMI, etc.), better screen, faster processor, faster GPU, by far better screen, and overall is a better computer.

To be honest, if you had the chance to use Air and MBP side by side for a week or so, you wouldn't even consider Air.

 

[pallymore]

Hi thank you for reading my thread,

I have problem,
More better buy Macbook Air 13" 2016 256GB 8GB RAM or Macbook Pro 13" 2015 128GB 8GB RAM. Do not give me an option other than that.

I need more into programming like Android Studio & Xcode, and a bit for editing might be like to create a logo. I'm not too concerned about the retina display, give the best answer about CPU performance to run the programming application.

I have an opinion that macbook air is better, but I am afraid if one day macbook air can not run programming application.

Thank's

get the MBP. Nobody should buy MBAs anymore.
get an external harddrive, you might be ok with 128G SSD if you are not using it for your photos / videos.

 

[idgamebreak]

Between those exact two, definitely the MacBook Pro. I've got that exact MacBook Pro model and yes I have had to do some disk cleanup, but honestly keeping code and old projects on external drives or cloud storage works just fine. My MBP is provided by work, but I also own a 2015 MacBook Air. The only thing the Air has going for it is lighter weight and slimmer body.

I know you said Retina display doesn't factor into your choice, but as someone else said, it will make a huge improvement with Xcode and Android Studio.

More importantly, the CPU on the two is definitely different. Higher clocked on MBP. The additional clock speed WILL make a difference.
[doublepost=1501851411][/doublepost]

It IS a big difference. The MacBook Air is an ultra-low voltage CPU, so it's tuned for battery over power. The MBP is more of a balance.

I just checked, and Mactracker shows that the MacBook Air has not been updated since 2015. That means I happen to own both exact models (one from work and one personal). Hands down I always prefer to use my work MBP.

You may not be, but its what is going to make the biggest practical difference. You are going to work with a lot of text. Text text text. Crisp, readable text is the most significant advantage of the HiDPI displays.

As said before, the CPU performance doesn't matter, unless you are going to do some heavy-duty development on very large software packages (but then you might want to look into getting an appropriate development machine to begin with). For developing your average apps and creating logos, any of those computers are overkill from computational perspective. Someone mentioned the SSD size issue, which makes sense — especially if you are going to develop web applications (nowadays web dev tools tend to take ridiculous amounts of space for some reason). But then again, with APFS, storage space in these scenarios is going to be less of an issue.

Xcode looks beautiful on a retina screen, so get the MBP.

You should be. As a developer myself, using Macbook Air is out of the question. Old TN panel isn't really that great. Actually, just because of that you should avoid Air. Belive me, you will see a great difference between the two. And with MBP you get to have more working space available, and far better connectivity.



Both of those machines will suffice CPU and GPU wise for your tasks. Even though MBP is better in that department as well, but even Air will do great.

As far as battery goes, Air has better battery. But that is thanks to the really lousy screen panel used, and low res screen. MBP 13" from 2015 has actually great battery life as well. Since I've owned that laptop (but with 16GB of ram and 512GB SSD), I was able to use Xcode or Android studio for 7-8 hours without a problem at all (about 50% brightness).

To conclude:
Air has better battery life, but not by much.
MBP has far better connectivity (2 TB2 ports, HDMI, etc.), better screen, faster processor, faster GPU, by far better screen, and overall is a better computer.

To be honest, if you had the chance to use Air and MBP side by side for a week or so, you wouldn't even consider Air.

get the MBP. Nobody should buy MBAs anymore.
get an external harddrive, you might be ok with 128G SSD if you are not using it for your photos / videos.

Thanks for your the best answer, for problem Retina Display or not i'm usually use external monitor, because that i say Retina Display doesn't factor into my choice. And then Macbook Pro Retina Display 2015 or older have issue staingate and Quality Program end in october, because that i ask CPU performance are good or not for running apps development.

 

[jerryk]

The Air would works as well as the rMBP, but both pale in comparision to a 15" rMBP or iMac for coding. Since you are not needing mobile coding, have you considered an iMac?

 

[idgamebreak]

The Air would works as well as the rMBP, but both pale in comparision to a 15" rMBP or iMac for coding. Since you are not needing mobile coding, have you considered an iMac?

Yes i know different rMBP 13" and 15", i have PC and now i dont want to buy iMac, i want notebook (just Apple, no Windows or Linux) for portability but good for programming. Btw you use rMBP 2015 how about staingate ? are you have problem about issue display staingate ?

 

[jerryk]

Yes i know different rMBP 13" and 15", i have PC and now i dont want to buy iMac, i want notebook (just Apple, no Windows or Linux) for portability but good for programming. Btw you use rMBP 2015 how about staingate ? are you have problem about issue display staingate ?

No issue with staingate for me.

But I am confused. You have maintained that the screen does not matter because you are going to use an external monitor. But that does not square with portable programming.

If you do plan on doing some programming while mobile, I would strongly suggest the retina display. Even with the 13" retina display, all of the windows in a modern IDE make the display crowded (I find them crowded on my 15" rMBP). And with a lower resolution display the problem is even worse.

 

[idgamebreak]

No issue with staingate for me.

But I am confused. You have maintained that the screen does not matter because you are going to use an external monitor. But that does not square with portable programming.

If you do plan on doing some programming while mobile, I would strongly suggest the retina display. Even with the 13" retina display, all of the windows in a modern IDE make the display crowded (I find them crowded on my 15" rMBP). And with a lower resolution display the problem is even worse.

Haha I mean If i want to use better screen, i use external monitor, not every time . Ok many user choice rMBP for better programming, thanks for your answer.

 

[TokMok3]

Hi thank you for reading my thread,

I have problem,
More better buy Macbook Air 13" 2016 256GB 8GB RAM or Macbook Pro 13" 2015 128GB 8GB RAM. Do not give me an option other than that.

I need more into programming like Android Studio & Xcode, and a bit for editing might be like to create a logo. I'm not too concerned about the retina display, give the best answer about CPU performance to run the programming application.

I have an opinion that macbook air is better, but I am afraid if one day macbook air can not run programming application.

Thank's

I'm running Xcode 11 on a MacBook Pro 2015 with 16GB RAM, at this very moment I have Safary, Preview for reading a Pdf and Xcode 11 running an App on the simulator(iPad) and the available memory for the system shows 6.62GB RAM of the 16GB RAM. I will recommend the MacBook Pro with 16GB RAM, I will put the many on RAM because storage can be solve in many ways as others had advice. Xcode 11 takes a lot of RAM to run because the simulators are more polished. You need to take into consideration compiling time, because you are going to run an app for testing hundreds of times in a single day, when you have to do that, the seconds it takes to compile counts, time is money.

 

[ZapNZs]

I'm still a big fan of the Air, but for your usage I think the Pro is a better match.

The MBA has the cost advantage (by a big margin - making it harder to compare). In the config you are considering, the SSD may have similar write speeds to the MBP. The MBA has the ultra portable advantage. The display is plenty usable for general work - but, what something looks like on the MBA is not very indicative of how it will look on machines with more modern displays.

The MBP has a significant CPU and GPU advantage, a screen that can better emulate what an App will look like on modern phones with higher-res displays, and superior IO. You will probably need an external SSD and/or internal expansion that uses the SD card over time.

Battery life on both computers is outstanding. Independent tests have suggested which has better battery life depends largely on usage, as certain tasks favor certain systems.

 

[c0ppo]

Thanks for your the best answer, for problem Retina Display or not i'm usually use external monitor, because that i say Retina Display doesn't factor into my choice. And then Macbook Pro Retina Display 2015 or older have issue staingate and Quality Program end in october, because that i ask CPU performance are good or not for running apps development.

Staingate isn't really a gate. Some had that problem, Apple took care of it promptly. Most of users never experienced staingate, and don't even know what that is about.

And I think Apple has changed coating long time ago. I haven't seen a MBP with stains in a long time now, and I do see them a lot in my company, and when working with other companies.

Purchasing Air over MBP would be a huge mistake. I am/was a PC guy until 2009. .NET developer. And still am. After using macs for 8 years now, and using almost every mac line that has been out there since 2009, I can without any doubt say that Airs were great. But not updating them (especially the screen) made them obsolete.

Since you are buying laptop, you will use it eventually as a laptop. That means on the couch, in the kitchen, outside, etc. Airs screen is horrible in the outdoors, TN panel is really dreadful. Air has a panel that is comparable to a 250$ pc laptop.

And connection since MBP has far better connectivity, and better GPU, your external display, and especially your eyes will appreciate it.

 

[ZapNZs]

Nobody should buy MBAs anymore.

When the MacBook or MacBook Pro price is reduced to commonly being on sale for $700-800, I'll agree.