Going all out..

[facedmurkroots]

My M1 MacBook Pro is coming up to its fifth year. Still the battery lasts all day at college when the PC users all move to the edge of the room to plug in. Apple intelligence has cost me an hour or two toward the end of the day. And 8GB ram hasn’t been kind to it.

I’m starting to dabble in the idea of a new Mac but have also considered PCs. I have recently started using Visual Studio on Parallels which is doing fine but can be very slow in building and running. And the swiping between clicking in and ‘freeing’ the mouse can be quite the annoyance when I’m trying to follow along with tutorial videos on the next Mac swipe across desktop.

Because I want at least 2TB of storage the ladder pricing easily puts me over 2K in price. For nearly 4K, I can get an M4 Max (or maybe M5 if my M1 can hold another year).

how good is the Max and Pro chip for Parallels? As it’s emulating and running windows on ARM… am I silly to spend so much on a Mac with a high end chip or will the Max / Pro chip make minced meat from Parallels?

I am a student so most of my projects so far are for self learning and practice on both Xcode, some web development packages and a LOT of Microsoft languages and platforms. However… my whole life is Apple and I love Apple which makes it hard to ditch altogether. The Mac is the only computer that can do ‘it all’ but how well can even a top model truly do it all?

 

[MBAir2010]

If i had to start all over, PC play nicer with others now.

 

[facedmurkroots]

If i had to start all over, PC play nicer with others now.

Yeah, and I have been tempted to get a 2in1 tablet / laptop combo so when I’m not hunched over it working I can sit back in bed and enjoy it. No need to buy a separate table then which I’ve always found hard to justify

 

[russell_314]

Yeah, and I have been tempted to get a 2in1 tablet / laptop combo so when I’m not hunched over it working I can sit back in bed and enjoy it. No need to buy a separate table then which I’ve always found hard to justify

Wait, you’re talking about high-end configuration laptop and then you’re talking about a 2 in 1? If it has a powerful enough processor, it’s going to be bulky as hell.

Tables are cheap. You can go to IKEA and get you a classic wood plank for fairly cheap. It was a thing with all the Youtubers because you can buy it cheap and stack it on a few filing cabinets. Even though it’s cheap it’s actually very good and works well. The only downside is.

My vote is get whatever configuration PC or Mac you need for the heavy tasks and then get an iPad or whatever light tablet/laptop for entertainment, browsing the web.

 

[dmccloud]

My M1 MacBook Pro is coming up to its fifth year. Still the battery lasts all day at college when the PC users all move to the edge of the room to plug in. Apple intelligence has cost me an hour or two toward the end of the day. And 8GB ram hasn’t been kind to it.

I’m starting to dabble in the idea of a new Mac but have also considered PCs. I have recently started using Visual Studio on Parallels which is doing fine but can be very slow in building and running. And the swiping between clicking in and ‘freeing’ the mouse can be quite the annoyance when I’m trying to follow along with tutorial videos on the next Mac swipe across desktop.

Because I want at least 2TB of storage the ladder pricing easily puts me over 2K in price. For nearly 4K, I can get an M4 Max (or maybe M5 if my M1 can hold another year).

how good is the Max and Pro chip for Parallels? As it’s emulating and running windows on ARM… am I silly to spend so much on a Mac with a high end chip or will the Max / Pro chip make minced meat from Parallels?

I am a student so most of my projects so far are for self learning and practice on both Xcode, some web development packages and a LOT of Microsoft languages and platforms. However… my whole life is Apple and I love Apple which makes it hard to ditch altogether. The Mac is the only computer that can do ‘it all’ but how well can even a top model truly do it all?

The first issue I see is running Visual Studio through Parallels. There's no need to add that amount of overhead when VS Code runs natively on Mac OS, and has become the preferred IDE for many developers. To be honest, you really don't need to run Parallels at all on a Mac for development unless you were specifically working on Windows apps. Second, you can buy a 4TB external SSD for around $200-220 that will have comparable performance to the internal storage. I use the Crucial X9 Pro, and I keep a lot of my development assets on that drive instead of the internal storage. I would recommend looking at configurations with 24 GB RAM minimum, and using external storage rather than paying for an internal upgrade on the SSD side. Apple should also be starting their back to school promotions in the next few months, so as a student there are often some good deals to be had.

 

[facedmurkroots]

Wait, you’re talking about high-end configuration laptop and then you’re talking about a 2 in 1? If it has a powerful enough processor, it’s going to be bulky as hell.

Tables are cheap. You can go to IKEA and get you a classic wood plank for fairly cheap. It was a thing with all the Youtubers because you can buy it cheap and stack it on a few filing cabinets. Even though it’s cheap it’s actually very good and works well. The only downside is.

My vote is get whatever configuration PC or Mac you need for the heavy tasks and then get an iPad or whatever light tablet/laptop for entertainment, browsing the web.

On the PC side, the option for a 2-in-1 exists and with the right spec, it does interest me. Though on the Mac side, the lack of a 2-in-1 isn’t exactly so high up that it rules Apple out as an option given how spot-on the Apple ecosystem efficiencies are.

What I have seen is the likes of the Ultra 9 165H / 155H the fastest of the non-heavy duty chips that seem to be in everything from Alienware gaming machines with a lot of bulk, so some of the high end ThinkPads ‘ultrabooks’ - do they still use that term on the Wintel side?! Which leads me to think that Intel’s ‘answer’ to the M series MacBooks in terms of ‘best power’ is the same from anything from a 2-in-1 to a heavy back breaking Alienware.

That’s a good suggestion. Perhaps I could just check out the licensing situation with my work PC and use it for development practice (it’s the nature of my role and I’m studying with them) so perhaps it’ll be allowed. And just go iPad for personal things. Thank you for that suggestion!

 

[roguester]

I agree with the battery like of the MBP. I also had the same one you have and it was great for daily use. That thing just didn't want to die even after watching movies on it. At this point, I'm slowly building a top of the line PC and will consider a MBP later on. It just suits my current needs better and I have the same licensing issues with work as well. The licenses we have are on Windows and just works better for the current situation.

 

[dmccloud]

On the PC side, the option for a 2-in-1 exists and with the right spec, it does interest me. Though on the Mac side, the lack of a 2-in-1 isn’t exactly so high up that it rules Apple out as an option given how spot-on the Apple ecosystem efficiencies are.

What I have seen is the likes of the Ultra 9 165H / 155H the fastest of the non-heavy duty chips that seem to be in everything from Alienware gaming machines with a lot of bulk, so some of the high end ThinkPads ‘ultrabooks’ - do they still use that term on the Wintel side?! Which leads me to think that Intel’s ‘answer’ to the M series MacBooks in terms of ‘best power’ is the same from anything from a 2-in-1 to a heavy back breaking Alienware.

That’s a good suggestion. Perhaps I could just check out the licensing situation with my work PC and use it for development practice (it’s the nature of my role and I’m studying with them) so perhaps it’ll be allowed. And just go iPad for personal things. Thank you for that suggestion!

The new Ultra processors tend to lag behind the 14th gen Core CPUs they replaced in terms of overall performance, and are a downgrade in gaming-specific performance - which makes it even odder that Dell insisted on putting those in their Alienware systems. The truth is that Intel doesn't have a real answer at the moment, with this first generation of Ultra SKUs still on an older process node and Intel still having issues with their own fabs, which is why they are turning to TSMC for fabrication of some CPUs.

 

[russell_314]

On the PC side, the option for a 2-in-1 exists and with the right spec, it does interest me. Though on the Mac side, the lack of a 2-in-1 isn’t exactly so high up that it rules Apple out as an option given how spot-on the Apple ecosystem efficiencies are.

What I have seen is the likes of the Ultra 9 165H / 155H the fastest of the non-heavy duty chips that seem to be in everything from Alienware gaming machines with a lot of bulk, so some of the high end ThinkPads ‘ultrabooks’ - do they still use that term on the Wintel side?! Which leads me to think that Intel’s ‘answer’ to the M series MacBooks in terms of ‘best power’ is the same from anything from a 2-in-1 to a heavy back breaking Alienware.

I think Alienware is overpriced at this point. Look up the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus if you want to dive into gaming PCs. Of course he goes mostly into desktop computer so may not be with you’re interested in.

I think it’s unless you’re on a really tight budget where you can only afford one device. It’s sometimes better to have multiple devices for different things. I use an iPad for watching movies, a MacBook Air for some web browsing and work with documents and stuff I need more time with. A gaming PC for whenever I have free time for PC gaming, which is almost never now.

That’s a good suggestion. Perhaps I could just check out the licensing situation with my work PC and use it for development practice (it’s the nature of my role and I’m studying with them) so perhaps it’ll be allowed.

Does your work computer have monitoring software and do you have admin access? Maybe if they let you have admin access they will let you do the you need to do, especially if it’s related to your work field. Most companies want you to get better at what you do.

And just go iPad for personal things. Thank you for that suggestion!

To me an iPad works best if you’re doing something that doesn’t require a lot of keyboard input or precision clicking on things. It’s perfect for watching videos, movies, and web browsing. I would get seriously annoyed trying to do spreadsheets on it. Of course touchscreens are never my favorite thing so that could just be a me problem.

 

[facedmurkroots]

I agree with the battery like of the MBP. I also had the same one you have and it was great for daily use. That thing just didn't want to die even after watching movies on it. At this point, I'm slowly building a top of the line PC and will consider a MBP later on. It just suits my current needs better and I have the same licensing issues with work as well. The licenses we have are on Windows and just works better for the current situation.

I thought it was beginning to fall off around January time as it stopped lasting until 5pm, but it was Apple Intelligence as I disabled it for a week and it was lasting long again. However, I enjoy the features more than I thought once they’re turned off so it’s’ on now.

The new Ultra processors tend to lag behind the 14th gen Core CPUs they replaced in terms of overall performance, and are a downgrade in gaming-specific performance - which makes it even odder that Dell insisted on putting those in their Alienware systems. The truth is that Intel doesn't have a real answer at the moment, with this first generation of Ultra SKUs still on an older process node and Intel still having issues with their own fabs, which is why they are turning to TSMC for fabrication of some CPUs.

Really? I noticed on some CPU benchmark sites that my M1 mobile base entry chip actually out-does the latest Intel chips on things like performance from 14w to something closer to 30w! It’s shocking that Intel can’t deliver something almost as good. Although as much as I love the MBP battery life, I’m usually always near a charger port and sometimes x86 would be nice to run real full-fat Windows and maybe dabble in the odd game or two although I’m not a huge gamer and not planning to get into it. The horsepower would help for development.

I think Alienware is overpriced at this point. Look up the YouTube channel Gamers Nexus if you want to dive into gaming PCs. Of course he goes mostly into desktop computer so may not be with you’re interested in.

I tried desktop in the past and it’s not for me. Something about working at a desk 9to5 then being stuck at one after work doesn’t sit right with me

I think it’s unless you’re on a really tight budget where you can only afford one device. It’s sometimes better to have multiple devices for different things. I use an iPad for watching movies, a MacBook Air for some web browsing and work with documents and stuff I need more time with. A gaming PC for whenever I have free time for PC gaming, which is almost never now.

That’s a good thought. Though I feel a sort of guilt when I own things I don’t use often

Does your work computer have monitoring software and do you have admin access? Maybe if they let you have admin access they will let you do the you need to do, especially if it’s related to your work field. Most companies want you to get better at what you do.

I have admin access and can install visual studio. The thing also has 32GB RAM (although you’d never know it!). I’m asking today if I can install it lawfully without breaking any rules. They fund my course that requires this, although I do also want to practice coding outside of hours. I really hope they say yes as then I could possibly replace my Mac with an iPad frankly!

To me an iPad works best if you’re doing something that doesn’t require a lot of keyboard input or precision clicking on things. It’s perfect for watching videos, movies, and web browsing. I would get seriously annoyed trying to do spreadsheets on it. Of course touchscreens are never my favorite thing so that could just be a me problem.

The iPad is brilliant though limited. But for personal life I think the most advanced thing I would do is a Numbers spreadsheet for personal finance but even that isn’t too huge or typing heavy.

Wow, I’ve got a lot more choice than I thought if I can get work to allow me to install VS and similar software