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Macbook pro for developer

T

thachhuynh

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 26, 2018
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I am mobile developer and I intend to buy a macbook pro for my work because I have to develop both android and iOS app. I am hesitant between macbook pro 2015 13.3" MF840 like new (99%- i5 2.7 - 16G RAM, bus 1866 - 256GB SSD) and macbook pro 2017 13.3" brand new MPXQ2 (i5 2.3 - 8G RAM, bus 2133 - 128G SSD). In my country, they have the same price so I am a little confused. I want to buy the new one 2017 but I do not know that 8G RAM is enough or not (because I have not use XCode before). Anyone can give me an advice ?

Update: I can change the 2015 13.3" one with 2015 15.4" MJLQ2 (99% - i7 2.2 - 16G RAM bus 1600 - 256 SSD)
 
Last edited:
There are a lot of developers that use machines with only 8gb of ram. Android Studio and Xcode will run fine with it. Your build times will be a bit slower on the 2017 since you’re only getting a dual core i5 as opposed to a quad i7, but still respectable.

Does the 2015 have any warranty left? That would be a pretty big driving force for me.

There is a thread with essentially this same topic in the buying advice sub forum. Have a read.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-mac-for-programming.2110583/
 
csurfr said:
There are a lot of developers that use machines with only 8gb of ram. Android Studio and Xcode will run fine with it. Your build times will be a bit slower on the 2017 since you’re only getting a dual core i5 as opposed to a quad i7, but still respectable.

Does the 2015 have any warranty left? That would be a pretty big driving force for me.

There is a thread with essentially this same topic in the buying advice sub forum. Have a read.

https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/best-mac-for-programming.2110583/
Click to expand...
I have just update, they are both 13.3" and i5 version
 
Have you tried the 2017 keyboard? Both machines are fine, the RAM and SSD in the 2015 are a nice addition, while the 2017 is more portable and a bit nicer, but also the 2017 keyboard is weird.
Get the one that feels better.
 
I am a software engineer and got the 2017 non-touchbar model, its fine - but for the love of god dont go for the 128gb SSD model. Actually i dont think you would be able to have both android studio and XCode at the same time (xcode downloads the entire Application ≈10gigs for a new update).

I had the 2015 model, the 15inch model is a beast, especially the Iris model, it would go for days without needing a recharge - I would properly go for that if i had the chance when buying my current model.

Though the out of warranty part is a tough one to swallow.
 
LennartOlsen said:
I am a software engineer
Click to expand...
Same but I actually do have the 128G model.
LennartOlsen said:
dont go for the 128gb SSD model. Actually i dont think you would be able to have both android studio and XCode at the same time
Click to expand...
and I actually do have them both at the same time. Android Studio, Xcode, RubyMine, PyCharm, a Linux VM, ten gigs of music and a few little games.
It's doable. Not very convenient but totally doable
 
Toutou said:
Same but I actually do have the 128G model.

and I actually do have them both at the same time. Android Studio, Xcode, RubyMine, PyCharm, a Linux VM, ten gigs of music and a few little games.
It's doable. Not very convenient but totally doable
Click to expand...
Do you think 8G RAM is enough ?
 
I would choose the 15-inch model if I did not care about battery life - it's about 5 hours for a 15-inch model. While the 2017 13" runs on a battery for about 2.5 hours longer. As for me - 15" is much more comfortable for software developing.
 
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I run Xcode fine with 8GB of RAM. I'd like 16, but usually I'm hitting that bottleneck with programs such as After Effects rather than Xcode.
 
sergeyz said:
I would choose the 15-inch model if I did not care about battery life - it's about 5 hours for a 15-inch model. While the 2017 13" runs on a battery for about 2.5 hours longer. As for me - 15" is much more comfortable for software developing.
Click to expand...
what? 13”tb has less battery life than 15” from my experience. Unless you’re using the dGPU on at all times then I see what you’re saying
 
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