Software / Data Engineers, Devs, Coders: Time to upgrade?

[Mity]

I've held off on switching to Apple Silicon (AS) for a number of reasons:
1. I bought a fully spec'd 2019 16" MBP in 2020 and I couldn't justify getting rid of a $4500 machine within a year.
2. At the time, not all Python libraries were supported natively on AS.
3. I mainly use my machine in clamshell mode at home.

However, now that schools/colleges are reopening, I'm likely going to be taking my laptop out with me. Also, it seems AS is now getting native support from 3rd party devs due to wider adoption. And given my extremely pleasant experience with my M1 MBA, I'd like to give AS a try. I'm in the market for a 16" M1 or M2 MBP.

1. How is the battery life while coding? I've seen plenty of stats/marketing for other uses but I'm specifically referring to dev work.
2. Do you hear any fan noise? In what circumstances do you hear it?
3. Are all tools that you use natively supported, for example Python libraries? What is not? I had some issues with Airflow when upgrading to Big Sur from Catalina but Apache devs fixed that within a few months (I've not used it on Ventura) so I wonder if moving to AS would present a similar challenge.
4. Is there any reason to keep using an Intel Mac besides Bootcamp?

 

[dmccloud]

1. With my 14" MBP, I average 2-3 days between charges, meaning I never take my power adapter with me. The only time I see battery life drop significantly is when either playing a game or doing a lot of disk to disk transfers while connected to an external display. Even with the latter, I got over 7 hours of use with continuous data transfers, internet connectivity, and external monitor usage.

2. As far as fan "noise" goes, I have heard air being exhausted from the system (again while gaming), but never the fans themselves. The machine is silent when coding, compiling, even rendering video.

3. Every app I use for coding, webdesign, etc. either already has an Apple Silicon version already (Docker Desktop, VS Code, XCode, JetBrains, BBedit) or runs fine under Rosetta 2 (NetBeans). Most development tools you can install via Homebrew also have Apple Silicon versions now.

4. The list of reasons to keep an Intel-based Mac around is shrinking by the week. Now that Windows on ARM is officially supported via Parallels, there is a way to run Windows side by side with Mac OS on Apple Silicon. It is important to note there are restrictions with Windows on ARM (WoA) itself unrelated to running in Parallels that can cause issues with older apps.

The Game Porting Toolkit released at WWDC last week also puts another nail in the coffin of Intel-based Macs (in my opinion) because it has the ability to run Windows-only titles. While that's more of a long-term play with implications for the future rather than for today (or for 2023 in general), it removes a significant obstacle for some long-time Mac users who rely on Bootcamp to run certain games on their Macs.

 

[wyrdness]

I've recently switched from 2019 Intel i9 MacBook Pro 16" to M2 Pro 16", so might be able to answer a few questions. I almost always have my laptops connected to power when coding. I've occasionally used the Intel Mac for "working from bed" when not feeling well (but not unwell enough for a sick day) and the battery life has been abysmal. I've only had about 3 hours use from it. The Intel Mac gets also almost unbearably hot when compiling code. In comparison, the M2 Pro lasts far longer on battery. I haven't accurate numbers, but I think that it should last all day, and doesn't get anywhere near as hot as the Intel. Fan noise with the M2 Pro doesn't seem to be an issue either.

I don't code in python, but we do use python scripts. Python 3 seems pretty well supported and we haven't had any incompatibility issues. We've mostly had issues with bash scripts, as the Mac only has an old version of bash, so we have to install bash (and other utilities) using Homebrew. However, this affects both Intel and Apple Silicon Macs equally.

I've kept my Intel Mac, but haven't used it at all since I got the M2 Pro. I thought that I might need it for some x86 tasks, but that hasn't been necessary. The main thing on my 'wish list' would be an Arm version of Mint as I run Linux in VMs. Even Linux VM's (including Docker) can run x86 code using Rosetta, which is useful.

The M2 is a far superior machine to the Intel MacBook Pro in every way, and I find it much better for software development.

 

[MisterSavage]

The only time I've heard the fan make noise in my M1 Pro was last summer when there was a bug in the Xcode beta that would cause the CPU to spike. Otherwise I never hear the fan.

 

[Xiao_Xi]

Is there a reason why GDB is not available on Apple Silicon?

gdb

Homebrew’s package index

formulae.brew.sh

 

[SlCKB0Y]

Is there a reason why GDB is not available on Apple Silicon?

gdb

Homebrew’s package index

formulae.brew.sh

Because it hasn’t been ported to Apple Silicon yet.

96168 – GCC support for Apple Silicon (Arm64) on macOS requested

gcc.gnu.org

 

[wyrdness]

I had to boot up my Intel MacBook Pro today in order to run x86 Docker (as I couldn't get it to work properly on M2 with Rosetta). It was so hot and noisy, even when it wasn't doing much. I also had a look at the new 15" Air at the Apple Store and it looks like a really lovely machine. If I was buying a new laptop, the 15" is definitely the one I'd go for.