Ask HN: Anyone Using MacBook Air M2 24GB for Developement?

The ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2 is lighter (960 grams), and I now often use one for developing when traveling that I had originally intended for giving external presentations (when not traveling, logging in to our 2 TB RAM group server is more fun).

I would say the MacBook Air M2 is superior to the X1 Nano in most categories, except (1) weight (it's lighter than my iPad, which since I got the Nano leave at home) and (2) keyboard quality (which is very important to me for working longer periods).

Macs cases and screens look more sturdy but when dropped seem to break more easily than the Lenovo cases and screens, despite the latter being made from plastic (sadly, this is reporting from personal experience, sample size N=3).

dgl · 2 years ago

I have an X1 Nano too, because I want to run Linux and it is less hassle than Asahi Linux (currently, I wouldn't be surprised if that changes).

Agree on the portability, it's great, but Lenovo still only offer 16GB RAM, the CPU is a low power Intel one, which are improving but 10nm (X1 Nano Gen 3?) vs 5nm means the M2 has a huge advantage... One good point is you can replace the SSD though.

Dare I say it, you're comparing apples to oranges here.

I think you should specify development of what exactly? Videos? Backend Software? Front end? Firmware? Mobile Apps? Games? 3D assets?

I doubt there isn't already enough information and options online and via HN search about M2 Mac's used for development.

gls2ro · 2 years ago

Mostly backend development in Ruby (most of the time Rails), some frontend for my side projects.

I use Docker with multiple containers running almost all the time. Local PostgreSQL and MySQL.

I use from time to time Affinity Photo and Affinity Designer.

I mostly use now VScode, sometimes Rubymine.

Video calls: Mostly Zoom, some Google Meet, rarely something else.

benzimmer · 2 years ago

I did all of that on an M1 MacBook Air and now on a M2 without any problems whatsoever. Only caveat the Airs have is that you can't attach more than one external screen without some workarounds[1]. If you don't rely on that the machine should be more than capable of what you're looking for!

1: https://www.macworld.com/article/675869/how-to-connect-two-o...

Alifatisk · 2 years ago

I do Rails development (in a docker compose environment) on my MacBook pro with 8 GB of ram without any issues!

slmjkdbtl · 2 years ago

I do all these on a 24GB M2 Air, have no problem

thebruce87m · 2 years ago

I just assume web development unless stated otherwise. As an embedded engineer I understand where you’re coming from, but for a lot of people here web is the only thing they know.

leonroy · 2 years ago

Upgraded from a maxed out 2015 Macbook Pro 15" to a Macbook Air M1 with 16GB of RAM. The new silent laptop is literally twice as fast in every metric.

Air: https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/macbook-air-2022

https://browser.geekbench.com/macs/macbook-pro-15-inch-retin...

Working in IntelliJ on a few Java projects (40k LOC) and a few Docker containers, works great. I've never seen it throttle outside of video games and when it does throttle it's by 5-10% so not much but then I'm just building web apps.

If your projects are bigger or if you have a front end open in say VSCode or WebStorm at the same time and more than quite a few Docker containers then I'd recommend the Pro - basically any Macbook with a fan.

jll29 · 2 years ago

huijzer · 2 years ago

> I am concerned about it being fanless and, thus, probably going easy to throttle.

I recently made the switch from a laptop with a modern Intel chip to an M1 and can tell you the difference is night and day. It can compile LLVM in half the time and you won’t even notice that the laptop is busy.

As alternative, from a review I read that new AMD chips are also pretty steady. Also no throttling in laptops.

My theory is that Intel has optimized for short benchmarks at all costs.

I have an M1 with fan but have only heard it once. Most of the time it’s off. In reviews online the air also doesn’t quickly throttle.

windowsrookie · 2 years ago

Yes, a 24GB M2 MacBook Air should be able to do this just fine, but your 64GB Intel MacBook should not be having any issues doing these things either. What happens when you say "it gets throttled"?

My 2018 15" MacBook Pro is only a 16GB model and would have no issues performing these tasks. I would suggest removing the bottom panel of your MacBook and cleaning the exhaust vents. Being an Intel model, it is at least 3 years old, and dust can certainly buildup in that time.

If that does not fix the problem, something else is wrong. Yes, the intel MacBooks run hot, but even today they should be able to perform well, especially with 64GB of RAM.

pritambarhate · 2 years ago

I use M2 Air with 24GB RAM for Backend and frontend development using TypeScript and React. Also have a Redis and PgSQL running under docker compose. A couple of browsers running with 20-30 tabs open. Teams and a couple of office programs running too. Didn't face any issues.

Many people in our company use M1 or M2 Air with 16GB RAM for iOS, Android or Flutter development. No one mentioned any productivity issues as such.

arcanemachiner · 2 years ago

Flutter development was actually what made me upgrade to 32 GB of RAM, but I think that's the fault of the Dart LSP implementation I was using. Each Vim tab would create a new LSP session that used ~200MB of RAM. And I like having all my tabs open for easily jumping between files (Vim tabs + tmux).

pi-rat · 2 years ago

Moving from an aging intel macbook to a modern m2 is a night and day difference, the passive cooling won’t limit you for most dev tasks you throw at it.

As for your throttling, I experienced massive throttling issues on a 2018 macbook pro 15”. Started out of the blue, and was so bad that I couldn’t even do 15 minutes of video meetings before audio and video lag and break ups set in. Lived with it for weeks, until I tried resetting the SMC - which worked like magic! Machine returned to its former glory. Worth a shot in your case as well.

Other things to try if the machine is aging, is to open it up, clean all the dust, and reapply thermal paste. It might be all clogged up depending on where you’ve used it. Aging thick thermal paste can be pretty bad as well.

> I couldn’t even do 15 minutes of video meetings before audio and video lag and breakups set in

I experienced precisely the same issue. Will try resetting the SMC - and see how it works. I cleaned a while back the dust, but will do it again.

fredsted · 2 years ago

I'm using a 24GB M2 Air running a development environment in Docker, and no problems here. Running several containers, MySQL, elastic search, redis. It feels really fast compared to a 2020 i7 6-core with 32 GB. It doesn't get hot. It's silent. Running the environment cuts battery life, though I still get around 8 hours on a full charge.

Don’t you use the laptop while charging? I only disconnect the charging cable when I need to head somewhere quickly

I often sit on the couch or bed while working.

vardump · 2 years ago

That'll wear out the battery quickly.

FirmwareBurner · 2 years ago