I need help.
I need a new Mac. I’ve needed one for a while.
I do all my developing on a Late 2006 white MacBook. Not a bad machine, but i’m a little hard on it. What’s worse? My logic board has been bad for a while, leaving me only 2 hours of battery life. I have Apple Care, but sadly I haven’t been able to spare a week to have it repaired.
I’d love to hear what everyone else is rocking for their dev setup.
I see two options:
- Desktop (+ External Monitor) + Light Duty Laptop
- Heavy Duty Laptop + External Monitor
I wouldn’t say my budget is unlimited, but I am an extremely practical person. If someone has a compelling argument for a Mac Pro, I’d get it.
Desktop Laptop combo:
iMac or Mac Pro
I’m leaning towards a high-end iMac. I think it is powerful enough for my needs. If needed, I can get an external monitor to augment the screen space. My biggest gripe right now is the lack of an LED screen (One of the reasons I am holding out for WWDC and a possible hardware announcement). I can’t imagine buying the LED Cinema Display and only having the LCD for the main monitor.
The Mac Pro feels like overkill. I know I am buying compile time, but is the saved time significant enough considering the size of my projects? The upgradability woul be awesome, and I wouldn’t need another machine for 4-5 years.
Macbook Air or Aluminum Macbook
Since the laptop would be almost exclusively for recreation, I think an Air would be perfect. I could do some light coding if the mood struck me. Of course, I think hardware update is eminent, maybe not this summer, but possibly in the fall. I can’t imagine buying one before Apple brings some of the battery tech over from the 17″ MacBook Pro. And you know the black trim is coming.
My wife has a new Aluminum MacBook (yes, a better machine than me). It is nice and light. I think it would be a more than serviceable laptop. I know the battery life is great, its just not as light as the Air.
Powerhouse Laptop:
MacBook Pro 17″
There is only one choice here. My 8-hour seductress. This is an awesome machine, I just picked one up yesterday and it is surprisingly light. I would have to lug it back and forth to work and I absolutely need the 24″ cinema display. I know I would be sacrificing some speed and screen space, but I could work anywhere.
So, what’s your pick?
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Here’s the setup I’ve been using for awhile here, and am very satisfied with it:
* Macbook Pro 15″ (just upgraded internal HD to 320GB)
[I don't use the laptop display at my desk -- no space]
* Cinema Display (wish I could afford a bigger one)
* LaCie 1TB HD partitioned for Time Machine and 120GB+ iTunes library
* OWC 500GB portable HD (for weekly SuperDupes of my internal HD and external iTunes library)
* Comfort ergonomic keyboard, split to put the numeric pad on the left to minimize lateral arm movement between keyboard and:
* Logitech USB Marble Mouse (trackball)
As sexy as a tower and Air combo sounds, I’d constantly be wrestling with what subset of stuff to transfer to the Air for my next outing — and then be sure to forget something vital. With everything inside my MacBook Pro, I can drop my whole world into my bag (together with a complete bootable backup in a small OWC package if I’m going far/long).
The downside to my setup is freeing the laptop from the gazillion tentacles clinging to almost every port when I need to go mobile (when my iPhone, alone, won’t cut it).
BTW, I went with the 15″ over the 17″ mainly because of the weight. (I also, thankfully, have one from a generation back with a matte screen.) A quick, in-the-store heft isn’t a very good test. The perceived weight of a laptop increases exponentially over time when slung over the shoulder.
That sounds like a nice setup. I also have a Lacie 1TB at home. I see that you do Time Machine AND SuperDuper. Thats probably a really good idea in case you have problems, you can quickly restore from the SuperDuper image to get up and running. Then you can restore current data from Time Machine at your leisure.
I can’t see getting paying $2,500 for the 15″, when you get the extra long battery life ad better display for just $300. Although I know the weight is a factor, I didn’t “feel” a substantial difference between the 2. I must have picked up the 15″ and 17″ about 10 times each.
I also hate the hooking and unhooking of cords. That I why I would definitely get the 24″ Cinema Display.
if I go with 2 machines, I think my MobileMe becomes really useful for me.
I can use Back To My Mac to access the desktop.
I can sync all my contact data, etc…
I can access my home Airport and attached HD with the recent Airport update.
I use Beanstalk for my code repository.
I have to say, I stay relatively in the clouds nowadays…
Since your main reason for considering a “powerhouse laptop” is that you could work anywhere, I think the decision is pretty easy for you. You already use a laptop for development; how much time do you spend doing work away from your desk?
If you spend a quarter (third?) or more of your time away from your desk, then I’d say go with the powerhouse laptop. If you rarely do any work away from your desk, even though you already do have the ability to “work anywhere”, then go with the desktop + laptop combo.
Thanks for this post, it made me realize that even though I have a laptop, I never actually use it anywhere but at my desk. Guess I know what my next set-up is going to consist of
Thanks for reading!
You have a pretty good point, one my wife has also made.
In an age of laptops, it is hard to come to the realization that as developers we tend not to move that much.
In fact, I will be relocating to Philadelphia in a few months and getting some office space at Indy Hall (a developer coworking space). So I plan on doing most of my work there instead of at home like I do now.
So, it is difficult to justify a professional laptop.
Damn that MacBook Pro and it’s sexy 8 hour battery!
I roll with a (prior gen) MBP 15″ for going out and about and a current gen 24″ iMac in my office.
I also languished on the iMac purchase since the screen technology is about to become dated for that product line, but honestly, the thing looks great to me and I was on a budget at the time.
Pre purchase, like you are doing now, I really thought through my work patterns and concluded I just don’t move around that much. When I do have to go out, I have the MBP. All that said, if I _had_ a 17″ MBP, would I work differently? It’s quite the object of techno-lust…
Since you mentioned source control, I’ve switched to http://bitbucket.org/ since making the move to Mercurial (love it).
Good luck!
go with VMWare on PC and install Mac OS X on it! Cheaper…wayyyy cheaper!
@Steve
Thanks for the input on the iMac.I know I am being a little picky on about the LCD. I want to wait until after WWDC just to see if it gets upgraded, but I would make the purchase anyways. It’s interesting to think about how much a more powerful, longer lasting, laptop with a bigger screen would affect your work habits If you are settled in your routine.
As far as source control, I haven’t seen the need for distributed SCM. I love the ease of using SVN from within Xcode. Beanstalk is nice in the browser and plugs in automatically to Lighthouse and Twitter. I know I could do those things with Git, but I haven’t been compelled yet. The one thing that is tugging at me is local commits. But this becomes less of an issue when if I work on an iMac.
@JP Come on, JP! (In a loud voice, reminiscent to Jim Rome’s “Come On, Eileen” takes)