#MacBookAir #programming Is MacBook air good for programming? This is the most asked question in my inbox and I have answered it in this video. In this post we're purely discussing the most popular products of the Mac range that Apple ships as of 2016, comparing each product of their lineup as possible candidates for the seasoned web developer. Read on for our take on the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac for web development.
Apple's Mac range has long been a topic of debate amongst the web development community.
A sizeable number of developers do (and probably always will) prefer Windows PCs to work, usually citing that they offer more options and are as good as Macs, often without the price-tag. Our team uses a combination of both Macs and Windows machines to develop websites and themes, and even our own developers are torn between which OS they prefer.
However you see it, the choice is largely down to personal preference, and of course how much of a beating your wallet can take.
In this post we're purely discussing the most popular products of the Mac range that Apple ships as of 2016, comparing each product of their lineup as possible candidates for the seasoned web developer. Read on for our take on the MacBook, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and iMac for web development.
MacBook
The prettiest and most portable range of Apple's current Mac lineup is undoubtably the new MacBook. They come in a range of colors — silver, space grey, gold and rose gold, boast a slimmer unibody chassis than ever, and weigh a staggeringly small 2 pounds. You'd have to be quite uptight not to consider one, regardless of their tech specs.
2018 Macbook Air Review
What's good
The MacBook comes with a retina display of 2304x1440 (translating as 226 pixels per inch), which is great for developers who have the pleasure of working with retina graphics for the web.
The baseline model also ships with 256GB of onboard flash storage, which is impressive considering the measly 128GB that both the MacBook Air and Pro offer at baseline.
Of course, there's no denying the brilliant portability of the MacBook, which will prove second-to-none if you use your Mac for dual purpose or on-the-go. It's the slimmest and lightest of all Macs, and that's an important consideration for those who spend a lot of time working whilst traveling.
We couldn't possibly review this Mac without commenting on its beautiful range of colors, something we hope Apple will at some point introduce to the rest of its Mac lineup… imagine an iMac in rose gold!
What's bad
Unfortunately, this laptop does come with its fair share of drawbacks, when considering it from a web development perspective.
The processors built into the MacBook are a far cry from the offerings of opposing MacBook products. This is one of the most significant drawbacks of the MacBook, and it's sure to say that you'll probably notice this after some use, especially if you're doing anything more than word processing and simple web markup.
For a machine that is probably less useful than its competition, the price of the MacBook is probably a little unjustified. It comes with poor webcam resolution (currently 480p…), and no standard USB ports.
Also worth noting is its apparent flimsy design. Elegant as it may be, a smaller, thinner laptop makes for a more damage-prone one. One drop and you could be on your way to your nearest Apple repair store. You can probably relate to this if you've owned a fair share of iPhones over the years. Many early users also report having to get used to a noticeably shallower keyboard, which feels unfamiliar to the touch.
Finally, the MacBook's screen size is really somewhat of a letdown. It may only be 1 inch smaller in size than the MacBook Pro's baseline model, but on a screen of that size it really makes a difference. This is possibly one of the most deciding factors if you work with graphics and enjoy slightly more screen real estate.
In conclusion, it currently feels as though the MacBook is more of a showy device than anything else. It's pretty and the display is pixel-perfect, but in terms of processing power and bang for your buck, we don't feel that it's quite there yet. Perhaps in a year or two we'll see a newer model with a larger screen and configurable memory and processing power, but for now this laptop is probably best left to those who spend their days in Mail and Word.
MacBook Pro
Probably Apple's most popular and recognized laptop is the MacBook Pro. The small, lean unibody of the 2015 model isn't too much larger than its closest opponent: the MacBook Air.
2018 Macbook Air Specs
Shipping with a retina-ready display in both 13 and 15-inch sizes, the baseline MacBook Pro comes with 8GB of onboard memory and 128GB of flash storage.
Since 2006, the Pro has been refined numerous times to make it what it is today. One of the most popular choices of laptop among web developers and professionals in the digital space in general, it's hard to fault it. The laptop's onboard memory and processing power make for a portable powerhouse, as the baseline model weighs just under 3.5 pounds.
Perhaps what is best about the MacBook Pro is its range of models — there are 4 options for storage space (128GB, 256GB, 512GB and 1TB), a choice between 8 and 16GB onboard memory and a range of 6 Intel Core processors to choose from.
Not to be forgotten is the 2015 model's retina display, starting at 2560x1600 pixels, which is 227 pixels per inch on the 13-inch model.
The MacBook Pro is a great machine for full-time web developers, and is notably apt for those working with graphics and other types of digital media. Most won't hit trouble managing a localhost environment with heavy code and graphics, but even if you do (unlikely), every model is configurable to 16GB of memory.
Lastly, it's worth mentioning that the MacBook Pro is probably the most durable of Apple's laptop range, as it's thicker and provides a glass display, as opposed to the LED-backlit display that ships with the MacBook and MacBook Air.
Overall, we think that the MacBook Pro lives up to its name, and provides a great experience for web developers. It's portable (albeit a little less than Apple's other MacBook models), powerful, and its display looks great.
MacBook Air
First released in early 2008, the MacBook Air has been selling strong for more than 8 years. It's one of Apple's highest-selling Macs, and for good reason. For a device that weighs just shy of 3 pounds, Apple certainly have managed to pack in a lot of power.
The Air's unique selling point has always been its portability — it's a nifty machine for people who are on-the-go. However, for web development and graphic design, portability is not necessarily the most important consideration. Yes, the Air is several pounds lighter than the current version of the MacBook Pro, but sacrificing memory and processing power for slightly better portability is something to which you should lend some serious thought.
The priciest MacBook Pro ranks in at 4 times the onboard memory than that of the baseline Air, also offering a broader range of processors (up to 2.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i7). Anyone who's spent a significant amount of time developing with the MacBook Air knows that eventually it can start to slow, and once it becomes sluggish the Mac really loses some of its flair. RAM and processing power are particularly important considerations for developers working in a localhost environment, especially with a resource-intensive CMS.
Another limitation of the Air is its highest configurable flash storage space of 512GB, which comes at a hefty price. In contrast, the Pro can be configured to around double that, if need be. This is a particularly important consideration for those who work with graphics and rich web media, as any designer knows that file sizes can quickly add up.
As if things couldn't get any worse for the Air, one final point to note is its lack of a retina display. As we move more toward a retina web, it's important for web devs to embrace this technology. Unfortunately, it's very easy to overlook if you're working with a machine that doesn't show your content in high resolution, and even if you aren't overlooking the importance of retina-ready content, it's awkward to work with and produce it on a non-retina display.
To conclude, as portable as the MacBook Air may be, its many drawbacks render it far from the best choice for modern web development. Perhaps four or five years ago it would have made for a great choice, but with the direction things are moving in that's definitely not the case today.
The iMac
Undoubtably the most internationally recognized desktop computer of the modern day, the iMac is possibly one of Apple's most revolutionary creations. First introduced in 1998 (and heck, have they come a long way since then!), today's iMac combines powerful processing power and crisp graphics in a glorious all-in-one silver aluminium chassis. Forget CD drives and a large external HDD — this Mac's streamlined design is fit for offices of any size.
The iMac currently ships in 2 sizes — 21.5 inches and 27 inches respectively. While the smaller display serves as a great introduction to the iMac line, the larger screen size offers an increased amount of pixel real estate, and is hard to beat if you work regularly with retina images and graphic/web design. Of course, along with the larger display comes increased processing power and more impressive specifications overall, even at the baseline model.
We think the iMac makes a great choice for both web designers and developers, particularly if you work with rich media such as image and video. Its impressive specs are certainly fit for high-intensity work in all fields of digital media. While the 21.5 inch model is great in its own right, the larger iMac really is a beast of its own.
I've been meaning to write this article for the past eight months, but simply haven't had the chance. With the imminent MacBook Air refresh I thought it timely to take a few minutes to document my MacBook Air experience thus far.
My Mac history
I've owned four Macs to date. The first was a Black MacBook circa 2006 and I loved it. Aside from the greasy hand and fingerprints the machine was a slick piece of work and I really enjoyed having it. How to paint on macbook pro. The one downside for me was the chicklet keyboard, and that very element turned out to be the machine's single downfall. Towards the end, I lost the N key completely, never to be found again.
That machine was traded in to a Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro, the last of the pre-unibody enclosures. It was awesome too. I wasn't actively disappointed with the Black MacBook's performance, but moving up to the Pro was a noticeable improvement. Plus: matte screen.
Web Development W3school
My next machine was an i7 unibody MacBook Pro with a standard hard drive and 4GB RAM. I outline these specs for comparison with the meat of this article. It was a great machine, my only negative comment revolves around the glossy screen. I'm a matte lifer.
Then came the Air. I picked up my (now current, soon to be ancient) MacBook Air nearly the day they became available; in hand by my first (or second) day at Iron to Iron. There were barely any in stock due to being so new so I maxed one out on the site and waited. Specs are a 2.13 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3 RAM, SSD (naturally).
Initial impression before purchase
I'm a skeptic. Reviewing a MacBook Air as a possibility for a primary machine was no exception. I refused to believe that this axe-blade of a computer could in any way compete with the beastly i7 I was working with. I checked it out in store and I was pleasantly surprised, though. The first generation MacBook Air left a bad taste in my mouth as I heard a number of times that people simply didn't have the uninterrupted experience I had grown to love about using a Mac. Hard drive issues, fan issues, sleep issues, I can't even remember the list that had me scared.
Apple made it clear though, that this version was reworked. The presentation of the new model (and the price point) had me super curious as to whether or not it'd be feasible for my workflow. The two biggest benefits that kept me interested was the compressed resolution and the SSD.
MacBook Air + Web development
My focus of this piece is to outline my experience using a MacBook Air for my professional workflow: client-oriented Web front and back end development in OS X. My workflow involves the use of many tools, some of which overlap with a strictly designer's workflow, so perhaps my perception will be useful to designers (only) as well. I'm going to skip the general applications such as email, instant messaging, media, and the like simply because there are countless reviews outlining 'average use' of a MacBook Air — in short, it's awesome for that.
The kicker for me, though, is that my MacBook Air is the best Mac I've ever owned, hands down.
Photoshop
My development process begins in Photoshop. I'll receive final client-approved PSD comps from Kevin and work on static versions. Normal interaction with Photoshop is spot on with past machines if not a bit quicker, thanks to the SSD. Site asset generation from PSD to static files is overall surprisingly performant, and I expected it to be a bit more of a burden than it's proven to be.
Photoshop is slow by nature, and I would put the Air's handling of well designed site comps on par with the i7. I've heard from some other Air users that they do notice some slowdown when working in Photoshop, but it was likely due to the machine being the 1.8 GHz variety with 2GB RAM. Those specs are limiting for any machine running Photoshop.
Writing code
I've been dabbling in tons of tools over the past year. Of course, without fail, I've stuck with TextMate for the foreseeable future, but consistently keep an eye on Sublime Text 2. Just a few more feature ports and I'll be good to go there.
In addition to an editor, I'm running a local development environment via MAMP Pro and everything is lightning quick. I've got various SVN and git repos working at all times, and I've yet to see a bottleneck in the code space. I've also taken a step further in development by incorporating Xdebug into my workflow where appropriate and there's not a shadow of performance degradation there either.
I'm also doing more and more work with MySQL directly via Sequel Pro and it's marvelous. The code I write isn't ever compiled so that's not something I find myself doing too often (if at all) so I can't directly comment on performance there, but logic tells me it'd conform to the other experience I've had with the Air.
Overall, writing code should be a really speedy exercise and the Air facilitates that. Not to say that the actual inspiration of the code should come quickly, but the physical interaction itself should be, and is.
Additional information
My overall reaction to the Air in comparison to my recent i7 MacBook Pro is that performance difference is negligible. SSDs make a big difference. I imagine that if my i7 had an SSD, my resolution would be a bit different. I feel though, that comparing a MacBook Air to an i7 speaks towards what the Air is, and what it's to become.
2018 Mac Air
As I mentioned, one of the largest draws to the Air for me was the compressed resolution. My 13″ Air has the same resolution my 15″ MacBook Pro (1440×900) and I loved that. I've always loved the 13″ form factor, but the smaller resolution always felt cramped. This seemed like an ideal solution.
While the boost in resolution is awesome as expected, it took some getting used to. Not in that the pixel density was hard to grasp, but I use an external monitor, and seeing a design on one monitor versus the other plays tricks on your eye. I'll have Photoshop open on the Air's display, working on the comp, and my browser on the external monitor. I'm constantly shifting from one to the other, and it absolutely took some time to get used to the difference. For the first few days I was repeatedly checking font sizes and image dimensions to make sure they were accurate. That tendency has since subdued and I'm more used to the difference now, but it's something to be aware of. Additionally, there are times when moving windows around the secondary display shows the onboard graphics. Things get a little jittery should you move windows around quite a bit, but it's really quite temporary and nothing to earn a demerit.
On an average day I'll simultaneously be running a number of applications, a common group of which include:
- Chrome
- TextMate (or Sublime Text 2)
- iTunes
- OmniFocus
- Photoshop
- Transmit
- Versions
- Adium
I've yet to notice any lag, especially when comparing performance to my i7 MacBook Pro.
An unexpected benefit for me was portability. I don't travel too much but I've gone on a number of trips since November where the Air's shine was glowing. I've been a laptop guy for the past 6 years or so, but never really enjoyed a lasting battery. Finally, with the Air, I was able to get a staggering amount of work done before realizing that I wasn't plugged in to a wall. In addition to the battery life, the form factor is just the right boost of awesome. Laptops haven't been 'large' in many years, but I'm now completely spoiled by the dimensions of this computer. It would be disappointing to have to move back to a 15″ machine after getting used to the Air.
MacBook Air + the rest
In addition to my professional work, I also use my Air for a number of other things you may be interesting in comparing. I try to shoot photos with a Canon 7D, an 18 megapixel DSLR that generates ~30MB RAW files and I process these photos in Aperture 3. I tested Aperture in store and noticed that the sample photos were of a large size, but I was convinced (and not blaming that) Apple had used optimized assets in an effort to ‘wow'.
After working with 18MP RAW images in Aperture 3 (and Lightroom) for nearly the past year, I can say that the SSD helps bigtime. The MacBook Air is able to edit photos on par, if not a bit quicker than my Intel Core 2 Duo MacBook Pro (non unibody) could. The one reportable outcome is that the fans work hard when processing assets that large, and that always makes me nervous as heat and electronics don't mix with a positive outcome. I tend to do my post-processing of photos using a ‘scratch' library I've set up on the SSD itself, and once that work is done, I'll import that library into my main library stored on an external hard drive. This process has worked well, but dedicated graphics would be great in the future.
What I miss
With all of the good, there are a few niceties that I'd love to see in the possible MacBook Air refresh due this week. First and foremost: I miss the backlit keyboard. This is not something I expected as I came to take it for granted, but for those nights where I feel like doing some work from the living room couch without full room lighting, I'd love the benefit of a backlit keyboard. This update seems likely as of some recent news, so that's awesome.
The other major hardware change I'd love to see is an option with dedicated graphics, even if that meant a bit thicker of a form factor. It's not something integral to my professional workflow, but for those times when I'm processing photos or transcoding the occasional video, the boost in performance would be welcomed. I do my fair share of screencasts so not having the processor cranking and fans whirring for extended amounts of time would be great.
So there you have it; using a MacBook Air for Web development. Again, it's the best Mac I've ever owned, for both professional and personal use, and I will look forward to upgrading to a new Air when the time comes. It's that blend between a professional notebook and a portable netbook we've all been waiting for. The new Air's are going to sell like crazy.
