Anyone tried to live with the new 2015 MacBook that just launched? Not the MacBook Pro, the 12" MacBook with Retina.
It used to be a Lubuntu VM with 4gb ram. Now that Velocity works with Windows I do all my development on Windows + Webstorm.
I can’t imagine it being an issue…
My 2008 Unibody Macbook (non-pro) still works fine for all tasks in relation to Meteor development.
Runs the latest OSX, all browsers, multiple monitors etc…
I can’t imagine the newest Macbook being nerf’d to the point where it can’t compete with a Macbook from 8 years ago.
That’s not exactly what I meant. Don’t take this the wrong way but someone who owns and uses, if there are any, a new Macbook 12" would be better suited to answer.
I too have an old Macbook Pro and the battery life is horrible (even after replacing it), and it’s big, heavy, and hot. I’m thinking about picking up either a new Pro or a new Macbook 12". I’ve toyed with both at the store and the weight of the Macbook is great and easy to handle on the go but I wonder about the usability during longer typing sessions. That’s not something I can test at the store very well, though I tried, hence the question here.
I’ve read people talking about how different the keyboard is on the new Macbook from the Pro and Air and someone even talking about possible typing fatigue because of it…a problem none of us need.
I also don’t know that it supports multiple (2+) external monitors. At least not yet. Don’t think it does. Least not without also using an Apple TV or Chromecast or something.
I’m mostly curious if any developers/coders/bloggers/etc are using this new Macbook 12" and how it’s going for them when they are not sitting at a desk with their external devices that make things easier regardless of which device you have. How is coding, typing, etc when you are mobile?
How are more resource intensive applications like Photoshop and Webstorm?
Yeah I would love to hear from someone who has one! I was on the fence but opted for the new 13’’ pro. Wasn’t sure what you were after when I posted my answer. Hope someone with one turns up to the thread.
The early 2015 macbook use usb type-c is interesting but NVme SSD on PCIe is disappointed, should wait for PCIe 3.0 to match the read write performance of that Macbook Pro 256GB which gives over 1,200MB/s although that is only great if 100r/0w or 0r/100w.
I think NVme SSD might enter mainstream market during mid year.
Is 8GB memory RAM is sufficient for Windows 8 VM in Yosemite?
should word fine. dev work isn’t that intensive generally (but running tests can be resource intensive). I use a MacBookAir with 4GB ram sometimes, so i’m sure the new macbook is up to the task
probably just need to try it and see!
I too am eyeing at the new macbook and I don’t think typing would be that big a problem. I think I type only during 20% of my programming anyways 
Yet, I wonder about its performance with a vm or an ios simulator, with which the cpu will make huge difference and the macbook cpu is a pretty low-end one.
Currently without running a VM my machine is using 7.6 GiB running one instance of WebStorm, 6 browser tabs, my meteor app along with 4 Node worker processes (edit: forgot about elasticsearch, it’s using around 3/4 of a GiB). Webstorms the biggest hog, it’s taking up 1.1 GiB. But add up all the Node processes and it’s taking up more than Webstorm.
I can probably make do with 8, but RAM is cheap enough that it just made sense to me to get a second stick. If I was going to buy one of the new macbook pros I’d opt for as much RAM as you can get since it’s no longer upgradable.
I do agree that the more the RAM the better.
But there is also the cpu speed where we don’t usually see making a difference with our current desktop/laptop setups.
The new macbook, on the other hand, is utilizing a brand new cpu model that has not been used before. It is much closer to the phone/tablet cpu’s than it is to desktop/laptop cpus.
So, that’s why I’m wondering if the new macbook is suitable especially for ios development with a iphone/ipad emulator workflow.
Thanks workman. Ironically I was in the Apple store today playing with the Macbook and Macbook Pro. I downloaded Webstorm to each of them but they wouldn’t let me install it on either. I had Activity Monitor ready to go because I was concerned about exactly what you have posted. The Macbook was using 2.7GB of the 8GB RAM without having any applications open and I was concerned that Webstorm would push it too far.
Given that the CPU is slower and 8GB of RAM is the maximum available for the Macbook, I’m going to have to go with the Macbook Pro. The thought of (not necessarily all at the same time) Webstorm, Photoshop, iOS/Android emulators, and a VM just tilts it too far. The Macbook is not meant for that type of workload.
Hopefully there isn’t a Late 2015 refresh of the Macbook Pro!!
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If you’re looking for the 15’’ then I think there will be a late 2015 update, the 13’’ was recently updated with new CPU, trackpad etc… but the 15’’ wasn’t updated. Word on the street is that it will get updated when the new Skylake CPUs are ready. Have to wait and see.
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Old 17’’ core duo with just 2GB Ram and 60GB SSD on Ubuntu 14 - works as MacBook Pro 2012 when dealing with Meteor (sublime text 3 + firefox)
Thinkpad x220 + Arch linux and Sublime 3 
That’s isn’t important if there are Late 2015, we aren’t sure how long PCIe SSD can lasts.
Well I got Macbook 2015 fine so far in the 1st week. If there is any pros and cons.
Pros:
Retina is worth every pixels, the details on 720p screen is super clarity than any LCD display.
Faster than fast if it’s 256GB for 1200MB/s RW on PCIe SSD.
Sleep rather than shutdown to maintain lifespan of your hardware.
Updated to 10.10.3 shows some improvement and appears a little more responsive.
Cons:
Audio DSP still cheap and not good for programmers. You should get this since ESS Sabre delivers the highest audio quality through USB port on any devices:
Need external cooling to keep Macbook from getting too warm when playback 4K video.
Tips:
Only update certain applications thru Mac OS X “software update” when you start using that applications, there is no point running full updates frequently that will wear out SSD storage and taking up more space.
SuperDuper is a must for backup all files before doing serious changes to OS or free up space especially removing Garageband and iPhoto binary and libraries.
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Wow, thanks! This was exactly the kind of experience I was hoping to here.
So, did you try running ios emulators and, say, debug at the same time? Would you say it is a pleasant experience? Or perhaps, did you run integration tests?
I also did not get what you mean by audio dsp not being good for programmers. What’s the relation to programming (games maybe)? What’s wrong?
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Coming from Windows world, I’m suck at iOS sdk and related tools. I think you can find YouTube video which are demonstrate in a better way.
I guess it is more applicable for creative works and I develop music software, of course we all love to listen good music for inspiration and creativity, we still need at least DAC thru USB to get the most sound details, that least it help for visual and audio programmers to produce the best website portfolios.
The default audio chipset wasn’t good enough for today music and 24bits FLAC.