

Ask HN: MacBook Air for Web Development? - NoahBuscher

Okay... This may be a bit late as I already placed my order for a MacBook Air 13&quot; 8gb RAM, 126gb SSD [latest model] (phew!), but I am wondering if you see it as a fit laptop for web development? I&#x27;m keeping my 15.6&quot; Ubuntu Dell Inspiron laptop, but don&#x27;t intend on using it much.<p>Also, are there any apps I NEED to know about if I&#x27;m going to be coding on a MacBook Air? If so, which ones? I&#x27;m mainly a Node backend developer.
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devinhalladay
You should be fine for sure. Some software you need to be using (in my
opinion, at least):

\- iTerm 2 (use ZSH for your shell and oh-my-zsh to extend it);

\- Sublime (although it looks like abandonware because it hasn't been updated
since December of last year);

\- Dash for reading documentation;

\- Hub ([https://github.com/github/hub](https://github.com/github/hub)) to
make Git better;

\- Homesick
([https://github.com/technicalpickles/homesick](https://github.com/technicalpickles/homesick))
for keeping your dotfiles backed up properly

Some other things you may want to look into for setting up your dev env:

\- Boxen ([https://boxen.github.com/_](https://boxen.github.com/_)

\- Laptop by Thoughbot
([https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop](https://github.com/thoughtbot/laptop))

\- Homebrew (this one's kind of obvious)

~~~
ChikkaChiChi
What exactly is missing from SublimeText 3 that causes people to think
development has been abandoned?

It seems to work great? Do we really need our text editors on a rapid release
cycle?

~~~
NoahBuscher
No - There's nothing wrong with it. But they have to continue to release
builds at least or operating systems may not support it without using a VM and
an older version of the OS.

That's my main concern at the moment.

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tzaman
After purchasing my Air (same specs as you, apart from SSD, mine is 256GB), I
sold pretty much every computer I had because I just stopped using them. I do
a lot of Ruby on Rails and AngularJS development + a bit of NodeJS from time
to time. One thing I'd recommend is having an external monitor (preferably
somewhere in 24"-27") because 13" IS to small to comfortably work on every
day, 8+ hours a day.

Regarding programs, well, apart from your favourite editor I recommend an
application launcher ([http://www.alfredapp.com/](http://www.alfredapp.com/))
plus a terminal replacement ([http://iterm2.com/](http://iterm2.com/)). Plus a
ton of necessary tools to work with terminal, such as git, homebrew, oh-my-
zsh,...

Good luck with your new Air! :)

~~~
st3fan
I also have an external display but I actually prefer just the (11") air.
Because with less on the screen it lets me focus better. Very personal though.
But it works well for me.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Neat perspective. I'll have to wait to compare it to my existing laptop (15.6
inches).

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cheald
I'm going to go against the grain here, but if you're planning on using it at
a desk most of the time, I think it's not necessarily the best option.

The primary reason is that it's underpowered. A number of my co-workers used
them until they got really frustrated with resource starvation slowing them
down, and they switched to MBPs. Starting up Firebug on an Air on a
sufficiently complex page or a webpage in Chrome that uses Flash can bring the
thing to its knees.

The second thing is that I'm a _big_ fan of developers developing in an
environment analogous to their deployment environment. Chances are pretty good
that as a Node developer, you'll be deploying on Linux, not on OS X. OS X does
a good Linux impression, but there are a _lot_ of errata that you're going to
run into. Running a VM on an Air is going to really tax it. As the "Linux
user" in my group, I tend to know what kinds of deployment issues the software
will have, while my co-workers struggle with a host of OS X-specific bugs that
I never contend with.

I use a pretty oldschool setup - headless Linux server that I work on via
SSH/Samba. It's not for everyone, but it lets me work on my desktop (custom
built beast of a Windows machine), Chromebook, Linux laptop, MBP, or even from
more exotic locations (I've fixed production bugs from my phone before,
including running test suites). Having your full development environment a)
mimic your production environment, and b) be accessible from anywhere that you
can get SSH is amazing.

That said, the MBA is a _great_ machine if you're going to be moving around a
lot. The form factor and weight are significant benefits, and the battery life
is remarkable given its size.

~~~
crimsonalucard
This isn't the case depending on how new your MBA is, or what the specs are.
Generally the top of the line MBA has way more then enough power to run a
linux VM.

~~~
yen223
I have a 2011 Macbook Air whose CPU has more than enough power to handle
anything you throw at it.

The _huge_ downside is that I made the mistake of getting the 128gb option,
which frankly is far too little. VM images, Photoshop, Office, and lots of
little project files all take up a surprisingly large amount of space.

If you want to go for the MBA, get at least 256gb.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Darn! I think I'm good for now, though, as I _don 't_ use VMs, PhotoShop, and
I use .md files for all my documents, so I never have Office installed (though
I have a license).

What CPU does yours have? I bought the i5 Haswell.

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imperium
I think the machine is good enough. Portable and Fast. A little short on
storage space, but if you don't hog it by huge files or photos then that is
not a problem.

Also, I will add the following to the list of apps you should have:

\- Flycut (Clipboard Manager)

\- GasMask (host file editor)

\- Sequel Pro (if you're using MySQL)

\- Dotfiles by Mathias Bynens
([https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles](https://github.com/mathiasbynens/dotfiles))

\- Any of your favorite task/to-do list manager.

Feel free to add more.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Great suggestions!

If you're going to be using Mongo, I _highly_ recommend RoboMongo.

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nedzadk
I bought Air (2013 model) 13" 256Gb and 4gigs of RAM. Using following iTerm2,
Photoshop, Safari (occasionally Chrome when some web videos are not working on
safari because of flash).

I own 24" monitor but i used it only couple times with macbook, for me 13" is
perfect size. I do rails, php and some web design and macbook air is just
perfect for it.

Btw being able to take you laptop outside and not have to worry for power is
just awesome.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Sweet! Battery life on my existing laptop sucks, and Ubuntu is a power hog. As
noted, I'm getting a 8gb version, but are you finding 4gb is enough?

~~~
notduncansmith
I've found 4GB to be more than enough. I don't use a ton of memory-hungry
software at once, though. Chrome with a few tabs, one or two terminal tabs
(iTerm 2 sliced up into ~3 sections), a few Node processes, Skype, and Spotify
is what my daily userspace software usage looks like. I fire up Photoshop
every now and again, and my laptop doesn't miss a beat, even with all of the
above running. I literally never find myself wishing I had more RAM.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Wow! Great to hear! I just wanted to be sure I had a buffer in the event I
ever needed to edit a longer video or wanted to do some 3D work in Blender.

~~~
xuki
Given that the MBA RAM is not upgradable, it'd be wise to max it out - just in
case.

------
turnip1979
Vagrant is great for dev. Sublime is awesome and atom is pretty decent too. I
use Smultron for short text notes. I don't use iTerm2 ... just the built-in
terminal.

P.S. I use a 2010 Macbook Pro (upgraded to 16 GB of RAM). Looking to upgrade
as soon as the new Intel chips get released/offered in a Macbook. I'm happy
with this dinosaur of a machine except I wish I had more cores for when I run
VMs.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Vagrant looks awesome! I'll totally get that.

I currently use SublimeText (been using it for about a year or so), as I'm
just so used to it, and I've already forked over the money. When ST 4 comes
around, I'll totally look into starting with Atom.

Nice! This one is a Haswell. I never used a computer with a Haswell before, so
this is new to me. Hoping for the best!

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PhrosTT
I went with the MBP 13" because...

-You get 2 thunderbolt ports instead of 1, so you can run dual external monitors. (Yes the air can run dual apple thunderbolt screens but that's stupid - glossy, overpriced, etc).

-Retina resolution = more lines of code

If neither of those matter and you don't need 16gb of ram, then the air offers
less weight and better battery.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Yeah. I'm totally okay without Retina, though it does look pretty sweet, and I
currently don't have a use for an external monitor - I'll need to see the Air
in person before I make the decision to buy. :)

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chadkruse
I snagged the same machine + the 256GB SSD upgrade two weeks ago and am quite
pleased (I spend the bulk of my day in Meteor). Coming from a 15" MBP I was a
bit nervous about screen real estate, but the 13" is plenty. One side benefit
I didn't expect was the portability of the thing got me away from the desk
more (moving around is a good thing imho). So...damn...light!

~~~
notduncansmith
Seconded on the screen real estate - I went from a desktop setup with 2
widescreen monitors, to the MBA and I'm more productive than ever.

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tholman
Seriously, yes.

I bought the cheapest Air I could get (4 gig, 13 inch) and its been a dream.
In the end my logic really was that, If what I'm creating (for the web)
doesn't perform fantastically on this laptop, then its not worth shipping out.

So no regrets here.

~~~
NoahBuscher
Awesome! That's exactly what I wanted to hear.

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rzimmerman
You'll want iTerm2 (free) as well as a good editor (I use SublimeText).

~~~
NoahBuscher
Awesome! Thanks.

I already have SublimeText and have been using it for a while, so I believe
I'll continue to do so on the Mac.

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dandruffhead
I know this is kinda late, but I would go for 8GB RAM and 256GB if possible.
126GB is too little for me, I own rMBP 13" with 512GB (roughly 500GB free for
storage), but even with that I have used 200GB. I don't store musics,
pictures, etc. It is just my development folder. 256GB will give you more room
to breath although you can just use external.

~~~
nness
I agree, 126GB is far too little the moment you have to start using a virtual
machine for anything. Suddenly your options are to swap appliances (if using
more than one) or try and run from an external drive. Both aren't fantastic
options...

~~~
NoahBuscher
Do you have any experience running a VM from an external drive? Is there a
significant speed decrease from an internal SSD?

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jason_slack
I have the same machine and I'm doing C++, OpenGL development and I'm very
happy. The portability is great. Combine with GitHub and I can easily switch
to my work horse machine when I am stationary at home.

ST3, iTerm 2 2.0, XCode, Dash.

~~~
NoahBuscher
+1 for ST3!

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slowblood
Vagrant/VirtualBox is the top of the list, I usually run a 64bit Ubuntu 13.10
instance for dev and production.

~~~
NoahBuscher
+1 for a fellow Ubuntu user.

I currently don't have a use for a VM, as I just deploy to a staging server
after local testing, but I'll keep those in mind!

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leeluolee
To be honest,128G is obviously not enough, dont make mistake like me.

~~~
NoahBuscher
I kind of figured that, but I have almost _no_ pictures and definitely no
videos.

Is it possible to upgrade the SSD after purchase?

