The Wide, Wide World of Apple

[DontSayBanana]

So  my new job is contemplating switching from Lenovo laptops over to Macs.

I have been tasked with deciding which macbook should be the "standard" developers machine.

Thoughts?

Developer's machines take a little more thought than just which Macbook to get- are they going to be running multiple projects simultaneously? Probably want to upgrade the processors. Are they going to be running their projects in virtual machines? Probably want to upgrade the processors AND the RAM. Docker containers? Maybe not so much RAM. Also, compiled, JIT compiled, or interpreted languages? Because you're going to want more firepower depending on the load running the project is going to take- C could be developed on a potato, Java is going to need at least a decent salad, and running a server for a scripted language like JS or Python or Ruby on Rails is going to need some serious steak and potatoes...

[CountDeMoney]

The updated Apple iOS 11 is more life- and energy-draining than any girlfriend.  Goddamn.

[Barrister]

The updated Apple iOS 11 is more life- and energy-draining than any girlfriend.  Goddamn.

On the plus side I'm told my iPhone 5 does not support iOS 11, and that certain government-required software will need iOS 11, I'm apparently getting an upgrade (at some point).

[CountDeMoney]

Yeah, you're definitely going to get one;  the 5 simply doesn't have the horsepower for it.

[CountDeMoney]

My iPad is still on 10.3.3;  11 has not been pushed out yet for other devices and it's my understanding that 11 is so buggy that 11.1 is already in beta.

[Liep]

I bought an Apple Watch and I'm quite fond of it already, it doesn't have a podcast app though so I have to play episodes through Siri if I don't want to get my phone up. After 20 minutes I got the Danish Siri to understand 'The Bugle' by what I can only call a voice hack.

Technology rocks.

[garbon]

What a weirdo.

[Liep]

What a weirdo.

Well it should work on the first go from now on. And it had no problem understanding 'Dårligdommerne'.

[Liep]

It is simply impossible to make Siri play King Krule - The OOZ, a deal breaker so I've switched to the English version. It makes me feel even more like a jackass.

[Liep]

How well will a MacBook or the cheapest MacBook Pro fare with EU4 or FM17?

[Duque de Bragança]

So they have SSDs which helps...
I expect they will have Intel chipsets so worse than old graphic cards. OTOH, with Thunderbolt you can link them to an external graphic card and ultimately to an external screen. Not very practical though.
So not very well I'm afraid, though you could always install Windows via Bootcamp for the better performance though some of it will be lost by the overheating/fans working more on Windows.

Give their specs though, maybe the cheapest MacBook Pro is not so bad after all. 

PS: checked their specs

[katmai]

My macbook pro is top of the line from early 2015, runs both of those fine

[Duque de Bragança]

MacBook Pro top of the line means a real discrete graphic card so I am not surprised. 

[katmai]

MacBook Pro top of the line means a real discrete graphic card so I am not surprised. 

Yeah it is a GeForce  GT 750. Haven't tried Total War Warhammer, but had no issues with X-COM II as well as Liep's aforementioned games.

[Duque de Bragança]

I have a top of the line Mac Book Pro and that's the only good thing I can say.

[spoiler]Mid-2010 so discrete graphic card but unable to run XCOM II for instance.[/spoiler]