Best choice for programmers?

I'm currently a student on summer break and I bought a Eurocom M5 Pro for school last year. Anyway, after using it for the whole school year I realized that I don't need a gaming laptop for on the go. I really don't play games on the go. So I've decided to build a gaming desktop for home and get a smaller more portable laptop for school.
I'm currently torn between a few laptops:

1 - Macbook 12: This is is super small and portable. The one port doesn't bother me at all because I rarely ever plug anything in to my current laptop. The ONLY thing that bugs me is the keyboard. I used it in a store and it's so shallow, I can barely tell I'm typing on it.

2 - Macbook Air 13: This one is pretty much perfect. It's small light and portable. Has a bunch of ports. But the screen resolution is a lot lower than I'm used to. Battery life is incredible though.

3 - Razer Blade Stealth: Really great specs. Great screen. Battery life is alright but adapter is small and portable. I can get slightly better deals on the other two.

So, Which one would you guys choose? Both macbooks are very appealing but they each have a con that drives me crazy. So will I get used to the keyboard on the 12" Macbook, or will get used to the low screen resolution of the Macbook Air?

 

Depends on what you're going to be programming...if you intend to program for Apple (aka Cocoa/objective C and Metal API), obviously you will need a mac product --> rMBP 13. Forget the joke of a toy that is the "Macbook"

If you intend to program anything else you can do much, much better off with an Alienware 13. The keyboard is loads better than the miserable experience on the razer blade stealth, especially if you program, you will be typing a lot...the keyboard is so miserable on the stealth, words cannot describe. Alienware 13 will give you teeth when you need it better battery life, and a far more comfortable typing experience than the Razer blade stealth, for less money too.

 

I totally understand where you are coming from. I am just really looking for something small, light and a bit understated. I've owned the alienware m11x and currently have a Clevo P630SG. The alienware look is just too much for me. These are the 3 I currently have in my sights. So, just out of these 3 what would you recommend?

 

If you're dead set on those three only, rMBP 13. Forget the other two toys. They keyboards suck on both and given how tight the price difference is on the MB vs rMBP, spring for the rMBP 13.

 

If you're dead-set on the OSX environment, then I'd agree with Raidiar in that you should just go for one of the rMBPs. Speaking from experience, you're going to want both a decent keyboard and a decent, high-res display (I'd recommend at least 1080p), and neither the 12 nor Air 13 offer both. The screen on the rMBP obviously has the resolution, and while the keyboard certainly isn't a Thinkpad one, it's far batter than what you'd get on either the 12 or Air 13.

 

rmbp 13 is the way to go. Macbook Air is good, but given it's age and dat retina screen on rmbp, just go with rmbp

 

rMBP 13 or a 15 like I've gotten used to using as my go to coding and Pentest machine along with VMware Fusion and a dual boot for when I absolutely must have a pure Win environment for work.

 

Depends on what environments your coding in, if your not programming Apple specific apps could also look at an X260 with the upgraded screen if the 13" size appeals. I finally upgraded to one for my road warrior, the battery life, keyboard travel, the only gripe I have is no USB C but lots of extra ports work for me. battery life with the extended is 17 hours of actual working use. in my configuration

 

This would be the logical choice, but OP only wants Mac products so let him/her be.

 

If you're writing OSX or iOS code, then the opposite is true.

And I'd rather have a MBP than a Walmart special

 

I favor business class workhorses running *Nix! Behold, the power of the Command Line and thy Shell. Got Root? That said, Apple OSX does have BSD running the show and therefore is a *Nix box. So, out of these choices, Apple does have advantages if you like to think outside the Box and run thy command line.

 

There are some *subtle* differences between the Darwin BSD's unix-ness and the more common Linux unix-ness, but either are certainly a hell-a lot better than cmd.exe (and I guess PowerShell, but I need to start playing with that soon).

 

You do raise a good point. I run only *Nix at home. I refuse to run Windows. Hope to maybe have a MacBook Pro for audio use only.

 

Really?

On my rMPB I can develop for Apple platforms, Windows, Android, etc... Can you say the same?

 

i am getting an air 13 for programming...mostly android studio/ios/unity but I wont run emulators on them, I am debugging my code only on hardware.
Will the air13 be enough? atm is the cheapest in UK among the poll choices...

 

Depends on the complexity of the code you're working on. The Android and iOS stuff should be fine, but Unity could be a resource hog (and iirc you need Windows for that, which is yet more resources needed).

 

Indeed. Actually you need both if you are a real dev. but for a student who is supposed to have only 1 machine I will not recommend Apple.

Sorry if I have been offensive it was not my goal but Apple products are frustrating enough to be out of control today

It doesn't change the fact good people use Macs too

But you have to be sure you have the $$$ on your account unless you are going to end up in the loosers area

Apple is going to suck any penny from your account because they want you to buy the whole package: iPhone, iPad, Mac and of course overpriced accessories

 

Welcome to capitalist markets, where the desire of any seller is to sell you all of their warez. Lenovo does this just as well with their products, as does GM (just had to deal with that today... fun...), EA, Samsung, so on so forth. You as a customer either have to have enough self control not to fall for impulse buying, have to determine if XYZ is actually useful for you for the price, or simply buy whatever you're told to buy. That's not unique to Apple, and any idiot can wind up buying useless stuff for a bunch of money.

Don't see how their stuff is frustrating though. OSX software isn't much different from Windows/Linux software as far as usability goes. If you mean the ecosystem (such as buying software through their online portal), well.. it's their court and you either play ball or don't . You can always walk away.

 

Do not resort to name calling or use insulting/derogaroty terms just because you have a preference or inclination. Debating/arguing does not need to resort to name calling. Keep it clean people!

I would argue that learning to program works with any machine you want. You can install any os and work on any development environment you desire. Most have their pro/con. Macs are great for programing, but they can be expensive.

 

I agree. All the brand today are trying to turn into Apple and to take all your money.

This is the reason why I renovated my old Laptop and still run Windows 7.

Apple machines are more than great and I wish I could have them all.

But this is the same thing with cars, I like Maserati or Alfa Romeo but if I had a complicated long trip to do I will drive a basic Toyota

Again, if you have a lot of work and suddenly have a part of your computer that broke, even a simple cable or a wifi card, this is going to cost you 10x more money with Apple, and sometimes it can be very frustrating

As you said it's a question of money.

 

The MacBook Air would work fine for web/app development. Are you doing game dev I would go up a level to one of the pros. Especially to get a better GPU/CPU.

 

This only applies if you need to program in an xcode environment.....macbook is far from being "fast and efficient". Pathetic anemic CPU that can't even hold it's proper clockspeeds. The ideal route would be even better to grab a hackintosh capable laptop and use that to program in xcode (like I used to do...) because Macbook "Pro" is not remotely "Pro" since 2011.

Nevermind the anemic specifications at that price point, have you tried typing on a new Macbook or Macbook "Pro" keyboard? Absolutely sh!t key travel and tactility, I demo'd one in the store before ruling it out completely. I still use an older Alienware or Thinkpad because those keyboards are GOLD for typing as far as laptops are concerned. MSI GT82 also has a desktop grade keyboard, but not very portable.