[_gllen]

I tried going from a 2018 MBP to M1 MBA in 2021 and had too many issues to make it my primary machine. Docker and Android development were particularly brutal to get going reliably IIRC. The M1 performed well for the things it could do, but I still needed the MBP (which constantly reached 100% CPU) for other stuff, so I ended up doing a horrible multi-machine setup with Synergy. That was a dark time in my life ;)

Then tried again early this year with a M1Max MBP, and it has been the biggest step change productivity boost of my life. Definitely still some pain points, but the way this thing handles anything I throw at it is incredible.

I'm mostly doing front-end dev (react native). Have a minimum of 2 IDEs, 1 iOS simulator, 1 Android simulator, Windows (ARM) Virtualbox, 2 browsers open at all times. And then add a mix of Docker, XCode, Android Studio, Zoom, Sketch, Affinity apps, Slack, Zoom, etc. I haven't ever heard the fan spin up. I was carefully managing what I had open on the 2018 MBP, and now I don't even think about it.

The only thing I'm still running in Rosetta is Apple software: XCode and the iOS simulator, but they run smooth, so I don't even think about it.

The MBA setup I was just flailing my way through. For the M1Max setup, I found this guide very helpful in my initial setup (mostly focused on a RN Dev): https://amanhimself.dev/blog/setup-macbook-m1/

[andrewk17]

I've been doing React Native development on my M1 MBP and it's been pretty great overall.

But is anyone else surprised how long it's taking to get the iOS Simulator for ARM? I feel like it would make a massive difference to my developer experience (especially in battery). And I haven't seen any indication that it's coming anytime soon.

[navjack27]

Isn't it... Just in xcode? I've used it. It's like, there, right?

I open up my 13.3 beta 2 and go to the xcode tab go down to open developer tool click on simulator and then click on file and then open simulator my mouse over to iOS 15.4 go down to the iPhone 13 for example click on it and then I have a simulated iPhone 13...

And if I check the activity monitor nothing in my activity monitor is showing up as Intel code except for parsec right now...

[andrewk17]

Great point. I was conflating the Simulator and the app that React Native builds. Simulator is definitely running natively on ARM.

And your comment made me go look back at my react native project setup. Looks like the main reason my app is still building to x86 is because of one Expo dependency that doesn't yet compile to arm64. So more of a Expo concern.

Thanks for checking on your end.

[_gllen]

I didn't realize it wasn't already ARM. I found one day (https://stackoverflow.com/a/68929949) that running Simulator with Rosetta allows momentum scrolling to work, and everything else seemed perfect, so I left it that way.

[seanalltogether]

> The only thing I'm still running in Rosetta is Apple software: XCode and the iOS simulator, but they run smooth, so I don't even think about it.

How old is your version of xcode? From what I can see they added M1 support 1.5 years ago.

[_gllen]

I have pods that haven’t been updated to work with arm yet.

[jshier]

Give https://github.com/bogo/arm64-to-sim a try. Perhaps you'll be able to get the arm64-simulator slice for free.

[nottorp]

> Docker and Android development were particularly brutal to get going reliably IIRC.

Android? Android Studio has problems? That would be vital to me if i went Mx.

[_gllen]

Was only a problem with my first try (the Macbook air, right after release)

My 2nd try with the MBP in 2022, following the guide I linked above, Android Studio has been perfect.