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by brendannee 969 days ago
Which M3 configuration is the best price/performance option for an average developer? Is there an obvious best choice?
3 comments
Toutouxc 969 days ago
Literally every single Apple Silicon MacBook with 16 GB of RAM can easily run your IDE, one or two VMs and/or some containers, your messaging app of choice and your browser. That's more than enough for most dev jobs out there. If your job actually requires more RAM or CPU grunt, you'll probably know. SoC, RAM and storage upgrades are kind of expensive from Apple, so the base models are always the most cost effective.
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bredren 969 days ago
Not that I can see. I spec’d this:

SoC: 11-core CPU, 14-core GPU, 16-core NE Memory: 18 GB Disk Space: 1 TB SSD Power: 70 Watt Price: $2199

I personally would go for the 36GB Ram on this, bump the processor to the 12/18 core set and go for 2TB drive but the price skyrockets with these additions.

FWIW, MBA M2 fully loaded is a very sound laptop.

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aurareturn 969 days ago
For an average dev, I'd honestly skip the M3 and go buy a 15" MBA with 16GB RAM.
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