Question Looking for a Laptop for Programming – Need Suggestions

[keavan99]

I'm planning to buy a new laptop primarily for full-stack and mobile app development. I'm also a beginner in machine learning and AI, so I may explore those areas over time.

My Requirements:​

• Primary Usage: Full-stack and mobile app development
• Learning Focus: Beginner in ML/AI
• Budget: Not fixed yet
• Portability: Prefer a lightweight and portable option
• Gaming: Not a priority, but occasional use is fine
• OS Needs: macOS is great for development, but I also need Linux for Hadoop hosting & cloud setup (which isn't straightforward on a Mac due to Boot Camp limitations).

Questions:​

1. Mac vs. Other Brands – Considering my Linux requirement, would a Mac still be a good choice, or should I explore other brands?
2. Intel vs. AMD – Which processor would be better for my use case?
3. Best CPU Series? – Which Intel or AMD CPU series would be ideal for Docker, Hadoop, and mobile app emulators?

Would love to hear your recommendations! 😊

 

[QyInvoLing]

I don't know if Mac satisfies your Linux requirement, but I do recommend Intel's Lunar Lake architecture CPU if you want a lightweight & long endurance x86 laptop.
It's CPU peak performance is bad(4 p-cores+4 e-cores, cache speed is low), but it's iGPU is better than others.

You mentioned the word "fullstack", so I assume that you have some frontend works to do. Safari browser is awful, which can produce bugs, and if you want to reproduce these bugs reported by your colleagues, you must use an Mac, not iPhone or iPad. Last week I met a safari bug that needs to be reproduced by pressing command+minus to change the size of the website, which is impossible in my iPad even with keyboard connected.

 

[QyInvoLing]

I'm using an ASUS vivobook 14 pro, which contains a Lukar Lake arch CPU called Ultra 7 258v. It's endurance is great and it suits my frontend developing job.
It's not that suitable for games. I only get 100 FPS in valorant due to it's slow cache, and I can play genshin in 1080p 60fps thanks to it's powerful Arc 140V iGPU.