What is better to buy for comfortable work as a programmer: Makbook Pro 13" 8gb or Makbook Air 13" 16gb?

Question

macbook

I do not understand Apple technology, but I am going to buy it for work (it is not yet known exactly which one). Clarification: the girl goes through 42 school, and will develop and work as a programmer. Most likely, sooner or later this will result in something related to python and data science, but so far we decided to purchase the minimum hardware on a poppy to start.
And the problem of choice is the question:
what will work worse: a poppy with a cooler (in the pro version) at 8 ram or a poppy without a cooler with 16 ram. I read that 8 GB is not enough for 2-3 terminals plus a browser plus telegrams, but the lack of active cooling scares me. I would have bought pro with 16, but due to the unavailability of this configuration, the difference in price is almost 40%.
Or perhaps it is worth considering earlier Pro versions, for example 19? But as I understand it, M1 gives too much boost to everything.
And since I understand that I will most likely have to buy Air 16gb, can anyone know if the poppy will overheat with passive cooling in the game Genshin Impact?
Suggest something.

Answer 1

The best, IMHO, option is to buy iron when you need it - then you will know what suits you best

Answer 2

Buy Air 16/256
For programming great. I did this in March.
The beech is cold, there is no cooler, and that's great.
Yes, I am a programmer. 13" is enough for everything except developing interfaces on storyboards - but there is an external display for this, although most of the time I work on the built-in one.

Answer 3

Take air. Last week we bought 2 airs - for my wife and girlfriend. both are happy.
I have a December proshka, yes, cool, but the fans rarely turn on.

Answer 4

And since I understand that most likely I will have to buy Air 16gb

If you know, why are you asking?

I don't understand Apple technology, but I'm going to buy it for work

Laughed.

into something related to python and data science

How is the girl doing math?

for comfortable work as a programmer ...... in the game Genshin Impact

I laughed again - Mac and games ...
If the emphasis is on memory, then take Air, and if 8 gigs suits, then PRO-shki will last you a very long time.

Answer 5

Will the Mac overheat when passively cooled in Genshin Impact?

it won't overheat because there is no Genshin Impact for Macs.

Answer 6

Good afternoon.
Let's start with a simple one - the choice of OS. First of all, I note that when choosing a MacBook, you tie yourself to MacOS, which means that you will need to work with this particular OS. From here, the first question immediately arises - in which OS does the girl work better? This should be one of the deciding factors, because switching to another OS does not always happen without a hitch. If she worked with Windows before, then the hardware, respectively, should be suitable. A developer works more productively under a familiar OS...
For example, I used to work on Windows, but I've been working on Linux for several years and it suits me in many ways, including in terms of productivity. In addition, as colleagues noted, given the high cost of Apple hardware, you can take something from other manufacturers at first.
As for Apple and, in particular, MacBook, then:
1) you need 16 GB for development (8 GB is not enough, frankly). Accordingly, take either a MacBook Pro 16 gb or a MacBook Air 16 gb. I hope it’s not worth saying that it’s worth taking models from 2020 with an Apple M1 processor.
2) For development, both models have a small screen. Sorry, but 13 inches is not enough. This leads to the following advice - think about creating a dock. stations with a connected external monitor / monitors. PS You must have seen the MacBook Pro 16", but given that it does not work on the M1, then you probably shouldn't take it. You can wait until they release another chip, something like m2 or something ... but not fact.

And since I understand that I will most likely have to buy Air 16gb, can anyone know if the poppy will overheat with passive cooling in the game Genshin Impact?

I will say this - you should not consider MacOS & Linux for gaming.

Or perhaps it is worth considering earlier Pro versions, for example 19? But as I understand it, M1 gives too much boost to everything.

At the same price, and most likely even cheaper, you will find other manufacturers with some kind of intel core i9 or amd ryzen 9, and if you install OC Linux, you won’t notice much difference between a poppy)) (just kidding).

Answer 7

There are excellent options from other manufacturers, Apple is not a performance indicator, but the price tag is good. I didn’t use powerful laptops myself, I can’t say who has better cooling, but I can advise you to look at other options (performance can even be better and the price is less) from MSI, ASUS (TuF, ROG Strix), DELL (Very good for work) and with an SSD and 16 GB of RAM there will also be a good video card

Answer 8

13" for constant work without an external monitor - Khan's eyes.
8gb will not be enough if something is run locally.

Answer 9

13 inches for a permanent job is a kick. People put two monitors of 27 inches each and think where to tie the third one...
If someone says that he works for 13, probably his work mainly consists of rallies and conference calls.
But in general, buying a beech in advance is a bad idea, the chance is too great that something completely different will be needed.