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Before I start making my blog post intro, I have to say, Wow! It’s been a while since I made my post here. It’s almost the entire year of 2023 that’s about to draw its last curtain before 2024 is coming around the corner.

Since my last post earlier in the year, I mentioned my wedding plans mid-year of 2023 and now that’s all done and dusted. Naturally, the next thing to do after my wedding was to book our honeymoon to tour all the fun places around Malaysia and Indonesia towards the end of October 2023.

Here’s one of the best photo trips we took during our initial stay in KL.

The magnificent sight of Petronas Twin Towers during the night.

Here’s me and my wife took the selfie shot of the Petronas Twin Towers itself.

One of the best highlights of our trip throughout the honeymoon experience so far, was before we finally arrived home in Sydney in late November.

Before making this trip, I made plans of wanting to place an order for the Apple MacBook Pro M2 machine when contacting a PC store in Kuching, my home city of Sarawak, Malaysia. I was hoping to have the machine ready by the time I arrive in Kuching on our second leg of the honeymoon journey as I can bring it physically back home to Sydney with me.

But due to some unforeseen circumstances, the logistics behind the delivery of a new custom-made Macbook M2 Pro machine was not within my control and under my preferred scheduled delivery, I had to organise the DHL overseas delivery by not only the package payment of $350 AUD but also had to pay the import tax duty of $375 AUD on top of it as well! It’s certainly awful to spend a lot of that money on top of purchasing a MacBook M2 Pro machine for a good price, (which worked out I’m better off saving $800 AUD than the local retail price in Sydney on average). Sigh!

In spite of all that, the item did arrive safely at my local newsagency collection centre, I wasted no time to pick it up as a major sign of relief and ecstasy!

With all that bridge under troubled waters now over, I can get straight into the business of mentioning my thoughts on the best developer experience using MacBook M2 Pro device specs. I couldn’t be any happier to have this fine machine spec as my early Xmas present! 😊🥰🎄🎁

Without further ado.

Introduction

Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting on your coding journey, the right tools can make a significant difference in your productivity and overall experience. In this blog post, we’ll explore why the Apple MacBook Pro M2 is an exciting choice for software developers seeking to elevate their skills and workflow.

The Power of Apple Silicon

Prior to having my new Macbook, my present Macbook Pro 2017 edition comes with 2.3 GHz Dual-Core Intel Core i5, 8GB RAM, 256 GB storage space and 1GB graphic memory. Over years of using this spec, I have noticed with modern apps getting far more advanced for development needs in terms of CPU, storage and memory performance, they’re getting far too slow for modern-day development these days. Especially, the majority of the boot and run time resources are spent on running local docker containers and browser multi tabs like Chrome, Firefox, Safari etc on a constant basis, they should put a lot of strain on the limited system resources I got.

Apple’s transition to its custom M1 and now M2 silicon has revolutionized the computing landscape. The MacBook Pro M2, powered by this cutting-edge architecture, brings unparalleled performance and efficiency to the table.

With my above unpackaged item, my new machine has the following specs:

• 13-inch
• Apple M2 Pro, 8-core CPU, 10-core GPU, 16 Core Neural Engine
• 16 GB RAM
• 512 GB SSD
• macOS Ventura

1. Blazing Fast Speeds

The M2 chip’s multi-core performance ensures that your software compiles and runs swiftly, significantly reducing development cycles. Experience the thrill of near-instantaneous response times as you code, test, and debug with ease.

The M2 chip is an upgraded version of the M1 chip, which was Apple’s first attempt at designing its own ARM-based silicon. The M2 is the latest and most efficient Apple Silicon, with an 18% faster CPU, a 35% faster GPU and a 40% faster neural engine than previous generations, as well as 50% more memory bandwidth.

2. Efficient Power Consumption

Enjoy extended battery life without compromising performance. The M2 chip excels in energy efficiency, allowing you to code on the go without constantly worrying about running out of battery power.

Exceptional Development Environment

A great development environment is crucial for any software engineer. The MacBook Pro M2 excels in providing an environment that fosters productivity and creativity.

1. Retina Display for Clarity

The MacBook Pro’s Retina display offers crystal-clear visuals, making code easier to read and reducing eye strain during long coding sessions. The high resolution ensures that every detail of your project is displayed with precision.

2. Touch Bar for Intuitive Controls

Take advantage of the Touch Bar, a dynamic and context-aware input device, to streamline your workflow. Customize it to access your favourite commands, making repetitive tasks a breeze.

Seamless Integration with Developer Tools

Apple’s ecosystem is known for its seamless integration, and the MacBook Pro M2 is no exception.

1. Xcode for iOS and macOS Development

If you’re into iOS or macOS development, the MacBook Pro M2 is a dream machine. Compile and run your apps faster than ever, and leverage the efficiency of Xcode to enhance your development workflow. But, if native mobile development is not one of your forte skills, you can certainly give open-source platforms such as Expo Go to build native app experiences using your front-end skills like React/JS a go. MacBook M2 Pro will certainly give you a major edge to take your native development to the next level.

2. Homebrew for Package Management

Easily install and manage development tools with Homebrew. The MacBook Pro M2 ensures compatibility and smooth performance for the vast array of packages available.

Future-Proofing Your Skill Set

Investing in the MacBook Pro M2 is not just about the present; it’s about future-proofing your development capabilities.

1. Ongoing Software Support

Apple’s commitment to software updates ensures that your MacBook Pro M2 remains current with the latest features and improvements, keeping you at the forefront of technological advancements.

2. Expanding App Ecosystem

As the Apple ecosystem grows, so do the opportunities for developers. Take advantage of the expanding App Store and tap into new markets and tools with your innovative applications.

3. More Bare-metal Processing Power for Local Development

As we’re living in the age of cloud computing and cloud development services, while it’s true the core advantage of such things is to provide vast scalability, cost savings, increased performance etc as your app grows at a particular scale point in the long run, I’d find sometimes this is not always the case in the short run, especially when you just starting out, Local development would clearly outshine here because they are extremely fast, easy and free to do, Developers don’t have to pay for cloud resources upfront in the beginning, even an Internet is not necessarily required. This is especially true when you just want to explore distributed streaming technology locally such as Apache Kafka for eg. With MacBook M2 Pro specs in your hands, you can untap its raw power to spin enough of its local resources to develop and validate your app functionality as much as you want until you’re ready to move on to cloud services and be financially confident to afford micro/macro transactions for their services diligently. Before M1/M2 existence, this is fairly difficult to accomplish.

Conclusion

In conclusion, upgrading to the Apple MacBook Pro M2 is a game-changer for developers. From the incredible speed and efficiency of the M2 chip to the seamless integration with powerful developer tools, this machine is designed to elevate your software development experience. Make the leap and unlock the next level in your coding journey.

Till next time, have a Merry Safe Xmas Holidays.

See you in the new year, Happy Coding!

PS: This article is by no means a complete guide to my new Mac setup for development. There are a lot of guides online dev bloggers have built in their own certain ways. Each one of them is unique to their own personal development tastes. I would write up a separate blog post in the future for it on my own approach.