What dev machine do you have?

General Developer Forum Hardware
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Tell us what kind of machine/hardware do you have? and what kind of reason for?

describe your hardware… :computer: :nerd_face:

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  • iMac Pro as a main driver. Using the 10-core / 20-thread variant with 64GB RAM and 2TB SSD.
  • MacBook Pro mid-2015, 15". Carry it around when travelling or going to dev meetups (so, 1-2 times a year, gotta change that) :laughing:
  • Aging Windows 10 gaming PC, i7-3770 CPU, 32GB RAM, GTX 980. Was my main work machine for 8-9 years but no longer. Still runs 99% of any games I like at at least 100FPS.
  • Manjaro laptop with an i3-3217U CPU and 8GB RAM which I use to sanity-check my programs (e.g. if they only work well on macOS – or Windows).

iMac Pro reference picture: imac-pro-setup-100744333-orig

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I’ve got a 16" MBP… which I love :nerd:

Screenshot 2020-06-16 at 14.05.46

I mentioned in another thread that I have been buying a new Mac every year for the past few years but none of them felt worth ditching my 11" MBA for (which I loved!) - that changed when they brought out the 16" MBP, which was handy as that’s when the MBA started showing its age (funnily enough after each OS update it would feel a little slower!!!).

Hopefully this MB will last me a good few years, here are the specs:

  • 2.3GHz 8-core 9th-generation Intel Core i9 processor, Turbo Boost up to 4.8GHz
  • 64GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
  • AMD Radeon Pro 5500M with 8GB of GDDR6 memory
  • 2TB SSD storage
  • 16-inch Retina display with True Tone

I also have an 5K LG display which I also really like - particularly like that I can simply plug in one cable into my Mac which then charges the Mac, feeds the display, is connected to my SSDs for back ups and other USB accessories such as a charging cable for my Kindle and iPhone for photo transfers. I bought the monitor when Apple had it on offer so saved about £400 on it.

I love pretty much everything about this set-up, apart from…

  • The price! Why have computers become so expensive? Aren’t advances in technology meant to be bringing the price down :joy:
  • The black (and somewhat thick) frame of the LG monitor. I would have preferred silver and thinner bezels. But the display itself is pretty amazing.
  • Size of display. Think for me a 30" or 32" monitor would be better… but I’m not paying £6K for the new Apple Displays :rofl:
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In theory yes but there are a few factors at play:

  • Producing modern tech requires more and more advanced manufacturing process and many smaller players can’t compete for licenses (or any other costs) and can’t afford to produce in-house anymore. F.ex. most commercially known CPUs are produced literally in a single fab in the world (TSMC in Taiwan).
  • As smaller players get pushed from the market, the remaining companies can and do practice oligopoly, silently keeping the prices at levels where no other player in the market is in real competitive trouble.
  • Demand for new laptops and desktops seems to be gradually falling so the vendors compensate by raising the individual prices so they can keep the same profit margins (and gross numbers). Apple is infamous for doing this but they are hardly the only ones.
  • Related to the above: people care about computers less and less. If the non-tech workers can get away with a phone and a tablet only, they will (and many do). Eventually this might raise the prices of the computers to even bigger levels as they become a “prestige item”.
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Yeah, I think in terms of Apple, a lot of it is custom hardware… which I think is only going to increase in time (pretty sure their agenda is to make the Mac ‘more’ than what a typical PC is over time, leading to more demand, etc).

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Yes. There are strong signs that Apple is pushing hard for ARM processors in their next gen. Quite interesting times ahead. But I am pretty sure any cost savings will not be carried over as reduced prices to the customers, no. :laughing:

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Apple machines in Brazil is freaky insane higher cost, no way I can spend my money in any apple product, I know their value, but their cost is don’t fit with my wallet…

My thoughts about this different sizes of apple they need to cover more hardware and I could have a cost for performance.

When my Macbook Air stop work I need to see other options and I really like to but a good Lenovo notebooks, but their has the same problem for Brazil, they are very expensive too.

I choose Acer, my actual notebook it’s a nitro 5.

And I’m a person who likes to learn manual things, so I decided to learn to build things woodwork and I made my actual desk.

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Does it have to be a notebook Herminio? If not, have you considered a Hackintosh?

Post pics!! I love real wood furniture! :smiley:

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Yes, I think to buy a desktop computer, but I had budgeted for buy one machine because that I choose to buy a notebook and because I work remotely for an NGO(Fundação Estudar) where to stay in São Paulo - Brazil, and I personally live in Fortaleza - Brazil, so at least three times in a year I need to travel to São Paulo and pass a few days in a row working on site.

@AstonJ my desk it’s unfinished but when I finish I promise to post some pics, okay?!

But I had other furniture I had finish…

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My dev machine is self-built, been upgrading it over the past 30 years to what it is now; parts in it range from about 6-7 years old to almost 20 years old for some parts that refuse to die so I can replace them with something modern… ^.^;

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My company-issued laptop is a Dell Latitude 7480 with Windows 10. I’m due for a replacement this year. I would love a T-series ThinkPad, but my day job only issues developers a choice between HP or Dell. :crying_cat_face:

My personal desktop (imaginos) is a refurbed Lenovo ThinkCentre M92P. I maxed out the RAM, added a 1TB SSD as my primary drive, and demoted the original 2TB drive to backup duty.

My personal laptop (desdinova) is a refurbished ThinkPad T60. I maxed out the RAM and replaced the original 160GB hard drive with a 1TB SSD.

Both of my machines run Slackware 14.2 with the latest patches. I build additional packages from slackbuilds.org on imaginos and copy them to desdinova. I use Unison to sync files.

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Do you have any thoughts on Unison vs. Syncthing?

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Main work box (I’m self-employed) is a 2014 Mac Mini – I don’t like having everything built-in and hard to swap out, like lappies and all-in-ones. Occasionally also use a Linux VM on that. Personal/travel box is a 2016 13" Macbook Air. Went Mac after several years of mainly Linux (about '98 to '02) 'cuz I was sick of chasing down compatible drivers, lack of good desktop software, etc., and could afford a decent used Mac. (Yes I know Linux is much better now than it was then, and am thinking of switching back, at least for the office.) Haven’t touched Windows since XP was mid-life, and that mostly at the erstwhile day-job.

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I think Unison is simpler, and prefer it because it works over SSH. Syncthing isn’t bad; I just don’t think it’s suitable for my use case. All I really need is a two-way rsync, and Unison gives me that.

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Is this monitor specific to Apple or can it be used with any other computer? I guess it can :wink:

Can you share more details about it?

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You can (afaik) use it on any computer with thunderbolt 3 but you won’t get 5K - this is because to drive a 5K display with a single TB cable you need special hardware which currently only Apple has… this video explains it well:

Awesome display for a Mac tho :nerd:

I’m sure Dell do some 5K displays too mind - Dell displays are excellent, I have had several in the past and loved them all :+1:

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It boils down to the Retina thing: f.ex. my iMac Pro has 5120x2880 native resolution BUT I am actually looking at screen estate that’s provided by a “virtual” 2560x1440 display, meaning that each “virtual” pixel I am looking at is comprised of 4 physical (real) pixels.

And this requires certain hardware + software in your OS that currently only Apple has. This is what gives the crisp display impression that most Macs leave when you look at them.

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Me too :nerd:

I love how crisp the display is at this res/scale :+1:

I’d love to have the new 30" that Apple sell but I am not paying £5K for one!!

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You likely still should though. Investing in eye health in a device that you spend a lot of time in front of is a smart move.

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The LG5K is fine for now - might look at a 2nd or 3rd gen Apple Display, tho need to see one in the flesh first, might not even like the nano coating :laughing:

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