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Which is a good Mac laptop for development: the MacBook Pro MD101HN/A or the MacBook Air MMGF2HN/A. In 2017, is it worth buying a MacBook Pro(MD101HN/A)?

The MacBook Pro MD101HN/A (Late 2012 Model) is upgradeable.

The MacBook Air MMGF2HN/A, released in 2016 has 8GB Ram, but its processor is 1.6 GHz, does that make the machine slow?

Please suggest if any other Mac is good for development, the budget is the constraint (80K INR).

Edit:

Here I found the processor comparison, which suggests 1.6 GHz i5 Air is better when compared to 2.5GHz i5 Pro Model. Please have a look.

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First, see the megahertz myth - you can't compare processors from four years apart based solely on clock speed.

Either machine would be great for iOS development. A couple things to note:

  1. I use a 2012 13" Pro as a daily driver. I put a Crucial MX300 SSD in it and it's a great machine.
  2. You'll be able to buy the 2012 for significantly cheaper, and it'll hold value slightly better (all Macs hold their value immensely well).
  3. You need to be able to run the latest version of macOS for iOS development. Based on patterns, I suspect the 2012 Pro has 2-3 years of support left. A 2016 machine likely has 6-7.

If you get the 2012 Pro, buy an SSD along with it. It makes a huge difference compared to a hard drive.

Overall, I think it comes down to your specific situation. If your company is buying a laptop for you, go get the 2016 Air - then you don't have to open it up, and they get a laptop that's useful for a longer period of time.

If you're using your personal funds, I'd probably lean toward a 2012 Pro. If done properly, you should be able to sell it in a couple of years at a minimal loss. I bought mine in 2014 for $800, and could still get ~$600 easily. $200 + $99 for the SSD isn't bad at all for three years of solid use.

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  • In india MacBook Air MMGF2HN/A costs around 56K INR (870 USD) & MacBook Pro MD101HN/A also has the same cost 50K INR (777 USD), As both are in same price range which one would you suggest ? BTW I'm buying it from my personal funds. thanks !
    – Saif
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 9:56
  • could you please reply to above comment
    – Saif
    Commented Jun 14, 2017 at 18:19
  • I'd get the Macbook Pro. You'd have a rough time doing iOS dev on a 1.6GHz i5.
    – user1
    Commented Jun 14, 2017 at 18:22
  • Thanks for your reply, please check the update in question brother
    – Saif
    Commented Jun 15, 2017 at 9:26
  • Point, @saif. Looks like I fell victim of the megahertz myth myself there. Honestly, it's a question of portability v. expandability. Either machine will do great for iOS development.
    – user1
    Commented Jun 17, 2017 at 0:30
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I use MacBook Pro 13" Mid 2014 - 512 GB model. It is slightly upgraded from the base model (CPU from 2.7 GHz to 2.8 GHz and SSD from 128/256 to 512 GB).

If you want upgradeability I think I would go for Pro 2012 as Undo said. I wish I could compare them but I don't have any experiences with other Macs.

2014 model is a bit faster than 2012 in terms of storage speed because SATA 3 (tops around 520 MB/s) is slower than PCIe x2 that 2014 model uses. Here is my speed test with stress set to 1 GB. On 5 GB stress the write peaks at 680 MB/s and then goes down to 390 MB/s.

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