Ask HN: Is MacBook Pro worth it nowadays, for a developer?

No way,

A 2015 one sure

I still have a 2013 Pro that I probably would have updated if not for the new Pro’s keyboard problems and Touch Bar. I will honestly never buy another Pro unless they get rid of Touch Bar and make serious keyboard changes (reverting 100% to the previous keyboard would be fine). I might buy an Air if 2019 goes by and the next “Pro” is another fiasco.

I have a mid-2015 MBP 15, which is great, but is a bit beat up (dropped it too many times). I use MacOS for consumer stuff, and a Linux VM for development.

I'd like to replace the machine, but I'm stuck. The newer MBPs are a non-starter, due to the keyboard and touchpad. The Purism Librem 15 is expensive and doesn't put out 4k@60 to an external monitor. The System76 Galaga Pro hardware is not great (touchpad, battery life, general fit and finish). Not interested in running Windows at all, even just to host a VM. Razer looks like great hardware but doesn't support Linux.

Any suggestions?

Only if you’re a Mac person. If you’re comfortable with Linux Lenovo x1 is a great machine. I’m deep on the Mac bandwagon though and my next machine will probably be the new air and not a mbp

I had a mid 2015 MacBook which did me well for years, but I've just switched to a surface pro 6 with a Linux VM running in Azure.

Still have the MacBook at the moment though, only device in the house with a dvd drive

I have a 2013 15" MBP. It's holding up really good till now, only the performance and the battery are affected negatively, but still not enough to warrant an upgrade. It's the first laptop I didn't need to replace after two years. The biggest upside is the trackpad, which I use extensively. The display is very good if you can deal with glaring. It's more durable than most plastic junk that I used before. I can't recommend the new Macbooks, since there are in total too many downsides: Keyboard, lack of Escape key, no magsafe, price policy, T2 and dongle lifestyle.

mid-2012 A1278 or Lenovo T480 hackintosh.

Modern MBP's:

- glued-in batteries

- nonservicable RAM

- nonservicable SSD

- lack of peripheral ports

- terrible keyboard

- thin and fragile

- very expensive

- USB-C charging is a step-backwards from MagSafe

- prone to more defects and breakage, and more difficult to repair at the component level, per Louis Rossmann

A1278:

+ older, better keyboard

+ unofficial 16 GiB of third-party RAM

+ 2 SSD's with optical drive removed

+ plenty of ports

+ user-servicable battery

+ MagSafe support

+ relatively lower cost

~ 13" non-Retina display

- thicker

- slower CPU

- slower integrated graphics / GPU

Lenovos:

+ have water-resistant keyboards with drains

+ generally excellent keyboard from IBM lineage

+ 7-10+ hour runtime with both front and rear batteries

+ more normal repair and expansion options

+ semi-rugged

~ moderate cost

- Hackintosh isn't supported nor 100% work-alike