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Ask HN: Best Development Laptop?

2 points by kypro ↗ HN
I own a 2016 13" MacBook Pro and I've had endless problems with the keys quite literally falling off the laptop. I had been holding out for Apple to announce their latest lineup of MacBook Pros, but I've been disappointed for numerous reasons.

I'm now beginning to look at other options other than Apple. I quite like the look of the Microsoft 13.5" Surface Laptop as well as the Dell XPS 13, but does HN have any recommendations so far as non Apple laptops go?

Ideally I'm looking for something with SSD storage, 16GB-32GB RAM and ideally a core i7, but all recommendations are welcome.

8 comments

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gregjor
Depends a lot on what kind of development you do. I do web development and system admin, I use a Chromebook. That's great for me because I only deal with remote servers. Might not work for someone writing code to compile/run/test locally, though. I can actually use an iPad for 90% of what I need.
z3
Thinkpad X1 is great laptop. Lenovo has one of the best keyboard on the market.
vlod
I do web dev and use the X1 Carbon, dual boot Ubuntu and Windows 10 Pro (which I never use). Came from 15'' MacBook Pro and see no reason to go back.
ideologysec
The "new" (late 2020/TigerLake 11th Gen) 13" Dell XPS has a 16:10 screen, goes up to 16GB of RAM (I surely wish it went to 32, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯), great SSDs, can be configured to i7, and is officially supported to run Ubuntu.

Ars Technica's mini-overview: https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2020/09/tiger-lake-is-coming...

Lenovo is also shipping laptops pre-installed with Fedora, if your tastes run to RPM instead of DEB Linux. And of course, both will run Windows + WSL 2 just fine.

I will say, however, that the post-butterfly key 13" and 16" MacBook Pros have great keyboards and work really well.

O_H_E
If you do local compilation, ryzen 4000 laptops are really impressive with their multithreaded workload and power consumption. I would definitely second a Thinkpad T series (if you care less about port and power and more about battery then X1 series) and maybe with an AMD. (Notice: Intel has been pulling some strings with their negotiation, so AMD options are more limited for new, mainly high-end screens)
O_H_E
Ah and don't forget to check out notebookcheck.com one of the golden places of the internet.

Of you are planning to run Linux, would like more ports, and can compromise a little on build quality, check out System76, they are doing amazing work.

biermic
I bought my T440s for like $900 six years ago. Still going strong. It's been my fifth Thinkpad so far. Would go with T series again.