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Discussion on: Slimbook pro x AMD vs. MacBook Air M1, which to choose and why?

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ahferroin7 profile image
Austin S. Hemmelgarn •

The Slimbook, for a couple of reasons:

  • RAM is actually really important for web development as most browsers are serious memory hogs, and many of the local development tools (Node.JS especially) are also pretty serious memory hogs. I’ll guarantee the 8GB in the MacBook is not upgradeable and that you would have to pay a few hundred USD more for more RAM.
  • The SSD in the Slimbook is almost certainly end-user replaceable, and therefore almost certainly upgradeable. Upgrading an NVMe SSD in a laptop is not exactly easy (more because of the difficulties of finding a useful external enclosure so you can clone the SSD than anything else), but it is doable.
  • You probably do not need Thunderbolt, and probably also do not need USB 4, but likely will at some point be very happy about having 4 USB ports and the dedicated physical HDMI port (speaking from personal experience here).

The MacBook has a couple of things in it’s favor though:

  • Current model Retina displays are full-gamut DCI-P3, as compared to the sRGB display on the Slimbook. This may not matter for a web developer, but if you need to do any real graphic design work, it’s kind of important.
  • The MacBook almost certainly has a better battery life (not what the OEM quotes, but actual battery life from everyday usage).
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Annie Taylor Chen •

Thanks Austin. Indeed that 8G RAM is a bit bothering for me... although if you do design work on bigger monitor and don't work in cafe or on the train, the benefit of Mac screen and battery life is a bit less used.