TL;DR;
After 3 years I returned to macOS. And first full-time ARM-based laptop
The problem with M1
In Monterail more devs started using Macbooks with M1 chips. I noticed many problems could be solved very easily, but you should be familiar with M1. So I decided to move my entire workspace from Windows 11 to macOS with M1. Now I could help anyone in the team, without using a spare laptop. And I know the feeling to handle issues on M1.
M1 has many pros and some cons. For web/mobile developers in the first days of the premiere of M1, have a lot of issues. Libraries not working, there is a problem with Java, etc. But now everything works if you have a good project setup (building and releasing from the cloud, dockerized dev env). During the past year, many libraries/languages added native support for M1 🎉
Why 2 years ago I switched to Windows
When I saw commercials for Surface 7 Pro. I thinking about working on that kind of tablet slash PC! Good battery life, WSL2, a lot of good stuff. I discovered that WSL2 in daily work as Software Engineer is very painful at the beginning. You have problems with dependencies, running GUI (you need to create a bridge between HyperV and your host through XServer). And handling requests, running dev servers, etc. Same story with M1 now. But I thinking about it as a challenge because I'm Software Engineer and this is the only tool :D. The portability of a 12inch tablet always wins and gives me freedom in return. Better than a 13inch MacBook with intel :) Running docker containers, and very demanding apps was not a problem. Surface 7 Pro was fully optimized to work on Windows, that's why it working like a charm.
My point of view
Am I regretting moving from Windows 11 to macOS with M1? No. Longer battery life, very stable setup. If you are DevOps, gear doesn't matter, you should only think about terminal 🙈 If you can connect to a server, use your browser. That's great :) I'm glad that I could help anyone in the team to configure M1, and remove burden in projects to create better stuff
Last thoughts
If you consider using M1/M1 Max as Software Engineer or DevOps, and you have experience. You could create workarounds, handle problems, delegate some tasks to the cloud. I think this is a similar case to Raspberry Pi. If you have a problem with dependency you have options, you could recompile on ARM and problem solved.
Battery life and editing 4K videos are the best things in M1. I truly recommend M1 for experienced Devs, I hope next month brings more support for this platform :)
Watch this on my YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yhm2gcYBnKI
Top comments (0)