Gaming laptops are awesome but my last one was heavy. Macs are essential if you want to build iOS apps, but otherwise not required. (Obviously expensive - if you want the option to dev iOS then the best value is a mini) New thinkpads are overpriced and don't live up to the name. A shame really. You could get an old one but what's the point.

A cheap laptop will do an acceptable job, at an acceptable price. Whatever you buy make sure you get an SSD an get as much RAM as you can afford. And don't underestimate the value of VM's.

Update - I wonder if I could rehouse a MBP in an old thinkpad case/keyboard?

I would have recommended a Thinkpad a couple of years ago, but now I'd say go with the Macbook if money is not an option. If it was me, I'd get the new Haswell MBA 13" and put Linux on it.

Thinkpad quality is terrible these days, and they got rid of the good keyboard. Just do some forum searches. On the plus side, you can get a used Thinkpad for really cheap - about 1/3rd the price of the equivalent Macbook. Just make sure to get one with a warranty.

I keep hearing about this supposed terrible thinkpad quality. Can you expand on that?

I purchased one in December 2012 and I think the build quality is excellent. They did change the keyboard, but not everyone hates it (I think it's just fine and still embodies the spirit/feel of the old keyboards).

I got the x220 less than a year ago because of all the recommendations out there and I regret it. Should have gotten a Macbook. The trackpad is horrible, the usb connections get cut off after putting the laptop to sleep, which means any mounted external drives are disconnected hard after resuming. Oh and the microphone doesn't work.

I have both a MacBook Air 13" and a Thinkpad 220x.

I like the MacBook Air more only b/c I have more screen real estate. If the Thinkpad had the same resolution, it would win hands down. NOTE: I have the style thinkpad with the traditional IBM thinkpad keyboard. It. Is. Awesome.

Note: I have Ubuntu running on both. 13.10 daily on thinkpad and 12.04 LTS on MBA. Whichever you choose, I would HIGHLY recommend installing Ubuntu on it.

What's the battery life with Ubuntu like on the MBA?

FYI, Lenovo is about to release the T440s. It's finally got 1080p as an option, and it will have a Haswell processor. If you decide to go for a Thinkpad, you might want to wait for this one.

http://shop.lenovo.com/fi/en/laptops/thinkpad/t-series/t440s...

I use a Mac at home, for uni, and for my previous 2 summer jobs (software development). I now use a Thinkpad at work for software development.

It all depends on what you want to use it for, and your previous experience. For a Linux user, the Thinkpad will probably be great, although I have heard from people who work at IBM (and therefore only use Thinkpads) that they can be a little unreliable. Macs are pretty good hardware, and with the new MBPs the battery life is amazing.

You can always install Linux on the 'bare hardware', I dislike developing in VMs. But you might find that if you try OS X for a little while you might like it. Not saying you will, many don't, but I find Mac applications tend to have more polish and I spend a lot less time fixing my operating system while I'm on OS X.

I'm curious about this as well, I'm looking at getting a ThinkPad for battery life. I've heard they support Linux well, but is there any component(s) that I should avoid getting for Linux? I run Debian.

Mac is not an option for me, I want Linux-on-hardware.

Well make sure your hardware is supported on the kernel you are going to use, this is where debian tends to lag behind with its stability.

Try looking for people running your expected hardware with debian online and you'll probably get a better idea.

Unless you don't mind using updated kernels, most thinkpads should work reasonably well.

This should help too: http://www.ubuntu.com/certification/desktop/make/Lenovo/?cat... (Precise is close to wheezy kernel).

Don't get anything with an SLI graphics set-up. Don't get an Nvidia Optimus card. Don't get an AMD processor or GPU.

Mine has the nvidia...Its not to hard to work around.

If you don't mind me asking, which system do you have and do you find that the GPU drivers break frequently with updates?

I'm in the middle of trying to decide between Lenovo and Apple too.

It isn't hard to use an optimus card with Debian or most other distros nowadays you just need to install bumblebee (wheezy-backports for debian) with that you get improved battery life.

I personally don't get GPU drivers breaking the computer but I don't use nvidias drivers I use nouveau but I also use Debian so a distro like Arch (which is more prone to packages breaking systems) might be much worse.

Sorry - I didn't see this comment. I'm running Debian Sid. I believe that have the Nvidia card disabled (in the BIOS). I haven't had a single issue with my Drivers.

I have a w520.

Mac for decent performance, beautiful apps and development environments to work in and amazing built quality. Apple always does good in hardware, but for that price, you can get a lot better.

ThinkPad, really good performance, good graphics and battery life.

And if performance is only what you care about (not $) then why don't you take a look at Razor laptops. I know, I know, that's a gaming laptop company, but there laptops are made out of the best and definitely the best laptop I have ever used. Plus they have a snake symbol on the back which is company's logo and which I love as I'm a Python programmer.

Not sure how much the screen matters to OP, but the last Razer was considered by many to be an otherwise perfect machine that is ruined by a screen that you would expect to find on a $300 laptop.

Yeah, that's where the Apple's Retina Display shines.

To be honest, I never cared much for investing in a good screen until I got an iPad 4 and saw how much of a difference it made. Now that I'm in the market for a new development system, I don't think I want to settle for anything less than 1080p and IPS.

I just hope the 13" Haswell retina will allow 16GB Ram.

I agree. A 13" rMBP w/ Haswell and 16Gb ram to me is the perfect balance of power, function and footprint. I don't have high hopes for Apple increasing the max to 16Gb though :(

Well, at first: which os you prefer? Are you goind to use w8, os_x, linux, bsd, solaris? What? In which language do you code? Which are your main needs (battery, nice screen, a touch screen, a lot of usb to connect a lot of device, space, upgradability, low weight, etc)?

linux , need : performance

Then i would go for a thinkpad without doubt, but wait for one with the new haswell cpu

Really? I have the 2013 Macbook Air and it's a very capable machine with Linux installed. Last time I used a Thinkpad the build quality didn't impress me.

He asked for performance not for build quality. Anyway I think you are talking about appearance quality 'cause I find hard to say that the thikpads are not the top scorer in build quality these days.

I found the keyboard and plastic exterior to feel "cheap" on the recent model I tried. They used to be rock-solid though.

Absolutely Mac. I'm a front-end developer previously use windows laptop and I'm satsified enough using Mac. If you need windows you can install windows on Mac too, yes?

Has anyone looked at the y410p? It has really good specs for the price, but I'm now sure how the quality holds up?

Mac + IBM Model M in a proper black gym bag.

I use a Mac with Fusion for my linux VMs.

Thinkpad, they are indestructible tanks.

in my experience macbooks definitely seem to be the defacto development machine/os

You don't have much experience, then.

Here's a picture from, you know, only like the biggest hackathon in SF, the world's largest tech/startup hub.

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7054/8689948816_4a775858bb_h.j...

You can load some of the lenovos up with 32gb of ram from their website @ 2k USD.

With many of them you can just install the RAM yourself and save quite a bit of money.

I use OS X on my Macbook Pro retina but also duelboot Windows 7 & Ubuntu.

as a developer if you want to develop in windows go for dell xps 13 with FHD or else with out a doubt go for MBP retina display :) its awesome with the new processor and new retina display .....

How does the system76 Galago UltraPro compare to all of these?

if you have other apple devices, i'd suggest sticking with macs to take advantage of icloud et. al. otherwise it doesn't really matter which one you choose.

Mac using whatever OS you like.

Thinkpad without a doubt!

Mac + Fusion