Apple just introduced new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models. While the design is a significant improvement, the new M1 Pro and M1 Max CPUs in the MacBook Pro models provide improved performance and battery life.
Following the jump, some IT firms began to distribute the new powerful devices to their engineers. An engineer on Reddit outlines how the new M1 Max MacBook Pro will save developers both time and money.
Jameson Williams, a Reddit staff engineer, offered significant insights on how the new MacBook Pro will benefit the firm. In terms of hardware, more ports will increase productivity while saving time. Furthermore, when combined with the increased processing power, the new M1 Max MacBook Pro is guaranteed to complete tasks faster. Williams stated that updating nine engineers to the newest MacBook Pro would cost $32,000, with a break-even point in just three months.
In a later article, Williams noted that Reddit has seen the new MacBook Pro completing a clean build of the Reddit app for Android in half the time that a 2019 Intel Core-i9 MacBook Pro would take. In comparison, the clean creation of the Reddit app for iOS will take even less time.
The basic premise of the tweet was to weigh the up-front cost of buying some new laptops, alongside the opportunity cost of not doing so. In other words, I wanted to compare these two formulae:
Net Cost ($) with 2019 i9 MBP =
(No upfront cost) + (Time lost waiting on builds with 2019 MBP) * (Hourly rate of an Engineer)
And
Net Cost ($) with 2021 MBP =
($31.5k up-front cost) + (Time lost waiting on builds with 2021 MBP) * (Hourly rate of an Engineer)
To start, I estimated that an average Android engineer spends 45 minutes waiting on builds each day. (More about this later.) My colleagues and I then benchmarked our builds on some different hardware. We observed that the new 2021 M1 Max MacBook finished a clean build of our Android repo in half the time of a 2019 Intel i9 MacBook. That means an Android developer could save about 22 minutes of build time every day.
The information available is recommended reading for both businesses and individuals interested in upgrading to the new M1 Pro or M1 Max MacBook Pro models. For more information stay tuned.
