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Some of them don't – but some of them do, and that improved performance can offer a noticeable productivity improvement. I recently upgraded from a 2015 Macboo

Some of them don't – but some of them do, and that improved performance can offer a noticeable productivity improvement. I recently upgraded from a 2015 Macbook pro to a new i9 one, and right now I'm working on a computer vision pipeline for some data – an embarrassingly parallel task. It takes about 15 minutes to run a process which would have previously taken about an hour. This is a direct improvement to my development experience (trust me!) But there are a bunch of different reasons. Modern stacks can be annoyingly under-optimised; a large Webpack app with live reloading can be irritatingly slow even on recent machines. Fast SSDs are useful for people working with large datasets. Better GPUs can mean better UI performance and more screen space. In short, remember that just because you don't need the hardware, doesn't mean that others don't! :)

acura 8y ago
And on a none portable computer you could probably do it even faster. Maybe you need a laptop but there are tons of peoples using laptops that doesn't needs to.
- throwaway-hn123 8y ago
  He literally said that some people need faster computers and some don't > Some of them don't – but some of them do What is wrong with you?
- matthewmacleod 8y ago
  I think that's pretty much what I said, right? Not everybody needs a laptop, or a super powerful development machine. But if you want to process some stuff nice and quickly, while not being tied to any physical location, it's a totally reasonable solution.
- jschwartzi 8y ago
  The wonderful thing about a laptop is that if I want to go sit by a window for an hour while I'm working, I can just stand up and move. A desktop chains me to my desk, deep within the heart of a dimly lit cubicle farm.
evook 8y ago
Nothing about your post adds up. 2015 MB i7 to i9 MB doesn't increase anything times 4. How long have you been working on that task and waited an hour? The wasted labour cost might have bought you a dedicated compiling rack 2 weeks in. How long could you have rented cloud ressources to bring that task down to close to instant for the cost of a i9 MB? I am just curious tbh. I have various tasks like yours hobbywise. But the least thing I'd encourage my laptop to do is compile/render/analyse a problem that takes more than 60 seconds. Beware if you fully utilise a laptop like you describe shouldn't it become useless for everything else while doing that? So much questions...
- flyingpenguin 8y ago
  uhh, in 2015 a i7 had 4cores, boost of around 3.4 in 2018 a mobile i9 had 6cores/12threads, bost of around 4.8 (so lets be reasonable, thermals might let us keep 3.6). For a super optimized parallel load you could totally see more than 2x speed up. But yeah... why do that on your laptop?
  - hoistbypetard 8y ago
    > uhh, in 2015 a i7 had 4cores, boost of around 3.4 Not on a 13" MBP, it didn't. Source: there's one on my desk.
  - eanzenberg 8y ago
    If it takes 15min locally then you should do it locally. My rule of thumb.. if it takes > 1 hr locally it should be done elsewhere.
- matthewmacleod 8y ago
  Nothing about your post adds up. That's great, but I'm literally sitting at my desk doing it just now, so I can assure you it's not just made up! 2015 MB i7 to i9 MB doesn't increase anything times 4. i5 2015 13" MBP to i9 2018 15" MBP. 3x the cores, higher IPC, higher frequency, faster memory, faster SSD. It adds up, and for this class of process a 4x improvement is totally reasonable. How long have you been working on that task and waited an hour? The wasted labour cost might have bought you a dedicated compiling rack 2 weeks in. I don't know how the hell you work, but I don't just kick off a process and let it run while I sit still at my desk waiting for it to complete :) It just involves working to a slightly different rhythm, and the ability to iterate a bit faster makes that nicer for me, at minimal cost. Anyway… wasn't the point that "developers don't need faster machines?" I think buying a "dedicated compiling rack" would count! How long could you have rented cloud ressources to bring that task down to close to instant for the cost of a i9 MB? No idea, but in the long term, more than it costs to buy a new development machine. Plus this way I don't have to fanny around with copying assets back and forward, remoting in to visualise things, setting up a server or whatever. And the new laptop makes everything a little bit faster and more enjoyable to use. The price of the machine is pretty marginal for a tool I use in excess of 40 hours a week. Beware if you fully utilise a laptop like you describe shouldn't it become useless for everything else while doing that? Nah, it's fine generally. Everything's just a bit slower until it's done.
jjrh 8y ago
But why do you need that on a laptop? Just run it on a server. If you work for a employer with deep pockets I guess sure why not? Otherwise a workstation you can remote connect to (if you work from home or travel) is probably good enough.

acura 8y ago

And on a none portable computer you could probably do it even faster. Maybe you need a laptop but there are tons of peoples using laptops that doesn't needs to.

throwaway-hn123 8y ago
He literally said that some people need faster computers and some don't > Some of them don't – but some of them do What is wrong with you?
matthewmacleod 8y ago
I think that's pretty much what I said, right? Not everybody needs a laptop, or a super powerful development machine. But if you want to process some stuff nice and quickly, while not being tied to any physical location, it's a totally reasonable solution.
jschwartzi 8y ago
The wonderful thing about a laptop is that if I want to go sit by a window for an hour while I'm working, I can just stand up and move. A desktop chains me to my desk, deep within the heart of a dimly lit cubicle farm.

evook 8y ago

Nothing about your post adds up. 2015 MB i7 to i9 MB doesn't increase anything times 4. How long have you been working on that task and waited an hour? The wasted labour cost might have bought you a dedicated compiling rack 2 weeks in. How long could you have rented cloud ressources to bring that task down to close to instant for the cost of a i9 MB? I am just curious tbh. I have various tasks like yours hobbywise. But the least thing I'd encourage my laptop to do is compile/render/analyse a problem that takes more than 60 seconds. Beware if you fully utilise a laptop like you describe shouldn't it become useless for everything else while doing that? So much questions...

flyingpenguin 8y ago
uhh, in 2015 a i7 had 4cores, boost of around 3.4 in 2018 a mobile i9 had 6cores/12threads, bost of around 4.8 (so lets be reasonable, thermals might let us keep 3.6). For a super optimized parallel load you could totally see more than 2x speed up. But yeah... why do that on your laptop?
- hoistbypetard 8y ago
  > uhh, in 2015 a i7 had 4cores, boost of around 3.4 Not on a 13" MBP, it didn't. Source: there's one on my desk.
- eanzenberg 8y ago
  If it takes 15min locally then you should do it locally. My rule of thumb.. if it takes > 1 hr locally it should be done elsewhere.
matthewmacleod 8y ago
Nothing about your post adds up. That's great, but I'm literally sitting at my desk doing it just now, so I can assure you it's not just made up! 2015 MB i7 to i9 MB doesn't increase anything times 4. i5 2015 13" MBP to i9 2018 15" MBP. 3x the cores, higher IPC, higher frequency, faster memory, faster SSD. It adds up, and for this class of process a 4x improvement is totally reasonable. How long have you been working on that task and waited an hour? The wasted labour cost might have bought you a dedicated compiling rack 2 weeks in. I don't know how the hell you work, but I don't just kick off a process and let it run while I sit still at my desk waiting for it to complete :) It just involves working to a slightly different rhythm, and the ability to iterate a bit faster makes that nicer for me, at minimal cost. Anyway… wasn't the point that "developers don't need faster machines?" I think buying a "dedicated compiling rack" would count! How long could you have rented cloud ressources to bring that task down to close to instant for the cost of a i9 MB? No idea, but in the long term, more than it costs to buy a new development machine. Plus this way I don't have to fanny around with copying assets back and forward, remoting in to visualise things, setting up a server or whatever. And the new laptop makes everything a little bit faster and more enjoyable to use. The price of the machine is pretty marginal for a tool I use in excess of 40 hours a week. Beware if you fully utilise a laptop like you describe shouldn't it become useless for everything else while doing that? Nah, it's fine generally. Everything's just a bit slower until it's done.

jjrh 8y ago

But why do you need that on a laptop? Just run it on a server. If you work for a employer with deep pockets I guess sure why not? Otherwise a workstation you can remote connect to (if you work from home or travel) is probably good enough.