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I am currently typing this on my mid-2013 11" Macbook Air and it's still going strong. It's too bad that Apple is not making anymore 11" laptops anymore because

I am currently typing this on my mid-2013 11" Macbook Air and it's still going strong. It's too bad that Apple is not making anymore 11" laptops anymore because I think it's exactly what OP wants. I had the same exact criteria when looking for a laptop and I work with similar technologies, but I've also done Android/Kotlin (using Android Studio) and C#/.NET (using full Visual Studio) with this laptop without any problems. I also play games via Steam (mostly indie games, not big AAA ones) on it. I have a bag¹ (side bag/satchel) that it fits perfectly into and makes it easy to carry around. It's been great taking this on vacation with me, super light. I am looking to upgrade though and the new 2020 Air does look good but with the modifications I want brings the price close to $1699 and I'm not ready to spend that yet ¹ https://www.scaramangashop.co.uk/mini-leather-satchel-11-inch.html https://www.scaramangashop.co.uk/mini-leather-satchel-11-inc... <-- bought it from this company but they don't make my exact bag anymore, but this is the closest except mine is the "portrait mode" of this edit: Forgot to add that I've also used Xcode on this in the past but I am not on Catalina yet so I have not touched Xcode in a while.

tbrock 7y ago
Dell makes garbage compared to Lenovo. Why not get an x390/x13 with that delicious keyboard?
- leetcrew 7y ago
  bezels? it's not just aesthetics; thin bezels is a pretty important feature on an ultraportable imo, maximizes screen real estate for the space it takes up in your bag.
  - tbrock 7y ago
    What? No. They are already ultraportables. Once they are that small as a class of computer reliability and quality becomes important. God help you with support and returns if something goes wrong with your dell. I’ve been there before and it’s hell on earth.
singerislonely 7y ago
+1, 2013 11" MacBook Air is still going strong! I need to be a little vigilant about not too many Chrome tabs to keep it from getting too sluggish, but it's excellent for coding, Gmail, Google Docs, video chat, Netflix.
nextos 7y ago
I did most of my PhD on that machine, including tons of coding. With a nice window manager, it's doable. A higher resolution 16:10 screen would improve the experience, though. It was Linus Torvalds daily driver for some time. I also wiped out OS X and went with Linux, deployed directly as an EFISTUB so no bootloader. Being all-Intel, sans a mediocre Broadcom wireless card, the machine had perfect Linux compatibility.

tbrock 7y ago

Dell makes garbage compared to Lenovo. Why not get an x390/x13 with that delicious keyboard?

leetcrew 7y ago
bezels? it's not just aesthetics; thin bezels is a pretty important feature on an ultraportable imo, maximizes screen real estate for the space it takes up in your bag.
- tbrock 7y ago
  What? No. They are already ultraportables. Once they are that small as a class of computer reliability and quality becomes important. God help you with support and returns if something goes wrong with your dell. I’ve been there before and it’s hell on earth.

singerislonely 7y ago

+1, 2013 11" MacBook Air is still going strong! I need to be a little vigilant about not too many Chrome tabs to keep it from getting too sluggish, but it's excellent for coding, Gmail, Google Docs, video chat, Netflix.

nextos 7y ago

I did most of my PhD on that machine, including tons of coding. With a nice window manager, it's doable. A higher resolution 16:10 screen would improve the experience, though. It was Linus Torvalds daily driver for some time. I also wiped out OS X and went with Linux, deployed directly as an EFISTUB so no bootloader. Being all-Intel, sans a mediocre Broadcom wireless card, the machine had perfect Linux compatibility.