Upgrading from M1 to M2 Pro: A Developer's Perspective
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Chapter 1: The Journey from M1 to M2 Pro
Having transitioned from a 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro to the M1 MacBook Air a year ago, I paired it with the Studio Display upon its release about seven months back. This combination has proven to be the finest laptop and display I’ve owned to date. My daily usage has made this setup nearly flawless. However, my app development work in Xcode is prompting me to consider an upgrade.
After upgrading to the M1 MacBook Air, I conducted some performance tests that indicated an improvement of five to ten times compared to my previous MacBook Pro. Despite this remarkable boost, I still find myself spending considerable time waiting for Xcode builds to finish. Here are the build and archive durations from my most recent Xcode session:
Incremental builds are incredibly quick, averaging under four seconds. Yet, full builds can exceed four minutes, and archiving for app uploads to iTunes Connect can take nearly seven minutes.
Typically, I complete a higher percentage of incremental builds, which makes the development process much less burdensome. However, during the recent update for my Brain Arcade app, I encountered a strange issue that necessitated debugging directly from the TestFlight builds.
Section 1.1: A Return to Roots
I began developing brain game applications over thirteen years ago, long before iOS was renamed from “iPhone OS,” and prior to the release of the first iPad. In those early days, manually arranging UI elements was a straightforward task.
Since those initial days, I’ve revamped my apps multiple times, shifting from Objective-C to Swift and embracing a more modern UI design with vector-based elements created in PaintCode. Nevertheless, I’ve retained my old manual layout source code for its complete sizing control, despite it being a sunk cost.
As new devices with different screen resolutions have emerged, I’ve updated my layout code accordingly. What initially supported a handful of layouts has expanded to accommodate seventeen resolutions over time, including the new iPhone 14 Pro. Adding support for a new display usually takes just a few minutes, but I faced an odd issue with the TestFlight builds for my latest app, which incorrectly reported the iPhone 14 Pro’s resolution as 390 x 844 instead of 393 x 852.
This video explores the potential effects of upgrading from an M1 Max MacBook Pro to an M2 Max, discussing performance changes and user experiences.
Section 1.2: Lessons Learned
I hope my next app update will avoid similar complications. To minimize the time spent waiting for Xcode builds, I’ve resolved to upgrade to the M2 Pro. While the convenience of a single device functioning as both a portable laptop and a powerful desktop has been appealing, the M2 Pro won’t be available for the MacBook Air. It’s expected to debut next month in the 14-inch MacBook Pro, but I’m not inclined to deal with its added weight or the price tag of around $3,000, not to mention concerns about potential increased fan noise compared to its predecessor.
Instead, I’m looking forward to acquiring the anticipated M2 Pro Mac mini. Although I will miss the simplicity of a single-computer setup, most of my app development occurs at home, so syncing between the Mac mini and MacBook Air will be infrequent. Furthermore, the mini's design can handle the significant heat output from Intel’s Coffee Lake Core i7, suggesting that fan noise from an M2 Pro version should be manageable.
The final consideration is cost, which is likely to be under $2,000. The M1 Mac mini with 16GB of memory and a 1TB SSD retails for $1,299. If Apple maintains its pricing, the M2 Pro upgrade should add $200, while the jump to 32GB RAM should be around $400, bringing the total to approximately $1,899. This is significantly lower than a similarly equipped M2 Pro MacBook Pro.
I don’t anticipate experiencing the same performance leap I saw when moving from the 2016 13-inch MacBook Pro to the M1 MacBook Air. However, the M2 Pro should at least double the Xcode build performance of the M1. With rumors suggesting that the new Mac mini will launch in November, I’ll benefit from Apple’s extended holiday return policy, allowing me until January 8th to decide whether the upgrade is worthwhile or if I should wait for the next generation of Apple silicon.
This video examines the outcomes of upgrading an M1 MacBook to an M2, providing insights into performance and user feedback.
UPDATE: It seems I will need to wait until early 2023 for the M2 Pro Macs to be released. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, Apple has confirmed that no new Macs will ship this year. Tim Cook stated during the company’s quarterly earnings call that the product line is “set” for the holiday season.
Brain Arcade is a free app featuring twenty popular brain games, such as Solitaire, Fifteen, Simon, Minesweeper, Sudoku, Yahtzee, Wordle, 2048, and Concentration. If you enjoy brain games, I encourage you to check it out.
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For those interested in tech history, you can read about my journey to becoming part of the StarLAN team at Bell Labs and transitioning into a successful software startup in "Software Engineering: A Better Life."