I recently started learning Flutter through an online course, and I'm using a 2020 MacBook Air Retina with a 1.1 GHz dual-core Intel i3 and 8GB of RAM, running macOS Sequoia 15.6.1. As I began installing all the necessary programs—Flutter SDK, Android Studio, Xcode, and Homebrew—I noticed my Mac is really struggling. I'm wondering if it can actually handle all of this. I might have underestimated how demanding coding can be. Also, could you suggest a better laptop for development? I don't have enough money right now, but I'm planning to save up to keep my learning process smooth.
2 Answers
If you're running an emulator in Android Studio, that could really be taxing your laptop's resources. You could try using your phone for debugging instead; it should ease some of the load on your Mac.
Your MacBook is definitely on the older side, and that processor isn't the best for the heavy lifting required for coding. You might want to consider a newer model or even a pre-owned one that's more powerful.
If my laptop’s performance is already dropping after just 5 or 6 years, does that mean I have to invest in a new one every 5 or 6 years?
Does the emulator use up the most resources?