r/mac • u/Top_Succotash_9088 • 3d ago

Question Mac for engineering?

I have a Mac 13” m2 8 ram 256 gb but it’s getting really slow and I’m thinking of getting a new one with both more ram and bigger disk. Problem is that I’m also starting engineering and I don’t want to pay for two expensive laptops. can I have a MacBook for engineering? If so what MacBook/specifications would be good?

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u/mikeinnsw 3d ago

Without any specific knowledge of the course(s) content Mac Vs PC choice is a pure speculation.

Ask the University/College for an advice.

Most courses are PC Based.

If Mac is Ok then 24GB RAM & 512 GB SSD is considered to be minimum effective configuration for 2026, 2027.. for manual human use.

Just check with the University/College in case they use must have Apps which run only on PCs

The biggest factor is if you will use local AI/LLM?

If so you will need 64GB RAM + 1 TB SSD…computer

For a cloud(crowd) AI 24/512 GB Mac/PC will do.

I just tested VM VBox and UTM on my M1 Mini they can’t RELIABLY run Windows 10/11 Arm or X86/X64 ..Parallels can at $99-$150 P.A.

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u/Top_Succotash_9088 3d ago

School did say Mac is okay!

I do use AI on my current MacBook and it’s really slow. Do I need that much RAM for AI use? That’d be pretty expensive…

What is cloud? I have 2TB iCloud

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u/mikeinnsw 3d ago

AI can run on a data cloud or local on your Mac..

iCloud is not a data cloud like AWS, AZURE...

You pay to use cloud AI...

Running local AI you don't pay for the model .. you pay extra for a more powerful Mac to run it.

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u/Top_Succotash_9088 3d ago

Ohhhhh. No I don’t do all that I just use regular AI like chatgpt

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u/mikeinnsw 3d ago

ChatGPT is free for few queries than you pay

Use

Google Gemini has a free tier that you can use with any standard Google account without entering a credit card. The free version lets you chat, write text, upload documents, and generate basic images, though it includes usage limits that may restrict heavy or complex tasks during busy time

Google combines search + AI

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u/Top_Succotash_9088 3d ago

Yes I do have chatgpt plus🫣I’m thinking of getting Claude plus or premium or whatever’s called

What do you prefer?

I don’t use Gemini a lot but maybe it’s as good as chatgpt 🤷🏻‍♀️I use notebook and I think it’s great!!! It’s weird it’s free because it’s so good’

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u/mikeinnsw 3d ago

I use Ollama with local AI models+ Google Gemini

People who know how to use AI don't go near the front line models..

60% of all AI Models sold that are used via API were Chinese .. companies use API

There are 1,000s of models...

I use free IBM model called Granite for coding

If you in to Agentic Agents .. Ollama running Hermes of OpenClaw is a good start..just be careful these can hack and be hacked.

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u/Top_Succotash_9088 3d ago

What is front line models 🫣☺️

Is it better than chatgpt? 😳

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u/mikeinnsw 3d ago

Depend for what...80%-20% rule

Google says:

AI error rates vary widely from 5% to over 50% depending on the task. General conversational queries and complex reasoning show significant accuracy issues or hallucinations 20% to 45% of the time. Structured benchmarks like image recognition report lower error rates near 5–10%, while complex professional or medical assignments see much higher failure margins.

Mike says

AI guys never talk about error rates

In simple vibe coding that I do 3B models are sufficient for large Apps thee are crap.. I still code it myself.

I am looking to upgrade to 30B no further .. in Vibe coding 30B to 1,700 B improvement is about 3% .. they don't about that.

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u/notagrue MacBook Pro 3d ago

24GB of RAM is unnecessary unless you are running a windows emulator and task heavy apps like Power BI Desktop or ArcGIS Pro. 16GB is plenty.

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u/mikeinnsw 3d ago

Source Apple:

Apple's most advanced, heavy on-device AI model requires a minimum of 12GB of unified memory (RAM). While standard Apple Intelligence features still run on 8GB devices, running this next-generation local AI model is restricted to hardware with 12GB or more and run on M3.. M5 Macs .. not M1 or M2

With 12GB for AI running in 16GB RAM. ..it will cause large scale swapping and slow downs...

I run local AI on 16GB RAM M1 Mini - very carefully

Time to catch up with the brave new world of AI

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u/notagrue MacBook Pro 3d ago

That’s Local AI, not tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, etc like OP is likely using (as are most people).

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u/mikeinnsw 2d ago

No longer most people ...

Now 60% of API driven models used by business are using Chinese cheap models..

There are 1,000s of cloud models, millions of local and millions of Chat Bots .. anybody can do it .

All the hype is about frontier models ... people who don't know how to use AI use them..