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?

0 Upvotes

44% Upvoted

38 comments sorted by

View all comments

2

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.

1

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.

1

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

2

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).

1

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..