Mac book for Systems integrator / Network engineer
Posted by Kiwi058888@reddit | sysadmin | View on Reddit | 40 comments
Hi All,
Windows has been a mess lately — CPU/RAM spikes, background processes chewing resources — so I’m seriously considering a MacBook Pro as my main rig for work. Mac os being based in Unix will make the little tools I make for packet capture and networking a little more simple (I hope)
Anyone using a MacBook Pro for this full-time? Which model and how did it handle VMs and packet capture?
How do you run Windows-only tools (Parallels, remote VM, separate laptop)?
Any USB‑Ethernet, Thunderbolt dock, or serial adapter recommendations that actually work on macOS?
Thanks
itishowitisanditbad@reddit
Reading through you clearly just used a mac recently, was a fan, and now came up with weird classic end-user-esk complaints about Windows
"It only uses 2 cores" shiiiiiiiit showing you maybe just don't understand workload distribution. You going to be peeking at this on a Mac and criticizing the same? Don't think so.
Dude if you want a mac just get one. No need to put in this performance and come up with classic vague complaints.
Kiwi058888@reddit (OP)
I think i understand what you are trying to say. But your overall argument here isn't true. Its pretty well established at this point that windows OS isn't using resources efficiently. Roughly 80% of new code written in the last 18 months has been done so by AI. Anyone here thats ever had to fix someone's "vibe code" will understand why Windows OS has gone to shite.
itishowitisanditbad@reddit
Please provide source for your multiple claims of not opinion but fact.
Your "vibe comment" needs more work if you're going to make such SPECIFIC claims.
Then again you've already very clearly revealed yourself as someone who has no idea how to even measure that based on what you already wrote.
...so I can comfortably say you're very factually inaccurate, made specific unverifiable claims you pulled out of your own ass, AND don't know how to troubleshoot basic windows resource use.
"Its pretty well established at this point that macs are overpriced" is as much of a valid statement as YOU put and its just as fucking stupid.
St0nywall@reddit
Buy whatever works for you.
Just remember, a "good" Apple MacBook Pro will cost you around $6000 USD, and there aren't too many Windows laptops or Linux laptops you can buy that will get that high in price.
I wish you luck with your choice.
therealconjon@reddit
$6k is like toppest of the top end. You can easily purchase a daily driver for even developers (who probably use more ram and storage than I do in a system engineer role) for less than $3k.
Kiwi058888@reddit (OP)
Ended up costing 6k AUD got a mac book pro 14 inch with m5 max chip its a beast.
St0nywall@reddit
You buy a computer that won't have bottlenecks causing the issues OP is stating he already has with his current daily driver.
I chose 3 upgraded options that I wouldn't do without on a work computer. They may not be your choice, but they are mine and I don't like bottlenecks, do you?
fuzzyaperture@reddit
My old pro was 3k and it was a beast. I switched to a M3 Air years ago with 24gb RAM for about 2/3 of the pro. Its the best laptop for my use. Battery life is insane, no fans, super fast.
F1Phreek@reddit
What specs are you using for your daily driver?
St0nywall@reddit
No daily driver for me anymore unfortunately.
Currently unemployed and desperately looking for work.
CeC-P@reddit
No, nothing works with Macbooks and they're overpriced toys for people who don't know how to computer
leprechanmonkie@reddit
Clean up your resource issues. I feel like a MacBook is a handicap for most things, but I've been building and using Windows PC's for 25 years
I mean maybe nowadays it's better since many things have browser UI's for management. I feel crippled without native RDP and CLI. I'd take most any Linux flavor over MacOS.
Kiwi058888@reddit (OP)
I have.... but of my 16 cpu cores i always seam to be maxing out 2 of them and the other 14 do nothing.... when ever i run anything in vs code it bogs down so much i jumped on a mates mac and just made a couple little helper scripts in vs and it ran like a dream
leprechanmonkie@reddit
What CPU do you have? That doesn't seem like normal behavior at all, being bogged down while only using 2 CPU cores.
My Ryzen 7900X handles a couple VM's running along side 4k video rendering in Resolve. It doesn't hinder normal usage (Web Browsing, Teams, Outlook etc) when I am doing all of this.
Emotional_Garage_950@reddit
Devolutions RDM for Mac is better than “native RDP” and Azure CLI and other tools exist for Mac. If you feel crippled that’s a you problem and not a Mac problem
godspeedfx@reddit
Devolutions RDM is goated on windows too. Can't live without it now.
leprechanmonkie@reddit
Yeah admittedly I'm not interested in trying to migrate to Mac so I've put no effort into trying for the last 5-10 years. I have dozens of local VMs, scripts and workflows that are already built and stable within Windows. Not to mention the software I deliver is native to Windows as well. I also can't afford a computer 4x the cost just to run what I need on a daily basis. My computer is where I make my living so there's no need to change now.
As my stuff runs on a ryzen 7900x machine I built a few years back. I can run a handful of VMs for testing while doing my daily tasks, CPU usage has never been an issue as OP mentioned.
NetworkCompany@reddit
MacBook Air here. It's my dumb terminal. love it, works instantly every time I lift the lid without drama.
fuzzyaperture@reddit
Battery last forever….
Opposite_Bag_7434@reddit
I switch back and forth between the two, started doing that when I was working for a company that moved to mostly all Mac. It works fine.
ConstructionSafe2814@reddit
I do use a Macbook full time. I use Turbo Exceed to log in to a remote Linux VM with i3 on it and work full screen on it all day as if I were working on Linux.
That being said, I'd prefer an old ThinkPad with Debian over macOS. 🤓
SquarePutrid1435@reddit
Network engineer here, same spot you're in - been daily driving windows + VMware Workstation
for years, only use macos for other work, seriously thinking about making the jump for all the
same reasons you listed.
Can share what I know works regardless of platform:
tcpdump and wireshark behave identically on macos. Wireshark has a proper native arm build
since 4.x so no rosetta weirdness. If you're doing a lot of capture on battery the M-series
efficiency alone is a nice bump vs a thinkpad fan spinning up.
The VM question is what's been holding me back too. VMware Workstation on windows is rock
solid and I've got ESXi on real hardware for the heavier stuff. Curious what people here
are doing for Parallels vs Fusion vs UTM - specifically whether x64 emulation inside win11
arm is actually fine for everyday network tooling, or if there's tools that still trip it up.
On serial, my windows rule of thumb carries over: FTDI chip adapters = painless, CH340
and random prolifics = driver pain. Same deal on macos from what I've read.
Following the thread, will probably pull the trigger after I see what everyone runs into.
Assumeweknow@reddit
If you go windows just make sure you get all the memory dimm slots filled. It will make a difference.
Alternative-Still142@reddit
Why do complicate with a mac when you can go Linux if windows makes you unhappy. Also you're trying to learn a new OS that's nice and I hope you notice how garbage it is for simpler tasks you were used to doing one click in windows and now you look around for it and maybe get pissed off by it. Hardware wise yes a mac ia enough spec wise for your work but it is also garbage because it is made by apple. Yes I hate this company profoundly.
Kiwi058888@reddit (OP)
its not just the OS its the hardware mac has come out with as well the M5 max chip set is an absolute beast and there is the nice to have with Sidecart etc which will stream line work flows
ProfessionalEven296@reddit
For an adapter, I use the Selore adapter - about $23, plugs to both USB-C ports securely, and adds all those missing ports like USB-A, HDMI, etc
PowerShellGenius@reddit
If you are a sysadmin in an environment with any Windows, you'll need a jump VM. Parallels on Apple Silicon is arm64 Windows, same as a new Surface w/ Snapdragon CPU. Windows on ARM64 doesn't run RSAT (ADUC etc) yet.
godspeedfx@reddit
RSAT for ARM64 came out in February, works on M-series macs w/ parallels. It's not the full suite yet, but the big ones at least.
skeetgw2@reddit
I made the switch largely because I’m shifting into more of a dev role lately but I’ve done systems/network engineering on Mac in the past.
Vm for true windows only. Parallels has fallen quite a bit. Caldigit dock is expensive but you’ll only buy it once kinda thing. Packet capture was just fine. I have a m5 pro and I’ve never even heard the fan kick on.
You’ll want to probably find some apps to customize tiles more like windows where it will snap to corners, custom touch motions and key binds are helpful. Multitouch is what I use for that. Get the keyboard with the Touch ID and I found that I really like the Bluetooth touchpad with custom gestures.
It’s a learning curve but resource wise it’s a whole new game.
Mister_Brevity@reddit
Be honest, when you first got it and realized the trackpad did amazing multitouch how much time did you spend playing with it ;)
skeetgw2@reddit
My first thought was actually “oh there’s gotta be a way to customize this” and thus the hunt was on. Still on really. I’m more customizations than man!
Mister_Brevity@reddit
There are some toy apps (or were) that would let you basically “see” your fingers in the track pad that were kinda trippy and fun.
verthunderbolten@reddit
Been using an M2 Air for the past three or so years. I only login to my windows jumpbox to mess with DHCP at this point. Once I replaced all of our legacy network equipment i could use the MacOS terminal no problem.
Packet captures with a Dell usb-c to ethernet adapter work without issue. Been using one of the blue star tech usb to serial adapters with a program called Serial for console access. One time license which is nice and it does SSH if you want to use it for that as well.
https://www.decisivetactics.com/products/serial/
At my desk i just use a 38” Dell monitor which has a built in thunderbolt dock. I had problems with some of the Dell WD19 series docks.
intoned@reddit
If you don’t need more than two external monitors don’t sleep on the 15” M5 air.
RotundWabbit@reddit
I shifted to a macbook about two years ago. Hardware is exactly what you want. Best of the best and battery is reliable and so is the machine. I'm not the biggest fan of the OS but at this point windows can go get fucked.
I used to use a VM for windows but I just bought a cheap Thinkpad from Marketplace that I use instead. It's the beater I take onto the construction sites/dusty network rooms instead of my precious macbook. (Yea im a diva so what?) Everything else I use the macbook with SecureCRT.
Emotional_Garage_950@reddit
Windows admin who uses a Mac here, no regrets whatsoever. Using Parallels for Windows-only tools. Runs great on M4 Air w. 24gb RAM
PowerShellGenius@reddit
How are you handling RSAT?
ITquestionsAccount40@reddit
Its supported on Parallels. I use parallels for work and my homelab and the typical RSAT tools are now available on Windows for ARM. Was released a few months ago.
AD DS, DNS, DHCP, GP, etc are all supported at the moment
Emotional_Garage_950@reddit
good to know! last time I checked they weren’t in the ARM build
schpanky@reddit
I've been macOS as my daily driver since like 2018, I am very much operating system agnostic and run windows and linux systems for what they are strong for. With that said, it's very nice to have my latest 14" macbook with the m4 max, the battery lasts all day and crossover/wine helps with anything that doesn't have a macOS port or counterpart, but so far that's really only been blizzard games which is out of your usage scope. All usbc hardware I use on my lenovo works on my mac without any additional drivers, of which includes my dell thunderbolt dock with 3 external monitors along with the retina display going. They're expensive but all day battery life and the ability to have proper 3d acceleration in the same form factor is really nice for a mobile workstation that fits in my backpack with lots of room to spare