Are you sure you need a laptop? You can get a refurbished HP workstation with a 1TB SSD, i7 (7th gen), and 32GB DDR4 for less that $300. Just look on Amazon.

For your case, you are going to need at least 16GB. I remember that 4 years ago I loaded Android studio with 8GB and it took a while to load. It also ran a little slow. I suggest 16GB,preferably 32GB and SSD at least 512.

System76 laptops I’ve seen recommended, I’m currently deciding between one of these and a Framework laptop

You could do your programming theoretically on any laptop, although I’d say faster the better/easier it’ll be for you in the long run. In regard to your comment on upgradability I’d recommend taking a look at a Framework laptop where their whole goal is repairability which comes with the added benefit of being upgradable.

I have a framework laptop and really like it.

The main benefit is that it is fairly future proof, so you could get one the of the cheaper ones now and then upgrade if you need better ram/CPU/apu

Look for used ThinkPads with Ryzen, I bought an L14g2 (5850U+16GB) for about 600 USD and it’s just amazing value

Buy the cheapest MacBook model you can find with an M-series chip and as much RAM as you can stomach the cost for.

I’d say 8gb is barrrrre minimum for doing app development. You’ll want 16gb.

Listen, I’m the last person you’d expect to recommend a Mac. I am an Android guy. No other Apple products in my place.

…but I’ve owned every top end model from pretty much every relevant PC manufacturer just trying to find something as reliable, hassle free, and well built as my work Mac and it just doesn’t exist.

The MacBooks are just in a whole other class. The battery life, the standby time, the speed of those M1/2 chips, runs cool and quiet.

I’m neutral on MacOS. It tends to stay out of my way. I don’t use any of the Apple apps. It is usually stable as hell. My work MBP currently has an up time of 68 days without a reboot, and the only reason it rebooted last time was for security patches.

Build quality is unmatched, screen is great, trackpad is still a generation ahead of anything else, keyboard is great.

I accept my fate, Fediverse. Roast away

I am a big fan of my Framework laptop. It is super easily upgradable and repairable so should last a good while. They are a little sold out of all of their old models so they only have pre-orders right now. They have options for a 13th gen i5 and a Ryzen 5 that both start at $850. The intel ones ship sooner and are have cheaper DDR4 RAM (vs DDR5 for Ryzen). The $850 is “base”, an i5 configured with 16g of RAM, a 500gb SSD, and no OS (assuming you’ll use linux or already own windows) is just under $1100. You can go as low as just over $1k for 8g of ram and 250g SSD.

If you’re concerned with cost they do have refurbished 12th-gen i5s in stock now for $720, but you’ll need to buy RAM and an SSD (which if buying from them would bring your total to $820 for 8g of RAM and 250g of SSD).

I can’t comment on the tablet/pen stuff. I have never owned a laptop that does that. It might be worth it if you do drawing or whiteboarding and stuff, but those are the only people I know of that actually use that sort of stuff.

For programming, you need as much RAM and as much processor as you can manage, and all other considerations are secondary. If you’re intending to keep this machine for more than a year or two, that becomes even more important, because software always seems to expand to fill the space available—kind of like clutter. If you’re buying a laptop, you’re sacrificing upgrades in return for portability, so assume that you’re going to have a hard time adding more RAM after you buy (the memory might even be soldered in place if it’s a cheap thin-and-light machine). Framework is an exception to that.

I find the Ryzen processors offer better value for money than Intel, but the last time I checked they were more difficult to find in laptops. You shouldn’t compromise on other things just to get the AMD chip.

2-in-1 with pen: likely not worth it unless you, y’know, want or need a tablet anyway.

I would get a higher end Chromebook. They run Linux, have a built in android container, nice keyboards, touch screen, often have 360 hinges if that matters to you.

I’ve got the middle one in that pic and it’s almost as fast as my 24 core desktop. Like others said, get 16 gig of ram. Edit: i use VS code which is less beastly than Android studio, but there’s no need to run an emulator because it’s already built in, accelerated.