How I Optimized My 2024 MacBook M3 Max for Full‑Stack Development

Over the past years I have shared my MacBook development setup, and now I’m presenting the 2024 version.

The previous 2022 and 2023 versions each attracted over 80,000 reads, and I hope this edition is equally helpful.

My name is Vinay Kesharwani, the independent founder of ScriptMint.com. I am a full‑stack developer using Laravel, Vue.js, and Tailwind CSS, currently building a self‑hosted digital suite called promint.app.

I upgraded from a 2019 Intel MacBook Pro to a 2023 MacBook Pro 14‑inch M3 Max with 36 GB RAM and a 500 GB SSD.

Although 500 GB may seem small, I store photos and videos in Google Photos (2 TB) and keep the local drive for development work only.

The older Intel model still works well but its battery now lasts only about an hour, so I chose the M3 Max for its superior battery life and performance, especially for upcoming mobile app development.

The 2019 model was one of my best investments, delivering multiple returns, and I expect the new model to be even better.

After two months of use, the M3 Max delivers 8–10 hours of battery during peak work, runs silently, and I rarely shut it down.

It runs macOS Sonoma 14.2.1 in dark mode, which I prefer for eye comfort.

I created two disk volumes on the MacBook—one for work, one for personal data.

Desktop widgets such as Todoist, Calendar, Clock, and Weather give me quick access, and I keep the desktop clean with no files left on it.

I use Apple’s Focus mode to block notifications during work, syncing the custom focus across all Apple devices.

Continuity features between MacBook and iPhone—copy‑paste, AirDrop, Handoff—are indispensable daily.

Core Applications I Use Daily

Raycast (https://www.raycast.com/) replaces Spotlight with a faster, script‑able launcher; I’ve used it for 20 months and set the shortcut to ⌘ Space.

SetApp (https://setapp.com/) provides a subscription to over 200 apps for $10/month; I’ve installed more than 20 apps through it.

I arrange a few apps to stay running and switch between them with a three‑finger swipe.

Spark Mail (https://sparkmailapp.com/) manages multiple email accounts with AI‑assisted replies; I schedule three daily email notifications and use the zero‑inbox method.

Viewing each email as a task, completing it, then archiving keeps my inbox clear.

Notion (https://www.notion.so/) serves as my personal diary, notes, and project tracker—all available for free.

My desktop layout dedicates three‑quarters of the screen to a stage manager with Terminal, SSH client, Finder, and Tinkerwell for rapid switching.

Warp (https://www.warp.dev/) is my free, modern macOS terminal; its AI assists with command execution.

Termius (https://termius.com/) manages multiple servers with a free plan, offering SSH and SFTP capabilities.

Visual Studio Code (https://code.visualstudio.com/) is my primary code editor for PHP, Flutter, and other projects, enhanced with extensions and a clean UI.

I keep VS Code and Terminal centrally placed for quick back‑and‑forth during development.

Chrome is my default browser; I limit tabs to 4–5 and pin frequently used ones like Todoist, Trello, and ChatGPT.

GitHub Desktop (https://desktop.github.com/) provides a UI for repository management, avoiding the need to type Git commands.

Laravel Development Tools

I use Laravel Herd (https://herd.laravel.com/) as a one‑click PHP development environment, bundling Nginx, DNSMasq, and multiple PHP versions.

For databases I rely on DBngin (https://dbngin.com/), which supports MySQL, PostgreSQL, Redis, and more.

Both Herd and DBngin let me configure a full Laravel development stack with a few clicks.

I love this setup and plan to share photos of my new office once it’s ready.

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