Development Hardware

Yeah, Macbooks are usually the go-to laptop for developers on the go. They're sleak, simple to use, and are able to run just about any program you'll ever need without having to run Bootcamp or anything. Basically a no-hassle solution. I'll try to make my answer acceptable to all forms of developers.

Lightweight: If you're only doing simple web development or even just light programming, I'd recommend something with an Intel Core i3 or AMD A8/A10 processor with 4GB+ RAM. These will give you enough performance to do your simple tasks and then some. If you are on a strict budget, I would recommend a newer Intel Pentium.

Mid-weight: An Intel Core i5 is all you really need for web development in my opinion. This is where you would start to get into Java, C++, and other programming languages. 6GB-8GB of RAM should be suitable. If you're programming in Java, I would definitely push more towards the 8GB or more side, as Java seems to be one of the most resource intensive languages due to the fact that it runs in a virtual machine.

If the price is right, anything with dedicated graphics (NVidia/AMD graphics chipset) will be nothing, but a benefit especially if you're doing graphical design or graphical programming/gaming.

Heavy-weight: If you're a multi-tasker and/or program rather intensively an Intel Core i5 should do just fine, but an i7 will give you that extra juice. Anything 8GB of RAM or more should suffice. If you are running servers and such 12GB or more. You'll definitely want dedicated graphics at this point.

There are a lot of factors that go into it when choosing the right system. A lot of it is personal preference and personal need. Some people might need a beefier graphics card instead of a beefier processor. I hope maybe this can give you at least some insight into what to look for. It was kind of long and not really planned or organized that well, so make of it what you will. xD Happy coding, any questions feel free to ask!