macbook purchase for front/back end development work

Are you set on which platform (Windows, Mac)? Personally I've been working on a Macbook Pro, which for the most part should do you fine regardless of the model. If you are running VM's I'd suggest going for more ram but even with 4GB I hardly run into any issues. Hard Drive space (256GB SSD) or more will be fine unless you are creating lots of design files too in which case bigger will be better but you can also use an external drive as well.

You're going to spend a little more money but in the long run I feel for web work you run into less issues and have access to some awesome tools like Sketch which is Mac only. I've worked on both Windows and OSX, I feel like the workflow on OSX is the best but again it is going to be up to you to decide what works best.

Do you have a budget in mind?

I would get the best your budget can afford. Nothing Apple offers is crazy overkill, however it is expensive for what it is. I am still using a basic (no upgrades, basic spec) Macbook Pro 13" I bought as a college student back in 2010. 250 gb HD, 4gb Ram 2.4(?) Dual core cpu. Poor hardware standards by today's standards, and I still run the Adobe Master Suite CS5, Sketch, Sublime, plus dev in Ruby, Node, Php, Wordpress on it.

It's performance today is reasonable. It's getting tired, and I've grown more patient as it's grown older. But I can't complain as it's holding it's own 5 years later. I am saving for something new though, and will retire this to be a basic on-the-go computer, not my workhorse.

All that to say, get the best you can afford, but don't sweat it too much. 8gb ram is nice (you can upgrade ram yourself for much less money), 1TB HD is nice, (SSD or Hybrid if you can afford it). More cores/threads on a CPU are nice. Get what you can.

I'm a 20 year .net developer so all of my work has been using windows platform. No budget but want something to start work with.

The new macs can not be upgraded 2015,2016 models for the ram. Make sure to get at least 8gb, 220? SSD, Pros are better. 15" before 13". Mac Mini 2012 and buy ram and new hd is a good start.

I faced the same question recently. Being UX designer for years, I was fine with everything 13": Airs and cheaper MacBook Pros.

This year, I started learning front-end development, and I was happy when my 2015 MacBook Pro broke, making it easier to pay for a new MacBook Pro (they are famously overpriced).

My takeaways after a lot of studies:

1. 15" or external monitor
2. 16 Gb RAM

A MacBook like that was $2700 with tax. I'm happy with that, but hey, it's the most expensive piece of electronics I ever had, and one of the most expensive things I ever owe. It's border to ridiculous, like those 24 karat iPads.

Look, Windows has bash support nowadays, maybe it's a valid alternative.