I am such a developer. Just moved from an older MPB to a (soon-to-be) Linux (Ubuntu) laptop. Always preferred Linux as my primary OS, but liked Apple hardware and OSX when I didn't feel like fiddling with things. For me it was a complex calculation (in no particular order):

  -Increasing annoyance by subtle changes to various native mac apps.

  -Migration of OSX towards more of a Windows, hiding details from the user.

  -Wanting a machine with NVidia GTX 1070 to explore 3D and ML.

  -Apple's migration towards a fully soldered machine.

  -Removal of ports and DVD drive.

  -The Apple premium is too out of whack.

I settled for an Acer Predator 17": https://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/predator-model/NH.Q17A...

Essentially:

  -i7 CPU

  -NVidia GTX 1070 GPU

  -16B RAM (now 32GB, with $100 of RAM)

  -1TB HD

  -256GB SSD

  -1920x1080 display

  -CD/DVD burner

  -11 ports for stuff

It was on sale at MicroCenter for an unbeatable price.

The downsides:

  - its a beast (almost 10 pounds, and 18" - not sure it will fit under an airline seat, needed to buy a larger backpack).

  - its a "gamer" laptop... with all the tacky red lights and styling deemed necessary by marketing.

  - the display isn't as nice, but more than sufficient for my needs

I've booted from the Ubuntu Live disk and seems to get up and running with minimal issues, not sure how long the road is to get this fully functional with Linux. I strongly considered a System76 laptop, but was ultimately persuaded by the value of this hardware.

Ideally I'd like to just by a laptop with a preinstalled and supported hypervisor where I could trivially install any OS image I'd like (preferably in a way that would let me seamlessly run in either a cloud (AWS) or my local device). If I can slog though it, my ultimate plan is to get things running on here with a minimal arch linux as the hypervisor. Not looking forward to dealing with all the driver pain.