Mac Setup for AI Development and Data Science in 2026

After months of procrastinating, I finally replaced my laptop during the holidays. Mac vs Linux is always a hard one for me and I almost went Linux (which would’ve been easier), but ultimately stuck with the Mac for cross-compatibility and not having to mess around with virtual environments.
A lot has changed in my workflow over the past couple of years:
pip & conda→uv- Docker → Orbstack
- iTerm → Ghostty
- Obsidian for pretty much everything in my digital world