Hawaiʻi's Technology Community
What is a good Mac for iPhone development.
The last time I used a Mac was when my wife had one, but now that we are proud owners of a couple of iPhone 3GSes, I would like to purchase a Mac and get my feet wet writing apps for it. For my Windows and Linux development, I'm used to having maxed out workstations with a multi-monitor setup.
Obviously, I can't commit a couple of thousands of dollars to do same on the Mac. Therefore, what is a "good enough" Mac to get that will allow me to develop on without it frustrating me somewhere down the road? Any recommendations from those who are already developing iPhone apps?
Obviously, I can't commit a couple of thousands of dollars to do same on the Mac. Therefore, what is a "good enough" Mac to get that will allow me to develop on without it frustrating me somewhere down the road? Any recommendations from those who are already developing iPhone apps?
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Stephen McMahon on
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I picked up a regular MacBook specifically for this purpose. I got the aluminum one because it was a little more durable. I think the walk-out price from the Apple store at Ala Moana was $1360. You could also use a mac mini. If I'm not mistaken, it is pretty much the same processor. I strongly considered that, but I wanted to be able to get out of the house with it.
I wasn't familiar with Mac development in the least, so I went out and got a copy of Cocoa Programming for Mac OS X and that turned out to be one of the best programming books that I own. It doesn't cover iPhone, but I learned more about what I needed to know from this book than from any of the books that I bought specifically for iPhone development.
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Permalink Reply by Michael Whalen on
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I would suggest installing OS X on one of your big PC workstations, but due to the sketchyness of getting software updates from Apple with a hackintosh it might not be the best idea for iPhone development. I know iPhone developers have to jump through lots of hoops with Apple in order to become a developer, get the apps onto the phone, etc...
So with that being said, go for a mac mini. You can max one of those suckers out for under a grand and hook it up to your current keyboard/monitor setup that you're already familiar with and comfortable using. If you fall in love with developing on a mac you can take the plunge into something more powerful and keep that mini around for a HTPC or somethin.
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