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Comment by eptcyka | Hacker News Reader

There are places in the world where developer labour (especially if the developer is trying to work for himself) is far cheaper than the 900$ capital investment of what essentially is 500-600$ worth of hardware with a shiny aluminum case. Don't forget that not everywhere in the world developers have to choose between several jobs that pay tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars a year.

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So these same people couldn’t spend $300 on a used 2014 Mac Mini but could buy a PC?

In those places, old Apple hardware isn't significantly cheaper than new hardware. You might get a 25% discount for a degraded experience (security updates may end in ~3 years) or buy much older hardware (e.g. 9 year old models) that cannot run current macOS and Xcode, etc.

And yes, a local PC can work out to lower prices due to specific tax arrangements, sourcing components straight from manufacturers and assembling them locally.

So do you expect Apple to give away Mac OS if they did allow it to run on a VM or should they go back to charging $129 for the OS like they use to (and like MS still does)?

The current version of OS X runs on the 2012 Mac Mini. I see one on eBay for $145.

Ypu don't need to buy a PC - you already have one.

So if you already have a PC and such a great app idea, why not develop for Android first - where 85% of the mobile users are - make money on your great app idea and then by a Mac?

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