Ask HN: starting iOS dev: best Mac value?

1 point·joe_bleau··6 comments

We've been accepted into MFi and will need to code up a few simple iOS apps. We're a windows shop, so that means buying a new Mac or two. I have no idea which model provides the the best bang for the buck--any advice? I doubt that we'll use it for much more than compiling and loading apps onto devices.

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I am not sure where you live, or if you are comfortable with buying things off of Craigslist...

1) You should be able to find a perfectly capable used iMac or macbook (pro) on Craigslist for anywhere between $400 - $800.

2) If Craigslist is not your thing, Apple has an excellent refurbished program, I have bought refurb. a number of times with no problems.

http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/specialdeals/mac?mco=O...

3) If you want to go brand new, any of the MacBook Air's or iMac desktops would be perfect.

We're in rural southern US. Not a lot of Macs on the local CL. Boss man is more comfortable with new, or at least factory refurb.

I'd say a MacBook Air (portable) or iMac (desktop) absent any other information, but I'd also recommend checking out this article:

http://brooksreview.net/2011/05/macs-cars/

What is MFi?

MFi: http://developer.apple.com/programs/mfi/ Hardware for iPhone, iPod, iPad platforms.

Macbook Air. I'm an MS guy, it can actually handle having a Win7 VM w/ Visual Studio alongside Xcode (not brilliantly, but adequately).

That way you can use it as your laptop too, and it's a frigging nice little laptop.

Consider the mini, though it is overdue for a hardware update. A mini with a Sandy Bridge processor, Thunderbolt connector, and SSD would actually be a pretty sweet little workstation.

The bang-for-the-buck factor on the SSD is in your compile times.

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