Mac hunting for iphone development

Discussion in 'Public Game Developers Forum' started by Diablohead, Jan 23, 2009.

  1. Diablohead

    Diablohead Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2009
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    Freelancer, PC game developer
    I'm hunting down a Mac to buy and use for iPhone development but having troubles, not just finding a good priced Mac but also knowing it will work with iPhone dev work. I read that some Mac's will not work due to some missing drivers (?) like the Mac mini, but prices for new Mac books seem to be £719 and above.

    Can anyone suggest a good place or which mac I should aim for without spending too much? I suppose eBay is an option as long as I know the machine I buy will cover everything I need to run Unity, the iphone SDK and such.
     
  2. Paulio

    Paulio Well-Known Member

    Dec 3, 2008
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    A mac mini works with deving (I've only heard this, but)

    I think the best buy for a Mac atm (for US anyway) is the $999 white entry level macbook, it has recently been updated to very similar specs as the more expensive uni-body macbook. Only problem is, when they released the new models and prices Australias dollar was extremely shit (Kevin Rudd..) so it costs AU$1649, had it been released a few months earlier it would have been closer to 1.1 - 1.2K which is pretty good.

    Anyway, best place to buy is from an Apple store, be it online or an actual shop. Although, you could always get a second hand/refurbished one from online or through a seperate business?
     
  3. Diablohead

    Diablohead Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2009
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    I will look more into the mac mini, if it does work I will pick one of them up from the online store, otherwise i'll have to try 2nd hand for a macbook.

    Anything I should know about mac mini's? (open question)
     
  4. Birdsoft

    Birdsoft Well-Known Member

    Oct 16, 2008
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    #4 Birdsoft, Jan 23, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 23, 2009
    I use a Mac Mini for all my development.. !!! So it does work just fine.. I got the cheap one even and use a KVM to use with my Vista boxes big screen and usb keyboard/mouse(it came with the VGA adaptor)... No problems here(I dont run Unity but xcode and the simulator both work well enough).
     
  5. Diablohead

    Diablohead Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2009
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    Thanks for replying, looks like I will grab a mini then :) and I hope this thread helps anyone else stuck on the same boat.
     
  6. Hippieman

    Hippieman Well-Known Member

    Nov 6, 2008
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    The Mac must have the following:

    1. An Intel based processor
    2. OS X 10.5

    As long as you have that you are good to go.

    A Mini is an excellent machine to work on. You might want to increase the RAM to minimum 1 gb.
     
  7. arn

    arn Administrator
    Staff Member Patreon Silver Patreon Gold

    Apr 19, 2008
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    fwiw, everyone expects the mini to be upgraded soon. I think the low end MacBook is a much better bang for your buck at the moment.

    The mini on the market now came out 535 days ago

    arn
     
  8. Diablohead

    Diablohead Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2009
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    My plan is to buy the Mac mini in april when I can sit down and crack on with the code, so thanks for the head's up :)
     
  9. Tennisking1o1

    Tennisking1o1 Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2008
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    I was hoping a new one would come out at macworld :(

    But oh well, I caved and got an aluminum macbook
     
  10. 1337brian

    1337brian Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2008
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    Same boat...

    I had just borrowed my buddies Powermac G4 and to my surprise I needed a mac with a min of 833 mhz processor, my G4 only had duel 533, We have found some decent deals on craigs list for used macs, and I think this is the road I am headed, I really want a new MBP, but don't think finacially it would be wise...
     
  11. Tennisking1o1

    Tennisking1o1 Well-Known Member

    Nov 15, 2008
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    ahh, just get it!
     
  12. Zwilnik

    Zwilnik Well-Known Member

    It has to be an Intel Mac for the iPhone devkit too.
     
  13. 1337brian

    1337brian Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2008
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    #13 1337brian, Jan 24, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2009
    That's what I'm thinking, but, I have to way my options, If i get the mac there is no telling if i can make enough off of selling apps to cover the costs, but either way i would have a new mac... :rolleyes:
     
  14. Zwilnik

    Zwilnik Well-Known Member

    Exactly :)

    It's down to whether you feel you have the confidence to write an iPhone app that will sell enough copies to cover the investment. Which isn't all that many really. Even if it only grazes the low end of the top 100 you'll probably cover the cost of a MacBook and a month or so's dev time in the first few months.
     
  15. 1337brian

    1337brian Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2008
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    Ya, I agree it is very doable but the dynamic for the store is changing very quickly, by the time I can have something good for sale it might be 6 months, who knows what the app store will look like then. Especially for a first time dev...
     
  16. Zwilnik

    Zwilnik Well-Known Member

    Yup, but as you said, you'll still have a new Mac and even if your app is only making $5 a day, that's still one free beer per day :)
     
  17. 1337brian

    1337brian Well-Known Member

    Oct 12, 2008
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    Well taxes are coming, let's see what my return is and that could be my new MBP... 15' of course, 17 is more than I need...
     
  18. TheOZ

    TheOZ Well-Known Member

    Dec 21, 2008
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    #18 TheOZ, Jan 24, 2009
    Last edited: Jan 24, 2009
    Forget the MacMini get the Mactini.



    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdIanqM_RZ8

    Lol ontopic, Im too looking for a mac and thinking about the mini and to my understanding so far(from other sources) the mac mini can be used on any type of computer, i.e dell, windows etc not just other mac keyboards and monitors?
     
  19. Zwilnik

    Zwilnik Well-Known Member

    As long as it's a USB keyboard and either a VGA or DVI monitor.

    Actually, all Macs can use USB keyboards and mice and external VGA and DVI monitors (MacBooks, iMacs and MacBook Pros need an adaptor from their mini ports).

    Very handy for MacBooks and MacBook Pros when you want to use a separate keyboard/mouse when they're desk bound and when you want to run a second monitor off your MacBook or MacBook Pro.
     
  20. Diablohead

    Diablohead Well-Known Member

    Jan 19, 2009
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    I seen people with average app's sell and make their costs back within a few months so I would not worry too much about that part, long as you can learn to code something that people will buy that is.
     

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