Will a Mac Mini suffice for an iPhone Development machine?

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+13 Q:

Will a Mac Mini suffice for an iPhone Development machine?

So the past two clients I've been at, all the talk has been about creating an iPhone app, and I won't lie, I want to make one. Or at least learn how to make them.

I've never owned a Mac, so I have no idea how their OS functions/works/performs, whatever. I'm a .NET Developer and build my own gaming rigs at home, but as far as Mac hardware goes I'm clueless.

I'm wondering if any iPhone devs out there can share their insight on their machines? I'm assuming it's comparable. I'm looking at a Mac Mini, 2.0ghz duo core Intel, 2gb RAM.

This seems fine for a dev machine (it beats my awful machine at work).

Let me know guys, and thanks again in advance.

+10 A:

As long as it has an Intel processor its fine. Good Luck!

Also here is some stuff to get you started:

CocoaDev Central
Official Apple Tutorial | (also look at the prerequisite)
iPhone Dev Center

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-10 02:19:03

god help me.I'll feel like a Red Sox fan buying a Yankees cap.

Jack Marchetti 2009-07-10 02:22:43

Wow another nerd who also likes sports? I thought I was the only one!

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-10 02:24:57

If you make alot of money making iPhone apps then you owe me 10% for the help ;-)

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-10 02:26:06

Well I want to learn to do it before my client decides to outsource it to someone else, though i imagine learning objective-C is gonna suck since .NET/C# did such a great job of abstracting away all the hard stuff.

Jack Marchetti 2009-07-10 02:32:13

Well apple's version of Objective-C still has garbage collection, so it shouldn't be too bad (it wasn't for me). But then again I find learning new languages fun.

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-10 02:37:06

Unless it has changed, you have to manually manage memory when developing for the iPhone. It isn't too bad though, you just need to be thorough.

Aethyrial 2009-07-10 10:50:56

Objective-C 2.0 has garbage collection, but only on the OS X implementation, not on the iPhone OS. You've still got to manage your own memory. Enjoy the pain.

Adam Rosenfield 2009-07-11 01:22:45

@Aethyrial -)

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-11 02:29:52

+2 A:

The fortunate thing about developing for the iPhone is that you generally don't need to be concerned about getting a top of the line development machine. You are developing for a device the runs on a much more constrained hardware set. I have a MacBook that I use to run Xcode as well as Windows XP and Visual Studio 2008 with no issues. A Mac Mini should be fine, as well as just fun.

Aethyrial 2009-07-10 02:22:57

My main concern came from doing .NET development on not so top of the line machines.I have a god awfully slow piece of crap at work (consultants always get screwed), and doing any dev work on it is torture.But I see your point

Jack Marchetti 2009-07-10 02:24:38

Don't think of it as a slow piece of crap. Think of it as more billable hours :-)

William Brendel 2009-07-10 02:52:24

Very true, but i'm capped at 40! If I had unlimited OT i'd be working 70 hours a week lol

Jack Marchetti 2009-07-10 03:05:38

+3 A:

The spec you are looking for for a Mac-mini is more than sufficient for iPhone development. I have both an iMac with 2Gb RAM and a 2.6GHz processor and I've never had an issue. The XCode IDE is surprisingly efficient - and performant. Enjoy.

LBushkin 2009-07-10 02:23:53

+6 A:

The short answer is yes, a Mac Mini is an adequate iPhone development machine.

However, considering the hardware specs and inability to upgrade, the Mac Mini is an awfully bad deal. It sounds like you have a good amount of system building experience, so why not build a hackintosh? You can get performance rivaling a Mac Pro for not much more than the cost of a Mac Mini. Plus it can double as a Windows machine, since that sounds like your primary OS.

You should also consider the fact that you'll need to learn Objective-C and Apple's APIs before you'll be able to make anything useful. That's a discussion for another day though...

William Brendel 2009-07-10 02:26:34

Oh I know. I've watched most of the Stanford lectures from iTunes but if I can't actually write code, it's kind of pointless watching it. Like watching porn with no hands lol I'll def look into it, however i don't have a lot of space for another machine, so a mac mini which can sit on my desk and plug into a KVM seems fine for now.

Jack Marchetti 2009-07-10 02:28:57

Probably because that violates apple's EULA and is 'illegal' says apple. Any app that he submits to apple for download on the iPhone could be rejected and get him in trouble.

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-10 02:29:17

@JackM: Tight spaces are where the Mac Mini shines, I'll give you that. Might make sense if space is a concern.

William Brendel 2009-07-10 02:32:04

@Lucas: Don't get me wrong, I think Apple makes some fine notebooks (I'm typing this on a MBP right now, actually). That said, Apple's desktop pricing model is just insane. They have an ultra high-end machine and an ultra low-end machine, nothing more. For people that want good performance for a reasonable price, Hackintoshes are a good option.

William Brendel 2009-07-10 02:37:55

@William Brendel: True. If theres one thing I hate about apple it the price (and usually for so little when compared to a custom built PC).

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-10 02:44:28

Apples a boutique brand, like Alienware. you're paying for the look and style. Or you have the money and don't care. or you're a lame ass who can't build your own :) so i guess im the lame ass with my girly mac-mini soon arriving ha

Jack Marchetti 2009-07-10 03:07:04

Apps written on a Hackintosh would be rejected by Apple? Get real, there's no way they could tell.

Coxy 2009-07-14 05:12:40

+2 A:

Yes, the mini (intel version) would be perfect for iphone development. You will be able to do just as much as any other iphone developer can do. After all, you are developing apps for a device that is much slower than the mini.

Troggy 2009-07-10 02:28:15

I would recommend a laptop. It sounds like you're a contractor, so the ability to use the simulator in a demo on site may be useful to you.

In the Bay Area, it's useful to take to the frequent meetups and what not.

A low end macbook is about 999 right now.

Kailoa Kadano 2009-07-11 00:59:16

MacBooks (as in the white polycarbonate ones) are indeed portable, but the lack of ability to have dual monitors is *painful*. The new Mac Minis have the ability to connect two displays, which makes coding much easier.

Kevin L. 2009-07-11 01:05:18

I hate laptops, not just macs but PC's. Not a fan at all lolWouldn't demoing something on an iPhone be cooler than showing it on a mac?

Jack Marchetti 2009-07-11 03:16:53

@JackM: Why all the laptop hate? I could see why in the old days (short battery life, less processing power, less memory), but today's laptops are 'almost' as powerful as Desktop's. Is it the keyboards? ;-)

Lucas McCoy 2009-07-15 04:05:55

Totally.

I've bought the mid 2010 Unibody Mac mini and it's a good machine to do iPhone development.

I didn't want to spend a lot of money buying a new computer. So I opted for the bare minimum necessary to develop for iPhone.

The post bellow shows my impressions about it...

Learning to develop for iPhone with a Mac mini

Leniel Macaferi 2010-09-20 09:51:23

ansaurus

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Will a Mac Mini suffice for an iPhone Development machine?

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