I am a windows/windows mobile developer and am being lured into the Mac/iPhone arena. I am very excited about this but as a complete novice in all things Mac and iPhone I need to make sure that I get the right kit.
On the SDK download area it refers to a minimum spec of Intel-Based mac with OSX10 Leopard. From scouting eBay for a cheap iBook or MacBook it seems that this narrows my choices down a bit. Can anyone shed some light on the following differences:
1. Leopard vs Tiger vs ????? (and which are compatible with the iPhone SDK)
2. PowerPC vs Intel vs ????? (and again which are comptible)
As this is (at this stage) an evaluation of the development system I want to keep costs down so I'd prefer to by a mac (laptop) for about £200-£250 ($450) but obviously need to make sure that I get one that is compatible with the iPhone SDK.
Thanks for your help and I love the video tutorials!
Does it have to be 10.5.3? I can already see that it requires a pretty up-to-date model, so bang goes my budget, but a lot of the laptops that I am looking at are just quoted as having leopard (which I have now discovered means 10.5.X) without the full version number. What would happen if it had 10.5.2?
I did most of my development with PowerPC, and it did work. However, it was painfully slow compared to using a MacBook Pro, and I don't think I could have gotten the code physically on the device without upgrading to Intel.
Once I hit the roadblock of not being able to get my code on the device, I upgraded to a new MacBook Pro, and I'm really happy with it. Development of my game would have been much faster if I'd started with a MacBook instead of going PowerPC. I had a high-end PowerPC machine and even it was about 1/4 or less the speed of the MacBook Pro. An iBook would be significantly worse.
I think you can develop for iPhone on any Intel machine, but I highly recommend the dual core or multiprocessor machines. In other words, get a Core Duo, not a Core Solo. If you're really pushed for money you might consider a Mac Mini Core Duo machine, which you can sometimes get refurbished for US$499. Check Apple's refurbished section periodically for deals, since they are always changing.
Because you will eventually have to get an Intel system I just don't think it's cost-effective to start on PowerPC unless you actually own PowerPC hardware now. In any event, switch to Intel as soon as possible thereafter; it was a great boon to my productivity to have the much faster machine.
I bought a Mac Mini ($599) and it's working great. I don't have a keyboard, mouse, or monitor plugged into it - I installed logmein (similar to VCN or remote desktop) and then I connect to it from my existing desktop PC or from my laptop - even away from the house. It was economical and convenient, and the machine is more than powerful enough for coding and compiling.
iam dual booting to leo on my pc. Latest SDK works aswell
what type of PC are you running? i'm interested in upgrading my hardware (g4 ppc chips) so i can get going. obviously the PC-route is HELLA cheaper so i was wondering if i can correctly build on a pc.
i've seen few posts that claim you canuse a pc but i haven't been able to get a clear picture of a) what the hardware specs need to be and b) how the steps differ from developing on a mac. (and a last thought of c) is it worth the extra effort?)
what type of PC are you running? i'm interested in upgrading my hardware (g4 ppc chips) so i can get going. obviously the PC-route is HELLA cheaper so i was wondering if i can correctly build on a pc.
i've seen few posts that claim you canuse a pc but i haven't been able to get a clear picture of a) what the hardware specs need to be and b) how the steps differ from developing on a mac. (and a last thought of c) is it worth the extra effort?)
thanks!!
the most important thing is mobo and proper leo iso. Ive built to PC comps that boot leo without any issues. Here is mine:
Motherboard - Asus P5K-VM
Video - GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
RAM - 4 GB of OCZ SLI (4x1gb in dual channel mode)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
HDD1 - Seagate Barracuda 250GB (vista)
HDD2 - old Seagate Barracude 80GB (40GB for mac, 40GB for time machine)
iAtkos 5i - this one is the best from what i had (ive tried kalyway and ideneb). U can use native Update with it.
The second comp ive built:
Motherboard - Asus P5B-VM SE (i think, but SE for sure)
the most important thing is mobo and proper leo iso. Ive built to PC comps that boot leo without any issues. Here is mine:
Motherboard - Asus P5K-VM
Video - GeForce 8800 GTS 320MB
RAM - 4 GB of OCZ SLI (4x1gb in dual channel mode)
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E6750
HDD1 - Seagate Barracuda 250GB (vista)
HDD2 - old Seagate Barracude 80GB (40GB for mac, 40GB for time machine)
iAtkos 5i - this one is the best from what i had (ive tried kalyway and ideneb). U can use native Update with it.
The second comp ive built:
Motherboard - Asus P5B-VM SE (i think, but SE for sure)
Video - OnBoard (support for dx10)
RAM - 2 GB of OCZ
CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E7400
HDD1 - Seagate Barracuda 250GB (vista + mac)
iAtkos 5i
Both comps are booting 10.5.6 with SDK 3.0
but are you able to submit to apple with those systems? my friend and i have been developing on netbooks, toshiba and dell using hackintoshed o/s and sdk 3.0 but he told me when he tried to submit the app it required mac hardware to upload.
but are you able to submit to apple with those systems? my friend and i have been developing on netbooks, toshiba and dell using hackintoshed o/s and sdk 3.0 but he told me when he tried to submit the app it required mac hardware to upload.
ofc u can submit. If u running mac with latest sdk, u can submit, even on pc
I'm thinking of getting a netbook (Hackintosh) to try my hand in iphone app development. Obviously I'll upgrade if it's worth while...but for it being a complete unknown right now...this would be the cheapest solution.
What netbook are you developing on (specs etc)? Have you had any problems developing with it?
I am a long time PC user, never touched a mac in my life (besides occasionally "petting" the beautiful monitors I saw here and there on graphic designers desktops...)
I am very much interested in trying to develop iPhone apps, but the barrier to entry is too high for me.
For starters, I am not sure if I would get along with the mac and the development language, I am also not sure I am ready to commit to buying a mac.
So I am also interested in what people on this thread have to say - specifically, I would ask - what is the absolute starter pack?
I mean, I wouldn't mind buying a mac later if I feel it is right, but I would much rather start by testing the water on my PC - I just dont want to buy a "cat in the sack"
If this is not possible, then I would love to find a solution that only involves buying a cheap mac and connecting to it in remote through my comfortable PC.
I am a long time PC user, never touched a mac in my life...
Seven months ago I was in exactly the same position. I got myself a MacMini for $600 and began learning XCODE, Objective-C, and iPhone. Having done Windows Mobile development, and played around a little with Symbian and even Palm, it seems to me that the iPhone development system is far and away the cleanest, most friendly, most well-documented, and easiest I have ever used. Don't be afraid. Jump in.
Seven months ago I was in exactly the same position.
Thank you Robert.
I am fairly fluent in several development languages but I gotta admit that by viewing some of the tutorials on this forum, I feel like a complete idiot. All the examples look like Chinese to me.
So you are saying MacMini is the starter pack?
I am guessing (after some light reading here and there) there should be no problem connecting it to a PC monitor and later setting some remote control on my Windows to control it?
Also have to figure out this Leopard / Tiger stuff.... every page I see on the apple site says "Faster, Better, Smaller" on almost everything they have but finding out what I need, is a different story.
Its pretty easy to install Leopard and the SDK on a PC, and very cheap if you want to check the environment first before actually buying a real mac. I did it at home when I did not own a Mac with a cheap Gigabyte G31 S2-L motherboard and core 2 duo processor
Its pretty easy to install Leopard and the SDK on a PC, and very cheap if you want to check the environment first before actually buying a real mac. I did it at home when I did not own a Mac with a cheap Gigabyte G31 S2-L motherboard and core 2 duo processor
nobre84, music to my ears.
Anything special I need to know before attempting this?
Any specific minimum hardware requirements?
I mean, can I just get me an average Intel based PC, install and start coding?
I only need this setup for testing to see that I get the hang of it - I know I will need a mac eventually.
Preferably intel chipset motherboard, core2duo, nvida/ati video card if you want hardware accelerated graphics and the right dvds to install.
I don't know if its against the site policy to discuss the subject, but there is plenty of info available, you can PM me if you want more details on how I set it up.
I am fairly fluent in several development languages but I gotta admit that by viewing some of the tutorials on this forum, I feel like a complete idiot. All the examples look like Chinese to me.
It takes a little getting used to but once you do it's a lot of fun.
Quote:
So you are saying MacMini is the starter pack?
I am guessing (after some light reading here and there) there should be no problem connecting it to a PC monitor and later setting some remote control on my Windows to control it?
Also have to figure out this Leopard / Tiger stuff.... every page I see on the apple site says "Faster, Better, Smaller" on almost everything they have but finding out what I need, is a different story.
Mac Mini is the cheapest Mac there is. If you already have keyboard, monitor, mouse and all the other peripherals you would want (camera, printer), and you aren't looking for a laptop, then it's the way to go. You can remote desktop into them from a Windows PC or laptop if you want.
Tiger is the previous version of the Mac OS (10.4) - all new Macs come with Leopard (10.5). If you are buying a used Mac that has Tiger, you may have to fork out $129 for a Leopard install disc. Any Mac that already has Leopard (any version) can be upgraded to the latest (10.5.8) just by using the built in Software Update utility.
(Snow Leopard (10.6) is coming soon, but it is only a $29 upgrade from regular Leopard. No official release date has been set yet.)
If you are thinking about getting a used Mac to do iPhone development, make sure you get an Intel based Mac. PPC is not officially supported, and anyway all the PPC Macs are pretty old and relatively slow by now.
Last edited by jsd; 08-06-2009 at 07:27 PM.
Reason: latest version of Leopard changed while I was writing this!
It takes a little getting used to but once you do it's a lot of fun.
jsd, many thanks for taking the time and for the detailed and patient answer.
yes, I figured that Leopard business no thanks to Apple, but thanks to wikipedia... more or less the only reliable and to-the-point source these days.
I only joined this forum today and feel very welcome thanks to all the kind and fast replies. Apple should cut you guys a check every month...
I walked into the apple store and bought the cheapest macbook pro with smallest screen. I wish the screen has more resolution but it is fine.
I am using side by side with my PC to google and search for things when I am stuck.. too hectic using safari browser + xcode on that little laptop screen.
the keyboard short cuts are hard to get used to..
it's actually a great little laptop.. things compile faster than PC software.
Development hardware requirements
Linear Mode
