Anyone own a Mac?

McGrace · 03-18-12, 11:14 AM

Hey guys,

I am looking to develop iOS Apps, and after reviewing mountains of info online about setting it up in VMWare I think I am just going to consider getting a Mac Mini and develop on a Mac (to avoid all the reconfigures and hassle).

Has anyone here purchased a Mac lately? I am curious as to how much of a footprint MacOSX uses now. Like what kind of CPU/RAM should I be looking for to develop? I do not want to blow tons of money on it so I was considering the latest flavor of Mac mini but getting their bottom. A 4GB system with a Core i5 dual core 2.5GHz CPU. (Which Core i5 is not really clear). I certainly despise Macs and their lack of concrete info.

Any help and information is much appreciated.

Thanks,

DB

drka0tic · 03-18-12, 11:21 AM

The Mac Mini does pack a lot of power in a tiny package.
The CPU choices right now are the:
2.3 GHz dual-core (Intel Core i5-2415M)
2.5 GHz dual-core (Intel Core i5-2520M)
2.0 GHz quad-core (Intel Core i7-2635QM) [Server model]

The mac mini wiki has loads of info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Mini

You should be perfectly fine with the entry model.

McGrace · 03-18-12, 11:28 AM

Wow thanks! I feel pretty dumb that I did not even check wikipedia. I kept looking at all the shopping sites including amazon (which is usually great) and the apple store which I would have thought was real good.

Much appreciated! Sorry I biffed it on this one.

drka0tic · 03-18-12, 11:49 AM

No prob. It was only about a month ago that I noticed every Apple product has an incredibly exhaustive wiki page.

McGrace · 03-18-12, 11:51 AM

Do you know from anyone who has used one if they tend to be RAM suckers? Just curious if I should beef that up or not...

drka0tic · 03-18-12, 12:15 PM

Unfortunately, I know of only one person that has one, but they don't use it heavily.
However, the 2GB that the entry model comes will definitely need to be upgraded.
The 8GB (2x4GB) kit only costs about $40-50. So it will be worthwile.

eobard · 03-18-12, 02:15 PM

Not to take too much away from our home here, as we certainly have some mac experts on hand, but you might want to poke around our sister site Mac Forums and see what they can tell you there.

mjw21a · 03-18-12, 06:47 PM

I did have a Mac Pro, though OSX drove me nuts and I sold it to a mate for cheap.

McGrace · 03-18-12, 09:58 PM

The problem with going to Mac people is that they can tend to have a problem with reality. I don't need someone to tell me a Mac is the best thing on the planet. I want as clear and unbiased opinion as I can get. The guys here definitely tell it like it is more often than not.

The big question is whether I will be pounding my fists on the desk in frustration after programming using a WinTel box.

Thanks!

DB

mjw21a · 03-18-12, 10:17 PM

I'd have to say I was really impressed with the performance of OSX, though in the end I simply wasn't able to adjust to the interface. That was what drove me nuts. Also, poor compatabillity with Windows. Ever tried to use a MAC HFS volume on Windows?

In the end my preference is actually with Linux for media centre and general useage useage and Windows for everything else.

Knufire · 03-18-12, 10:25 PM

While I do use my MacBook mostly as a development machine, I mostly do so by dualbooting Windows on it, so I can't comment on OSX/iOS programming. However, my general concept is this.

Microsoft and the majority of computer manufactures focus on engineering a computer. Apple focuses on engineering a user experience. Yes, this sounds cheesy and like something out of an Apple ad, but it has a definite point. What you get, after you get past the learning curve, is something that is just more intuitive than Windows is for general tasks. The mate between the hardware and the software is flawless, it functions as one single experience. There is a flipside to this though, and that is you are getting the experience that Apple has engineered for you and there is no way for you to change it. It's a one-size fits all sort of deal.

I prefer my Macbook for general web browsing over anything. It's my development machine due to the fact that it's the only laptop I own, but I boot Windows to program. If I ever need to do something decently intensive or time consuming, I can wait until I get home to use my desktop.

P.S. OSX Lion is terrible at handling multiple screens.

@mjw, I agree. If you can't get used to the interface, it's going to be a terrible ride.

juane414 · 03-18-12, 10:29 PM

My wife's MacBook pro has 4gb ddr2 and it does okay. Now that she's had it for a few years and has the hard drive pretty full it is a little slow at times. I would say its worth getting 8gb if your going to be programming and testing apps.

mjw21a · 03-19-12, 07:15 AM

Just move the image onto a bigger hard drive and put that in your MacBook Pro

Chriscc123 · 03-20-12, 02:35 AM

I found a really big problem macs have, is that lots of programs (and the os) have huge mem leaks. If you leave it on for around a week it will start to run like a snail in molasses. :P

McGrace · 03-21-12, 08:49 AM

After a Commodore64 I ended up getting a Mac Plus. So I grew up as a Mac person (yes, I was programming on it). The idea that Mac creates a user experience is something that I definitely understand and agree with. The down side, as already mentioned, is that if you do not like that experience you're pretty much hosed.

Luckily, I do not need a computer for the UI experience. I need a tool I can use to write iOS apps. When there is a specific and limited goal in mind I think it makes success a lot easier.

I have experienced the memory leaks. Used some iMacs a year back to browse the web... seemed to be slow and require frequent reboots. Good reminder. Between that and the other comment, I think 8GB RAM is just good planning. (I upped my WinTel to 12GB a few months back).

We do a decent amount of work with photos and videos. I wonder if the 8GB is just a good idea for that as well. I do not intend to use the mac to work with media, but as I recall they excel at that. So I do want to avoid a situation where I discover that the media tools are great but a little more RAM would have been nice. Either way, it's upgradeable.

mjw21a · 03-21-12, 04:52 PM

RAM is cheap. Just install more of it if you're concerned. Macs use the same memory as any other computer. There's no need to pay Apple premium prices for it

McGrace · 03-21-12, 09:16 PM

Yeah there's an 8GB kit on Amazon for 44 bucks... seems a no brainer.

03-18-12, 11:14 AM	Thread Starter #1
McGrace Member Join Date: Dec 2006	Anyone own a Mac? Hey guys, I am looking to develop iOS Apps, and after reviewing mountains of info online about setting it up in VMWare I think I am just going to consider getting a Mac Mini and develop on a Mac (to avoid all the reconfigures and hassle). Has anyone here purchased a Mac lately? I am curious as to how much of a footprint MacOSX uses now. Like what kind of CPU/RAM should I be looking for to develop? I do not want to blow tons of money on it so I was considering the latest flavor of Mac mini but getting their bottom. A 4GB system with a Core i5 dual core 2.5GHz CPU. (Which Core i5 is not really clear). I certainly despise Macs and their lack of concrete info. Any help and information is much appreciated. Thanks, DB __________________ McGrace Main Build: Phenom II 1100T, 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600 (running @1333), MSI GeForce 430GT x 2, MSI 870A-G54 MoBo, 60GB Crucial SSD Mine: Dell PentiumD 820 2GB GeForce 7200GT RAM Wife's (formerly mine): Phenom II x4 910 8GB RAM ATI 4350 My Laptop: Toshiba Core2 Duo T6600 6GB RAM 18" Wife's Laptop (formerly mine): Gateway Core2 Duo T7200 2GB RAM 17"
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 11:21 AM	#2
drka0tic Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: NYC	The Mac Mini does pack a lot of power in a tiny package. The CPU choices right now are the: 2.3 GHz dual-core (Intel Core i5-2415M) 2.5 GHz dual-core (Intel Core i5-2520M) 2.0 GHz quad-core (Intel Core i7-2635QM) [Server model] The mac mini wiki has loads of info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_Mini You should be perfectly fine with the entry model. __________________ Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.6Ghz \| Gigabyte P67A-UD5-B3 \| MSI 560Ti Twin Frozr II \| Corsair Vengeance PC3-12800 [2x4GB] \| OCZ Vertex 3 120GB \| XSPC RASA 750 RS240 \| Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit \| Samsung 245BW 24" LCD \| Logitech G15 \| Corsair HX850 \| Fractal Design Arc Midi \| Logitech Performance MX \| Mionix Propus 380 \| Lamptron FC5 Fan Controller
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 11:28 AM	Thread Starter #3
McGrace Member Join Date: Dec 2006	Wow thanks! I feel pretty dumb that I did not even check wikipedia. I kept looking at all the shopping sites including amazon (which is usually great) and the apple store which I would have thought was real good. Much appreciated! Sorry I biffed it on this one. __________________ McGrace Main Build: Phenom II 1100T, 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600 (running @1333), MSI GeForce 430GT x 2, MSI 870A-G54 MoBo, 60GB Crucial SSD Mine: Dell PentiumD 820 2GB GeForce 7200GT RAM Wife's (formerly mine): Phenom II x4 910 8GB RAM ATI 4350 My Laptop: Toshiba Core2 Duo T6600 6GB RAM 18" Wife's Laptop (formerly mine): Gateway Core2 Duo T7200 2GB RAM 17"
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 11:49 AM	#4
drka0tic Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: NYC	No prob. It was only about a month ago that I noticed every Apple product has an incredibly exhaustive wiki page. __________________ Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.6Ghz \| Gigabyte P67A-UD5-B3 \| MSI 560Ti Twin Frozr II \| Corsair Vengeance PC3-12800 [2x4GB] \| OCZ Vertex 3 120GB \| XSPC RASA 750 RS240 \| Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit \| Samsung 245BW 24" LCD \| Logitech G15 \| Corsair HX850 \| Fractal Design Arc Midi \| Logitech Performance MX \| Mionix Propus 380 \| Lamptron FC5 Fan Controller
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 11:51 AM	Thread Starter #5
McGrace Member Join Date: Dec 2006	Do you know from anyone who has used one if they tend to be RAM suckers? Just curious if I should beef that up or not... __________________ McGrace Main Build: Phenom II 1100T, 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600 (running @1333), MSI GeForce 430GT x 2, MSI 870A-G54 MoBo, 60GB Crucial SSD Mine: Dell PentiumD 820 2GB GeForce 7200GT RAM Wife's (formerly mine): Phenom II x4 910 8GB RAM ATI 4350 My Laptop: Toshiba Core2 Duo T6600 6GB RAM 18" Wife's Laptop (formerly mine): Gateway Core2 Duo T7200 2GB RAM 17"
	QUOTE Thanks

Anyone own a Mac?

Internet Services

Website Development

Tech Hardware

03-18-12, 12:15 PM	#6
drka0tic Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: NYC	Unfortunately, I know of only one person that has one, but they don't use it heavily. However, the 2GB that the entry model comes will definitely need to be upgraded. The 8GB (2x4GB) kit only costs about $40-50. So it will be worthwile. __________________ Intel Core i5 2500K @ 4.6Ghz \| Gigabyte P67A-UD5-B3 \| MSI 560Ti Twin Frozr II \| Corsair Vengeance PC3-12800 [2x4GB] \| OCZ Vertex 3 120GB \| XSPC RASA 750 RS240 \| Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit \| Samsung 245BW 24" LCD \| Logitech G15 \| Corsair HX850 \| Fractal Design Arc Midi \| Logitech Performance MX \| Mionix Propus 380 \| Lamptron FC5 Fan Controller
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 02:15 PM	#7
eobard Give me a break Senior Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Canada	Not to take too much away from our home here, as we certainly have some mac experts on hand, but you might want to poke around our sister site Mac Forums and see what they can tell you there. __________________ Thank you Baby. I love you.
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 06:47 PM	#8
mjw21a Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Australia, Brisbane	I did have a Mac Pro, though OSX drove me nuts and I sold it to a mate for cheap. __________________ CPU & HSF: AMD FX-8120 & Noctua NH-D14 Mobo: Asus M5A97-EVO RAM: 16GB (4Gx4) DDR3 2133 G.Skill RipjawZ F3-17000CL11Q-16GBZL Storage: 1x 120GB OCZ Vertex II SSD, 1x 250GB Samsung 830 SSD, 1x 1.5TB Samsung Silencer Series HDD GFX: 1GB Gigabyte AMD HD6870 OC + Yamakasi Catleap Q270 SE 27" IPS LED LCD Audio: Turtle Beach DSS 2 w/ Turtle Beach P11 Headset Case: Silverstone Temjin TJ04-E w/ Side Window PSU: 550W Antec EarthWatts Platinum My rig piccies & links "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right." H.L. MENCKEN
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 09:58 PM	Thread Starter #9
McGrace Member Join Date: Dec 2006	The problem with going to Mac people is that they can tend to have a problem with reality. I don't need someone to tell me a Mac is the best thing on the planet. I want as clear and unbiased opinion as I can get. The guys here definitely tell it like it is more often than not. The big question is whether I will be pounding my fists on the desk in frustration after programming using a WinTel box. Thanks! DB __________________ McGrace Main Build: Phenom II 1100T, 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600 (running @1333), MSI GeForce 430GT x 2, MSI 870A-G54 MoBo, 60GB Crucial SSD Mine: Dell PentiumD 820 2GB GeForce 7200GT RAM Wife's (formerly mine): Phenom II x4 910 8GB RAM ATI 4350 My Laptop: Toshiba Core2 Duo T6600 6GB RAM 18" Wife's Laptop (formerly mine): Gateway Core2 Duo T7200 2GB RAM 17"
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 10:17 PM	#10
mjw21a Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Australia, Brisbane	I'd have to say I was really impressed with the performance of OSX, though in the end I simply wasn't able to adjust to the interface. That was what drove me nuts. Also, poor compatabillity with Windows. Ever tried to use a MAC HFS volume on Windows? In the end my preference is actually with Linux for media centre and general useage useage and Windows for everything else. __________________ CPU & HSF: AMD FX-8120 & Noctua NH-D14 Mobo: Asus M5A97-EVO RAM: 16GB (4Gx4) DDR3 2133 G.Skill RipjawZ F3-17000CL11Q-16GBZL Storage: 1x 120GB OCZ Vertex II SSD, 1x 250GB Samsung 830 SSD, 1x 1.5TB Samsung Silencer Series HDD GFX: 1GB Gigabyte AMD HD6870 OC + Yamakasi Catleap Q270 SE 27" IPS LED LCD Audio: Turtle Beach DSS 2 w/ Turtle Beach P11 Headset Case: Silverstone Temjin TJ04-E w/ Side Window PSU: 550W Antec EarthWatts Platinum My rig piccies & links "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right." H.L. MENCKEN
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 10:25 PM	#11
Knufire Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2010 Location: Bloomfield Hills, MI	While I do use my MacBook mostly as a development machine, I mostly do so by dualbooting Windows on it, so I can't comment on OSX/iOS programming. However, my general concept is this. Microsoft and the majority of computer manufactures focus on engineering a computer. Apple focuses on engineering a user experience. Yes, this sounds cheesy and like something out of an Apple ad, but it has a definite point. What you get, after you get past the learning curve, is something that is just more intuitive than Windows is for general tasks. The mate between the hardware and the software is flawless, it functions as one single experience. There is a flipside to this though, and that is you are getting the experience that Apple has engineered for you and there is no way for you to change it. It's a one-size fits all sort of deal. I prefer my Macbook for general web browsing over anything. It's my development machine due to the fact that it's the only laptop I own, but I boot Windows to program. If I ever need to do something decently intensive or time consuming, I can wait until I get home to use my desktop. P.S. OSX Lion is terrible at handling multiple screens. @mjw, I agree. If you can't get used to the interface, it's going to be a terrible ride. __________________ i7-920 3.8 Ghz \| Venomous-X w/ Panaflo HS \| Sapphire Vapor-X 4890 EVGA X58 SLI LE \| 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 \| 500GB Samsung OEM \| Rosewill 850w \| Thermaltake Armor Series \| OCZ Vertex 2 60GB Secondary Rig: CM Elite 430 \| A8-3870K stock \| Radeon HD 6670 \| 500GB WD Caviar Blue \| 4GB G.SKILL DDR3-1333 \| ASUS A55 HEATWARE
	QUOTE Thanks

03-18-12, 10:29 PM	#12
juane414 Join Date: May 2006 Location: Chicago, IL	My wife's MacBook pro has 4gb ddr2 and it does okay. Now that she's had it for a few years and has the hard drive pretty full it is a little slow at times. I would say its worth getting 8gb if your going to be programming and testing apps. __________________ CPU AMD FX-8320 @ 4.2GHz/240x17.5/1.4v Motherboard Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3 RAM 16GB (2x8GB) G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3 1600 @ 800MHz GPU XFX 9600GSO SSD Kingston HyperX 3K 120GB PSU NZXT Hale82 750W Cooler Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus Case Cooler Master RC-690 II Advanced
	QUOTE Thanks

03-19-12, 07:15 AM	#13
mjw21a Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Australia, Brisbane	Just move the image onto a bigger hard drive and put that in your MacBook Pro __________________ CPU & HSF: AMD FX-8120 & Noctua NH-D14 Mobo: Asus M5A97-EVO RAM: 16GB (4Gx4) DDR3 2133 G.Skill RipjawZ F3-17000CL11Q-16GBZL Storage: 1x 120GB OCZ Vertex II SSD, 1x 250GB Samsung 830 SSD, 1x 1.5TB Samsung Silencer Series HDD GFX: 1GB Gigabyte AMD HD6870 OC + Yamakasi Catleap Q270 SE 27" IPS LED LCD Audio: Turtle Beach DSS 2 w/ Turtle Beach P11 Headset Case: Silverstone Temjin TJ04-E w/ Side Window PSU: 550W Antec EarthWatts Platinum My rig piccies & links "Under democracy one party always devotes its chief energies to trying to prove that the other party is unfit to rule - and both commonly succeed, and are right." H.L. MENCKEN
	QUOTE Thanks

03-20-12, 02:35 AM	#14
Chriscc123 Member Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: Calabasas CA	I found a really big problem macs have, is that lots of programs (and the os) have huge mem leaks. If you leave it on for around a week it will start to run like a snail in molasses. :P __________________ Mobo: MSI p55-gd85 CPU: i7-875 @3.64ghz GPU: GTX 470 HSF: CM v8 RAM: 2 x 4gb G.Skill HD: 4 1.36TB RAID 0+1 (1.95TB), 1 1.36TB Backup PSU: Rosewill 1000w Modular Case: CM HSF 932 Monitor: DELLU2311H & LG W2361VG
	QUOTE Thanks

03-21-12, 08:49 AM	Thread Starter #15
McGrace Member Join Date: Dec 2006	After a Commodore64 I ended up getting a Mac Plus. So I grew up as a Mac person (yes, I was programming on it). The idea that Mac creates a user experience is something that I definitely understand and agree with. The down side, as already mentioned, is that if you do not like that experience you're pretty much hosed. Luckily, I do not need a computer for the UI experience. I need a tool I can use to write iOS apps. When there is a specific and limited goal in mind I think it makes success a lot easier. I have experienced the memory leaks. Used some iMacs a year back to browse the web... seemed to be slow and require frequent reboots. Good reminder. Between that and the other comment, I think 8GB RAM is just good planning. (I upped my WinTel to 12GB a few months back). We do a decent amount of work with photos and videos. I wonder if the 8GB is just a good idea for that as well. I do not intend to use the mac to work with media, but as I recall they excel at that. So I do want to avoid a situation where I discover that the media tools are great but a little more RAM would have been nice. Either way, it's upgradeable. __________________ McGrace Main Build: Phenom II 1100T, 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600 (running @1333), MSI GeForce 430GT x 2, MSI 870A-G54 MoBo, 60GB Crucial SSD Mine: Dell PentiumD 820 2GB GeForce 7200GT RAM Wife's (formerly mine): Phenom II x4 910 8GB RAM ATI 4350 My Laptop: Toshiba Core2 Duo T6600 6GB RAM 18" Wife's Laptop (formerly mine): Gateway Core2 Duo T7200 2GB RAM 17"
	QUOTE Thanks

03-21-12, 04:52 PM	#16
mjw21a Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Australia, Brisbane	RAM is cheap. Just install more of it if you're concerned. Macs use the same memory as any other computer. There's no need to pay Apple premium prices for it
	QUOTE Thanks

03-21-12, 09:16 PM	Thread Starter #17
McGrace Member Join Date: Dec 2006	Yeah there's an 8GB kit on Amazon for 44 bucks... seems a no brainer. __________________ McGrace Main Build: Phenom II 1100T, 8GB GSkill DDR3 1600 (running @1333), MSI GeForce 430GT x 2, MSI 870A-G54 MoBo, 60GB Crucial SSD Mine: Dell PentiumD 820 2GB GeForce 7200GT RAM Wife's (formerly mine): Phenom II x4 910 8GB RAM ATI 4350 My Laptop: Toshiba Core2 Duo T6600 6GB RAM 18" Wife's Laptop (formerly mine): Gateway Core2 Duo T7200 2GB RAM 17"
	QUOTE Thanks

Thread Tools	Search this Thread
Show Printable Version Email this Page	Search this Thread: Advanced Search