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macOS MacBook Air + Xcode

HiRez

HiRez

macrumors 603
Original poster
Jan 6, 2004
6,250
2,576
Western US
Anyone get one of the new MacBook Airs yet? It seems like it could be the ultimate road coding machine (considering size and weight, obviously). I'm curious to know how Xcode runs, if the screen feels too cramped, and if you found any development-related issues with it. It seems like the CPU should be fast enough, battery life looks good (5-6+ hours), and the SSD/flash storage could potentially help performance a lot, especially during compiles.
 
Catfish_Man

Catfish_Man

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2001
2,579
2
Portland, OR
I can't speak for the 11.6" model, but I code a good bit on my 13" MacBook + SSD, which is basically similar to the 13" air but lower res and heavier. Works fine for me.
 
Jill-Jênn

Jill-Jênn

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2010
1
0
France
Just got a MacBook Air 11″ and don't feel cramped yet with the editors I use (argh, I have to DOWNLOAD XCode, as I didn't get any installation disc…).
 
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BillTheConqeror

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2010
7
0
Jill-Jênn said:
Just got a MacBook Air 11″ and don't feel cramped yet with the editors I use (argh, I have to DOWNLOAD XCode, as I didn't get any installation disc…).
Click to expand...

Have you tried it with an external monitor yet?

I'm torn between the 11" and 13". In either case, I would use it with an external monitor for Xcode but I'm more curious about it from a power standpoint.
 
T

tomacintosh

macrumors 6502
Aug 25, 2005
261
34
BillTheConqeror said:
Have you tried it with an external monitor yet?

I'm torn between the 11" and 13". In either case, I would use it with an external monitor for Xcode but I'm more curious about it from a power standpoint.
Click to expand...

I think either machine will run it fine. Once the app is actually open it won't make all that much difference. I've run Xcode on a Core Solo Mac mini in the past, and it worked fine.
 
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BillTheConqeror

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2010
7
0
Last question, Would Xcode benefit from the 4GB RAM upgrade? Otherwise my uses for this laptop will be very light: Web, iTunes, tweetdeck, and the occasional small spreadsheet or word document.
 
chown33

chown33

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2009
10,740
8,416
A sea of green
If you use Xcode mostly by itself, 2 GB should be fine. My Mac mini with 2 GB is more than enough to run Xcode and a few other apps at once.

If you're the type of person who always leaves all their apps running, especially in Spaces, then 2 GB may be inadequate. On the up side, SSD swapping will be fast. On the down side, swapping is swapping, and exacts a cost.

One other thing to consider: I bought my mini and intentionally upgraded its RAM myself. That's not possible with the Air. I would personally max out the RAM, even if it costs me more, because I think it would extend the useful lifetime of the computer. Max RAM is one less obstacle to hit later.
 
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BillTheConqeror

macrumors newbie
Oct 30, 2010
7
0
Thanks. I think I am going to go with the stock 2GB model to save some cash. I would probably only have a web browser with 4-5 tabs open while running Xcode, and for general usage, just a browser, iTunes, Tweetdeck, and occasionally Microsoft Office.

I know I can't upgrade it, but another consideration is that I am thinking about going back to school next fall and would be eligible for a student discount if I want to upgrade in a year or two.
 
chown33

chown33

Moderator
Staff member
Aug 9, 2009
10,740
8,416
A sea of green
BillTheConqeror said:
Thanks. I think I am going to go with the stock 2GB model to save some cash. I would probably only have a web browser with 4-5 tabs open while running Xcode, and for general usage, just a browser, iTunes, Tweetdeck, and occasionally Microsoft Office.
Click to expand...

If that's your typical workspace, then you should at least run Activity Monitor.app and have it tell you the memory usage with that setup. It could be close to the edge of swapping with 2 GB, but you won't know it unless you measure it.
 
F

firewood

macrumors G3
Jul 29, 2003
8,107
1,345
Silicon Valley
Seems like the 11" Air would fit nicely right below the 27" Apple monitor and allow a nice vertical dual monitor set-up for iOS/iPad development. Has anyone tried this?
 
J

jozero

macrumors 6502
Sep 14, 2009
345
387
firewood said:
Seems like the 11" Air would fit nicely right below the 27" Apple monitor and allow a nice vertical dual monitor set-up for iOS/iPad development. Has anyone tried this?
Click to expand...

I did a rough hand measurement and I believe the 11" would cover the bottom part of the 27" screen. I'm looking at the same combo myself. I wish the Apple screens were height adjustable.
 
wakka092

wakka092

macrumors 6502
Jun 20, 2007
344
0
I would do the 13" if you mainly code on the road. I had a 13" and found even it limiting in terms of screen real estate. YMMV.
 
robvas

robvas

macrumors 68040
Mar 29, 2009
3,240
629
USA
firewood said:
Seems like the 11" Air would fit nicely right below the 27" Apple monitor and allow a nice vertical dual monitor set-up for iOS/iPad development. Has anyone tried this?
Click to expand...

Different screens = different DPI and different brightness. Yuck.
 
teaneedz

teaneedz

macrumors member
Dec 8, 2009
64
6
xcode download experience

During a painful download process due to home network I experienced the following:

- During download RAM usage topped at 800MB. CPU stayed well under 50%.

- During actual install RAM peaked at 1.1GB and CPU pegged at 100%

The actual install was quite fast for this 3GB file. My bottleneck was the network. I wish Apple provided x-code on the install flash stick but it does not.

Xcode runs fine on an MBA 11.6 1.4Ghz/4GB/128GB machine.
 
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