[mac mini or imac for] xcode

I don't think the Mini would be significantly slower, if at all. After all,

- both have SSD's (which is a must for dev work) and comparable CPU's
- the major difference is in the graphics card, which has no effect on the speed of compilation etc.

 

Dunno as I haven't personally compared the two. Generally, unless you continuously have to recompile thousands of sources, the CPU speed isn't as important as SSD speed / throughput compared to HDD's.

 

No, it really isn't a _must_.

 

Well, with the current SSD prices (at least when it comes to traditional S-ATA 2.5 models), it's a sin not to get at least a 128GB system SSD if one develops and compiles a lot.

 

That's news to me. I use a Mac Mini with a 1TB HDD and a MBP from 2008 with a 500 GB HDD for my dev work.

Sure a SSD would be nice, but I wouldn't call it a must

 

Of course it's not a must. I too could work on my projects on my MBP 17" before getting an SSD. Just far slower. And SSD prices are so low today that it's a sin not to buy one if one does dev work.

 

Well then don't say it is. Also, dev work also sometimes means lots of files to save, especially if one is doing graphics for their apps. I don't know about you, but I would fill up a 256 GB SSD really quick

 

SSD prices are not low enough. I want one drive in my laptop and my personal minimum size is 500GB which I'm already hitting the limit of. My next drive will be at lease 1TB. I like having all of my pictures, video, music and Xcode projects with me.

I've considered a hybrid drive but the Seagate I've looked at has a 5400rpm drive. So when the cache isn't hit, it could end up being slower than the 7200rpm drives I'm used to.

I could replace the DVD with another drive but I actually use the DVD once in a while. Given Apples direction of DVDs, I'll eventually be forced into an external option. I already am with Blu-ray.

Menneisyys2, do you have any real world performance numbers for Xcode comparing the use of a SSD and hard drive?

 

Yup, if you have a lot of graphics (you, say, develop a game with tons of high-res pre-rendered screens etc.), it might be necessary.

I develop and maintain a large-scale multilingual mapping app with some (not much) bitmaps and splash screens and several versions for different locations (meaning essentially multiplied disk usage as they're entirely separate projects with the same SVN-synched codebase). I've never have run out of disk space on my 256G SSD, even with a 60GB Parallels disk image in there.

That is, if one's projects don't contain that many graphics / other stuff, 256GB might prove to be more than sufficient.

Of course, I also use a 1TB 9.5mm HDD in my DVD bay but not for any kind of development - only as an iTunes media hard drive.

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I'd say depends. As I've pointed out above, with projects not having that much multimedia assets, 256G may be more than sufficient. At least it's for me.

I'd personally go for the true 256G SSD + external HDD way (instead of the slower hybrid drive) if hooking up the HDD isn't a problem.

BTW, hybrid drives also mean higher replacement costs when the mechanical part breaks down and the whole thing needs to be replaced. (Which is VERY common with 2.5 drives.) No such problem with the separate SSD + HDD approach.

 

Ah, see, I use both of my machines as personal/development machines. Therefore I want my primary (only) drive to be able to hold my iTunes library, XCode projects/resources, and any other documents. On my Mini I also use Final Cut Pro. I store all of my files locally (I know, I should get a USB 3 drive for Final Cut, but whatever)

 

Seems like either machine would be a good choice then. I would compare the cost of the two (factoring in that you need to get a monitor/keyboard/mouse with the mini).

Also, one thing to consider, is that with the mini you can buy the base model and upgrade the ram yourself for crazy cheap. I don't recall if that can be done on the iMac as easily (googled: see here regarding upgrading ram in an iMac)

 

Either would be far more than enough for typical app development using Xcode. Decide based on other criteria (any uses other than Xcode, fits on your desk better, different monitor preference, etc.)

 

What ever you buy, get 16GB of RAM. I just received a project that is challenging my work machine that has only 4GB. Time to order an upgrade.

 

iMac RAM is easy to replace on my model (the original Al one) - you just lay it on it's face, you remove the sole screw from the bottom of the computer, pop the RAM out and pop the new RAM in, put the screw back in, and stand the computer back up. You can do it all in under 3 minutes.

IDK if the redesigned slim one made this a lot harder.

 

From the linked page it sounds like the 21 inch model is capable of replacement, the 27 is not. That being said, it sounds like based on user comments, both are kind of a rough task

 

It's the other way around, if I understood your comment correctly. 27" is the one that's easy to upgrade.