Mac Mini Powerfull Enough for Development?

[gcortes]

Hi,

First post here. I'm considering getting a Mac Mini to do iOS software development. I would guess the Mini is up to the job, but I just wanted to check. If the current one is, I sure the new versions will do even better.

Curt

 

[Roy Hobbs]

A mini is plenty powerful for iOS development

 

[Acorn]

I would get the mini offered now as opposed a new 2011 version. the 2011 version will likely have intel hd3000 graphics. I dont know what your developing, but if its a game you would do better with the nvidia chip.

 

[dejo]

I would get the mini offered now as opposed a new 2011 version. the 2011 version will likely have intel hd3000 graphics. I dont know what your developing, but if its a game you would do better with the nvidia chip.

If they're developing for iOS, the graphics chip on the development machine makes little difference. It's far more important to test the app on actual devices.

 

[dolphin842]

I would get the mini offered now as opposed a new 2011 version. the 2011 version will likely have intel hd3000 graphics. I dont know what your developing, but if its a game you would do better with the nvidia chip.

Performance-wise, the HD3000 is either a little better or a little worse than the current 320m for games, depending on the individual title.

The big, difference, however, is OpenCL support. The 320m GPU supports OpenCL, whereas the Sandy Bridge chip implements that support on the CPU side. Wanting to test OpenCL performance on an actual GPU is the only edge case where getting the current Mini would be superior to the future Mini, as the latter should compile your code much faster.

 

[b-rad g]

And why the Thumb Down??

 

[gcortes]

And why the Thumb Down??

I thought that was a question mark. Duh

 

[gcortes]

If they're developing for iOS, the graphics chip on the development machine makes little difference. It's far more important to test the app on actual devices.

Developing for iOS would be one of the main uses. I have an AppleTV so I'd watch videos using it. What few graphics intensive games I play are on my PC.