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MacBook Pro for xcode

P

Pixelninja

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 27, 2013
6
0
Hi guys,

I'm going to be buying a 13" MBP for developing iOS Applications. I have an external monitor for developing at home so screen real estate shouldn't be an issue. Will the 2.5ghz be ok, or do you think I should go for the 2.9? I'd be extending the ram to 8Gb adding the 128gb ssd.

Thanks
 
I'd think you'll be just fine with the cheaper option.

I know someone said this is the wrong forum, and you'll probably get more answers on the other one, but just giving my opinion here.

I do almost all of my coding on a mid-2010 MBP with hi-res screen (need portable screen real estate), and then use the MP as the workhorse for finished code. My i7 is 2.66 GHz. XCode is stupid-fast on this machine and your 2.5 GHz is so much faster than the iPhone processor. But, I don't target iOS (yet) so don't really know....
 
Pixelninja said:
Hi guys,

I'm going to be buying a 13" MBP for developing iOS Applications. I have an external monitor for developing at home so screen real estate shouldn't be an issue. Will the 2.5ghz be ok, or do you think I should go for the 2.9? I'd be extending the ram to 8Gb adding the 128gb ssd.

Thanks
Click to expand...

what difference do you seriously think .4 ghz is going to make for WRITING CODE. you could write iOS apps on an ancient mac mini or macbook air.
 
Sorry guys, was in a rush when I posted the thread, thanks for moving it for me.

This is a whole new adventure for me, I've never developed an App before. I have programming experience, and someone to help with the graphics, so please excuse my naivety etc.

The only reason I ask is that I installed Xcode on my Alu MacBook (2.4Ghz with 2GB Ram and the Nvidia GFX card), and it was ridiculously slow. I had only installed it out of pure curiosity, and it killed the machine. I wasn't actually using it, I opened the program just to see the layout etc. I'm going to be buying this MBP with the intention of developing my first iOS App, so obviously want to make sure that it's going to be capable of handling what gets thrown at it. Would be some Photoshop, Aperture, Illustrator.

Thanks for the replies thus far
 
Let me know how it goes

Pixelninja said:
Sorry guys, was in a rush when I posted the thread, thanks for moving it for me.

This is a whole new adventure for me, I've never developed an App before. I have programming experience, and someone to help with the graphics, so please excuse my naivety etc.

The only reason I ask is that I installed Xcode on my Alu MacBook (2.4Ghz with 2GB Ram and the Nvidia GFX card), and it was ridiculously slow. I had only installed it out of pure curiosity, and it killed the machine. I wasn't actually using it, I opened the program just to see the layout etc. I'm going to be buying this MBP with the intention of developing my first iOS App, so obviously want to make sure that it's going to be capable of handling what gets thrown at it. Would be some Photoshop, Aperture, Illustrator.

Thanks for the replies thus far
Click to expand...

Hi, I'm exactly in the same stage as you. Planning to develop ios apps, currently have a 15' MBP 2010 i5. I have not installed XCode yet, I would see your review and plan either to use what I have or I would go for a new one.

Thanks..
 
Pixelninja said:
Sorry guys, was in a rush when I posted the thread, thanks for moving it for me.

This is a whole new adventure for me, I've never developed an App before. I have programming experience, and someone to help with the graphics, so please excuse my naivety etc.

The only reason I ask is that I installed Xcode on my Alu MacBook (2.4Ghz with 2GB Ram and the Nvidia GFX card), and it was ridiculously slow. I had only installed it out of pure curiosity, and it killed the machine. I wasn't actually using it, I opened the program just to see the layout etc. I'm going to be buying this MBP with the intention of developing my first iOS App, so obviously want to make sure that it's going to be capable of handling what gets thrown at it. Would be some Photoshop, Aperture, Illustrator.

Thanks for the replies thus far
Click to expand...

Actually, perhaps it was the iOS SDK I installed that freaked the MB out... what are the system requirements for this?

Perhaps it would be better to just ask what are the minimal System requirements to make an App and then get it into the App Store without any external help. Assuming everything was going to be done using one machine.
 
From 2009 on any MacBook will be able to run Xcode. Make it faster by adding ram and ssd.
 
Pixelninja said:
Hi guys,

I'm going to be buying a 13" MBP for developing iOS Applications. I have an external monitor for developing at home so screen real estate shouldn't be an issue. Will the 2.5ghz be ok, or do you think I should go for the 2.9? I'd be extending the ram to 8Gb adding the 128gb ssd.

Thanks
Click to expand...

Hey, unless you're going to be doing some *serious* multitasking, then you won't need the 2.9 over the 2.5. As long as you're running Xcode and a browser with several tabs on, you shouldn't have to worry.

But you also didn't mention the price difference and what you're willing to pay. If the 2.9 isn't that much more (although I'm sure it is), then it might be worth it.

The 8GB of RAM will definitely be more than enough, though. Xcode barely eats up any RAM on my machine, but then again, I haven't run the iPhone Emulator, yet...
 
If the computer is able to run ML, you can install Xcode and use it. Nothing special required.

Processor upgrade might make a few seconds difference when compiling but it does a lot of the compile in the background while you code to reduce compile times already. I'd say it isn't worth the money to upgrade the proc.
 
bogatyr said:
If the computer is able to run ML, you can install Xcode and use it. Nothing special required.

Processor upgrade might make a few seconds difference when compiling but it does a lot of the compile in the background while you code to reduce compile times already. I'd say it isn't worth the money to upgrade the proc.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice, I've decided to go with the 2.5, 8gb Ram, and with the extra money from my budget I'm going to get the 128Gb SSD
 
Pixelninja said:
Thanks for the advice, I've decided to go with the 2.5, 8gb Ram, and with the extra money from my budget I'm going to get the 128Gb SSD
Click to expand...

Get the base 4GB model. The $100 extra for the 8GB model can be used to buy two 8GB modules for 16GB of RAM - or buy 8GB and save the extra $50. Aftermarket RAM modules are extremely cheap compared to Apple's prices.

Good idea with the SSD - probably the best upgrade you can make in a laptop these days.
 
I use ML and the latest XCode on a late 2008 macbook (the first alubook). Low-end C2D. Works fine :)

If it stalls your system so much I'd look at cleaning up your system a bit!
 
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