MBP For iOS Development

[nefan65]

I've done some searching, but didn't see anything matching what I'm looking for...

I have 2 developers who primarily do .NET/ASP/C# development [VS 2010]. We're beginning to look at developing in-house apps for iOS [iPad mostly, but possibly iPhone]. I'm skeptical we can do the development we need using OSX in a VM environment, so I'm thinking a 13" or 15' MBP. Unless an MBA would suffice? We also have a 2010 13"MBP [2.4 C2D w/8GB RAM/SSD]. I don't know how that would compare to a newer MBA, or if it can handle their dev work?

Any thoughts/help is much appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Freyqq]

A MBP 15" has a quad core i7 and dedicated graphics, so it is much faster than a MBA or MBP 13". The MBPs can be upgraded down the road up to 16 GB of ram, while a MBA is stuck at 4 gb of ram max.

The best bang for your buck is a MBP if you need a mac right now. A very rough estimate is that the 15" is ~2x as fast as the 13" for CPU and ~4x as fast for GPU.

 

[shardey]

I would say 15" high res or the 17" (if you want the most real estate). I own the early 11 17" with the upgraded cpu (2.3ghz i7 2820qm) and installed a SSD and optibay in this machine. There is not one computer I have ever been on that comes close in speed, disregarding the GPU. I can boot to Windows and back to OS X in less than 45 seconds. I can open up everything in my Applications folder and Utilities folder (70-90 App) without any locking up or latency. These are truly a powerhouse, and the quad core is definitely prepared for the future.

If thunderbolt GPU's make it mainstream, you then wouldn't have any bottlenecks to how fast this machine could get, if you get the quad core i7.

 

[diannao]

We also have a 2010 13"MBP [2.4 C2D w/8GB RAM/SSD]. I don't know how that would compare to a newer MBA, or if it can handle their dev work?

The MBP you describe would be adequate to start, if paired with a high res external display. You'll be able to judge if it is so slow that it's holding back your developer, and a new system is needed.

I'm skeptical we can do the development we need using OSX in a VM environment, so I'm thinking a 13" or 15' MBP. Unless an MBA would suffice?

Without hacking, I don't think you can run OS X in a VM except on another OS X system.

With the introduction of the 3rd gen iPad, displaying the iPad simulator has become a problem (most displays can only show part of it at a time).

 

[scott.n]

Have you considered a Mac mini?

 

[robvas]

We have iOS devs on old C2D 15" Pros and C2D Airs. A new MBP would be twice as fast and work even better.

Dream machine would be a 15" MBP with 8GB, SSD, and hi-res screen.

 

[charlieegan3]

Have you considered a Mac mini?

might be an option.

Does it need to be mobile?

 

[talmy]

I'd go with the biggest screen possible to show multiple windows and the iPad simulator. To keep the costs down, consider a Mac mini with a large display (the Thunderbolt display would be great for this, although at that point you are in the price range of a 27" iMac). Consider swapping the HDD for a SSD because the bottleneck tends to be hard drive speed during compilation (at least that's been my experience over the years).

I've got a 27" iMac with a 1600x1200 20" second monitor attached and feel claustrophobic doing development on my 15" MacBook Pro with the hires option.

 

[nefan65]

Thanks everyone! Those are great suggestions. I think we'll star with the MBP we have and a good monitor.

I'll check on the 17" HiRes or Mini w/ HiRes external monitor. I didn't even think of the iPad3 and emulator...