What Mac to buy for app development

[Frankie12]

So I have been designing android apps and I want to move into Apple app development and I have been approved as a developer and everything and I have been able to design a few test apps on a windows machine without a mac. The only thing I can not do is complete the binary upload as it seems I have to use the application loader which will only work on OS X.

So it appears as my options are to buy a mac to complete the binary process unless anyone can point out a way to do it on a windows machine which I have not found.

If I can't do it on a windows I want to buy a mac, my question is can the mac be any operating system or does it have to be one of the later operating systems in order for them to work.

Basically I am looking for advice as it appears as this is a great site for apple development support and I am sorry if I am posting this in the wrong section. I look forward to your answer and I look forward to exploring this site and forums more and hopefully become involved.

 

[thewitt]

Mini is fine. The best system has the largest monitor you can afford - or better yet has two. Keeping Xcode and the simulator on screen at the sane time, as well as docs, makes you more productive.

 

[Frankie12]

Wirelessly posted

Yeah I wa looking at the mini's...can it be any operating system or does it have to be a certain or one of the newer OS?

 

[Moonjumper]

The most recent versions of Xcode need Lion, the latest OS. If you want to fully support you will need an Xcode that is only available on Lion. You may still be able to upload apps using the previous version, Snow Leopard. But for how long is unknown.

Updating to the latest OS is much cheaper than on Windows, so is not really a large part of the equation if you are buying a Mac, old or new. The important thing is buying a Mac that can run Lion, which is most Macs with an Intel processor. Mountain Lion is coming later in the year and the cut-off point for that is Macs about 5 years old, depending on model.