I just started learning iPhone/iPad programming. I know any MacBook model is sufficient for iPhone development. But as for iPad programming, the one thing concerns me is the screen resolution. Does the iPad Simulator run exactly at 1024x768? If that is the case, then a 13" MBP at 1280x800 barely fits the landscape mode of iPad Simulator. What about the portrait mode of the simulator? Do I need a 17" MBP to accommadate that? Thanks!
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Which MacBook Pro for iPad Programming?
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why not just get the 13" mbp for its portability and if you really need to develop for the ipad, just get an external display. it will limit your portability when testing on the emulator but how often are you testing? most of your time should be spent on the coding portion anyway
I'm not sure if you've already figured this out on your own but it does not do any type of scaling like the users above suggested. The point of the simulator is the emulate the view you will be seeing on the device and therefore is exactly the same resolution.
Personally, I wouldn't dev on a MacBook Pro. If I had to though, 17" would be my only consideration. Even the base config iMac is a better machine to dev on provided you get the keyboard with numeric keypad and get rid of that gimmick Magic Mousee.
Like the other poster said get the 13" MB or MBP and then buy an external display.
This 27" 1080P HP monitor can be bought for less than $375. I have two
http://www.amazon.com/2709m-27-Inch-Diagonal-Monitor-Black/dp/B002JJIFDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264708203&sr=8-1
Also I am looking into developing for the iPhone. I am currently working with Visual Basic on the PC side. Are you self teaching from a book? I'm having a hard time trying to find out where to start learning as I have no experience at coding on the mac side. Thanks!
This 27" 1080P HP monitor can be bought for less than $375. I have two
http://www.amazon.com/2709m-27-Inch-Diagonal-Monitor-Black/dp/B002JJIFDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264708203&sr=8-1
Also I am looking into developing for the iPhone. I am currently working with Visual Basic on the PC side. Are you self teaching from a book? I'm having a hard time trying to find out where to start learning as I have no experience at coding on the mac side. Thanks!
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
Like the other poster said get the 13" MB or MBP and then buy an external display.
This 27" 1080P HP monitor can be bought for less than $375. I have two
http://www.amazon.com/2709m-27-Inch-Diagonal-Monitor-Black/dp/B002JJIFDY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1264708203&sr=8-1
Also I am looking into developing for the iPhone. I am currently working with Visual Basic on the PC side. Are you self teaching from a book? I'm having a hard time trying to find out where to start learning as I have no experience at coding on the mac side. Thanks!
I have been dreaming a 27" monitor @2560x1440 like the one on iMac. Dell recently announced U2711, but way expensive to me.
I have been working on ASP.NET with C# for 6 years. But I'm now a little tired of the progamming-as-office-work and want to do a little iPhone dev in spare time. Let's see what can happen.
I just started learning Objective C with the book Programming in Objective-C 2.0 (2nd Edition). Will read Beginning iPhone 3 Development: Exploring the iPhone SDK after that.
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Why not just get a 27" iMac then? I'm going to guess you need portability?
Thanks for the links btw!
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I worked doing iPhone development for a while. Personally, I think you need to get two desktop monitors and whatever mac you want. The Mac Mini is a good machine for developing on (supports two displays right off the bat). The Macbook Pro or Macbook can do it too, but you will need to buy a USB adapter. I have my 13" uMBP hooked up to two dell 22" monitors, that way i have the laptop screen plus those two.
Why would you need two external monitors? I can understand wanting two, but needing two?
You don't code very often do you? When I am doing web dev work, two monitors is barely enough. I only have 1 monitor at work and it kills me having to switch back and forth so much.
I like having at least 2 monitors. Monitor one is full screened IDE. Monitor two is browser with the site and other small windows like IM client, email (which is another browser), x-chat, etc...
Three monitors would be better so i could have my ide stretch across two monitors with a lot more tools readily available and visible and more than one page of code.
I use the same setup as someone mentioned above. I do iPhone programming on a base 13" MBP with triple monitor total. I have the MBP display, a 23" Dell display and a 22" samsung display. I use a Displaylink USB > DVI adapter for the samsung. I would recommend getting a 13" MBP for iPhone dev. You get portability, and you can have a nice big desktop to work with when you're at your desk (just be sure to get 1 or 2 big monitors!). The price you would pay to get a 15" or 17" you could look for a good deal on 2 x 23" monitors. I got mine from Dell Deals, so I would recommend you check there if you need one!
As a programmer, you should understand that all you need is a keyboard, a decent text editor (or IDE), and a screen capable of displaying a decent amount of text. Thus, any MB or MBP would be a sufficient machine.
One constraint would be the availability of Xcode for compilation purposes, so you would want a Leopard+ machine running on Intel architecture.
I would personally prefer the 13'' MBP or MBA for it's portability and decent looks. (My personal taste leads me to think the MB looks gaudy.)
One constraint would be the availability of Xcode for compilation purposes, so you would want a Leopard+ machine running on Intel architecture.
I would personally prefer the 13'' MBP or MBA for it's portability and decent looks. (My personal taste leads me to think the MB looks gaudy.)
Anyone willing to do full out coding on a screen as small as 17" better not be planning on coding for very long.
Anyone willing to do full out coding on a screen as small as 17" better not be planning on coding for very long.
I coded on my old dell for years. 1920*1200 resolution is the exact same as my 22" monitor.