My Mac is a little bit old, and I haven't made any apps or updated Xcode in a while. I want to start building a lot of apps, but wondering about what the minimum version of XCode to compile new buzztouch apps. Thank you!

5.0 but it mostly depends on the minimum for each plugin or third party library. So if you have 7 plugins that use 5.0 and and one the uses 6.0, you have to use 6.0.Or if they are all 5.0 and you use scringo in your app you have to use 6.0 because scringo requires 6.0 to work. Hope that makes sense.

Dangit. I may be out of luck on my apps, got to look up the specs on my Mac. I don't think it's going to be able to support this version of Xcode

sorry I was talking about the ios versions.I read that wrong. The most up to date xcode is 5.1 I believe.

Do you have to use Xcode 5.1.1 to compile apps?

'Generally' speaking you're going to want to run Xcode v5 (currently 5.1.1) to compile apps for iOS 7. Both are the lastest platform versions. You 'might' be able to get away with running an older version of xcode and compiling for an older iOS if your hardware won't support the latest, but I can't be certain of the reviewers reactions... Cheers! -- Smug

Dangit. Any thoughts on a low cost used macbook? Best places to find one?

If you just want something for development, you can usually find a mac mini at reasonable costs... As far as 'where' to get them, they're available anywhere... it's a matter of cost vs. wait... the longer you wait, the better chance a deal will eventually come along. The usual sources apply; Craigs List, Ebay, and Apple has a nice refurbished store now as well... As far as 'what' will work, if you plan on running 'Mavericks', the latest OS, then this will apply: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht5842 There is also the 'Macincloud' option, of 'leasing' a mac 'online' until such time as a convenient deal comes along, but considering the effort it takes to get your Apple ID and certs and stuff all figured out, you'd rather have done it on your own machine. However, you can snoop around here: http://www.macincloud.com Hope this helps! Cheers! -- Smug And if you're wondering 'about how much am I going to spend' you can get a close ballpark here: http://www.mac2sell.net

Smug, that is a GREAT resource you put together!! I've been looking around, my macbook is. 2006 that definitely cannot use the current version of Xcode, and the bare minimum macbook or mini that is running mavericks will be around $300. The Mac in cloud option may actually work well for me for a while. My wife works for a school system so I could get the academic pricing here: http://www.macincloud.com/pricing/academic/academic-plans-american This would give me up to 5 hours a day for $20 a month, or up to 8 hours a day for $30 a month. Even at the 8 hour mark, which I would probably not need, my break even point is 10 months. I'm thinking of going that route for a while to see how it works. Do you think that option would work? Have you known anyone who has used this service who I could talk to? And yeah, the provisioning is a real pain. Wasn't it you who wrote the tutorial on that?? Thank you so much for all your help!!

I suppose it must work; they've been in business for a while... But I've never tried it. It's been thrown around a bit, but I'm not cognizant of anyone who actually uses it within the BT community. That said, It'll be like a standard 'remote desktop' sort of session, which I've done millions of; similar to 'team viewer' and such... They work fine, but you have to get accustomed to the 'rubber band' reaction where something you do might take a second to catch up online. It makes precision art a rather arduous task... it's better suited for administration than for detail work... However, I'm out here in Guam, where the internet connection may not be as lightning fast as some available in the mainland US... so it really comes down to the throughput from your house to the server rack... There must be some kind of 'free trial' available, so If it's a serious consideration, I'd give it a go and put it through it's paces... Do some serious testing with multiple simultaneous applications and stuff to make sure it won't spend most of it's time refreshing the screen. And see if it's worth it. Cheers! -- Smug

Apple only accepts packages from Xcode 5 and up. Cheers.

Hi Mike I tried it for a few days but didn't like it and went and bought a Mac mini. The reason I didn't like it was I wanted to test/run my app on an actual ipad and because you're on a remote computer you cannot just plug your ipad into the USB port and hit run on device, voila there's your app on your ipad. You have to either use the simulator on Xcode which is ok but not my first choice or compile the whole app download it and then install via iTunes which is fine and easy enough to do if you have a fast connection but if not and you have a big app this option gets old very quickly especially if you need to make a lot of small tweaks within a short period of time. As for the rest of the service I received, everything worked well and picture quality was good, I had XCode and a few other programs loaded on my profile which all worked correctly and when I chose to stop using the subscription I didnt have any problems from the company. My advise for you is if you are happy to use the simulator why not try one of their short term options for a few days and if it works for you and you like it then take out a longer subscription and go for it.

Thanks!! Sherry, about what can I expect to spend on a used Mac mini or macbook that would work?

Hi Mike sorry I can't help you there because I don't live in USA so sites you'll use are different to what I have access to. I would look at current minimum Mac OS hardware requirements and then look for a machine that is a fair bit higher than those specs because Apple is constantly upgrading and you don't want to be caught short in a few months time.

Ok I have looked at Macincloud and Xcodeclub which are both virtual services around $35 a month, give or take. I can also get a used macbook 13" but it's a 2009 version with mavericks, or a Mac mini for around $550 If I am serious about doing this, it seems like the Mac mini is the best way to go, it's new and has an intel 3rd generation core i5 processor, 4 GB ram, 4 USB ports, and Mac OSX 10.9 with a 500 GB hard drive. I am leaning toward the mini. What say you?

I say mini over virtual any day of the week. And if you decide to say 'never mind' you'll get most of your money back out of the mini. Cheers! -- Smug