mr-t-from-mk
Lost but trying
Profile
Posts: 14
Reg: May 01, 2012
England
2,740
08/10/12 11:36 AM (13 years ago)

Not having a Mac.....

Hi, I am reeeally interested in creating iOS apps (and possibly Android apps). I have done a bit of coding in .php and .aspx VB and attempted to learn Objective-C so I could create apps, but it looked far too complicated and even if you know it well, it looks like it takes a long time to create even simple apps. There is one problem though.... I don't have a Mac! I currently have a Mac in the Cloud which I pay $10 a month for, so I can connect to it via VNC. It has XCode and the iOS Simulator but the connection is slooow. It takes about 5 times longer to do anything that it would if I had a real Mac. The obvious answer here is.... "Buy a Mac", but even if I go for the bottom of the range Mac Mini, it's still going to cost £500 plus. Therefore my question is..... will I be required to do a significant amount of work with XCode that warrants me forking out to purchase a Mac? Or is a Mac in the cloud that is slow good enough, purely for compiling and uploading to the apple developer account?
 
mrDavid
BTMods.com
Profile
Posts: 3936
Reg: May 21, 2011
San Diego, CA
51,910
like
08/10/12 12:00 PM (13 years ago)
Hey mate, Actually, if you can afford it, you can get a decent mac from $150-$200 if you search for them on craigslist - do a quick search! Cheers, David buzztouchmods.com
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 12:39 PM (13 years ago)
Well, think about it this way. If you stick with Mac in Cloud for a year, that's $120, which is almost the price of a Mac mini used. Go two years, and you've already bought it. If you plan on maintaining your app, you'll need access to Xcode and everything for updates. Thus, makes more sense, even in the short term, to purchase a Mac mini (which you can use for many things!). I "may" have one available for sale soon for about $200, if you are interested? Would come with Xcode AND Eclipse installed. Mark
 
Paul Rogers
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 2524
Reg: May 30, 2011
UK
35,740
like
08/10/12 01:31 PM (13 years ago)
Not so easy to get a mac for $150-$200 in the UK!
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 01:39 PM (13 years ago)
Well, I may have one available soon that I could let go for $200. Would include the Mac mini, wireless mouse, and possibly a keyboard, if anybody is interested. 50Gb HD and 2Gb memory. It's what I've used to develop three iOS app on! Mark
 
Paul Rogers
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 2524
Reg: May 30, 2011
UK
35,740
like
08/10/12 01:47 PM (13 years ago)
$300+ with shipping?
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 01:52 PM (13 years ago)
Depends on how much shipping is to the UK! PM me with an address, and I can check it out. Probably sounds like a deal to me! Mark
 
Sandeep
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 1260
Reg: Feb 01, 2012
Miraj, India
25,250
like
08/10/12 02:00 PM (13 years ago)
Hello Mark, If Ravey is not yet in i am more than willing to have that mini. Posting a PM to you.
 
Paul Rogers
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 2524
Reg: May 30, 2011
UK
35,740
like
08/10/12 02:04 PM (13 years ago)
It's not for me Mark, but I know someone who desperately wants a cheap one. They just aren't that cheap in the UK! Try postcode SY1 4HW, although I'm butting in here a bit, maybe @mr-t-from-mk should have first option! *edit* Hi @Sandeep! How are you? My friend can wait for a mac, he's not a member of BT!
 
Sandeep
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 1260
Reg: Feb 01, 2012
Miraj, India
25,250
like
08/10/12 02:18 PM (13 years ago)
Hi Ravey, I am fine bro. Whats up with you? I was willing to have this mac mostly because this would save me installing xcode on it. Since i have never used mac before, Mark's mac installed with xcode and eclipse would be really helpful to me. BTW i have posted a PM to Mark.
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 02:19 PM (13 years ago)
Wow! UPS is crazy expensive, but US Post Office much more reasonable. I agree we should give @mr-t-from-mk first option, then @sandeep based on @raveyd deferral. I'll wait to hear from @mr-t-from-mk.
 
Sandeep
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 1260
Reg: Feb 01, 2012
Miraj, India
25,250
like
08/10/12 02:23 PM (13 years ago)
Ok Mark thats fair enough. Lets see what @mr-t-from-mk has to say on this.
 
MacApple
Apple Fan
Profile
Posts: 4675
Reg: Oct 25, 2010
USA
61,150
like
08/10/12 02:24 PM (13 years ago)
@Raveyd Hey mate, if you find one over here in eBay / Craigslist we can sort something out about postage.
 
Paul Rogers
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 2524
Reg: May 30, 2011
UK
35,740
like
08/10/12 02:45 PM (13 years ago)
Nice one @MacApple!, Thanks very much! :) How you liking the (near) walkover this season? Ok @Mark.
 
MacApple
Apple Fan
Profile
Posts: 4675
Reg: Oct 25, 2010
USA
61,150
like
08/10/12 02:48 PM (13 years ago)
@Raveyd League, bleh... CL? All about it. Tomorrow is #SellOutSaturday where everyone goes to games to show we don't need them.
 
Paul Rogers
Android Fan
Profile
Posts: 2524
Reg: May 30, 2011
UK
35,740
like
08/10/12 03:34 PM (13 years ago)
Good luck!
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 04:42 PM (13 years ago)
So, a bit of a bug in all this... The Mac mini is an older 2007ish version, meaning it'll only run Snow Leopard, and NOT Lion or Mountain Lion. Which also means that it's stuck for eternity at Xcode 4.2, which means no iOS SDK past iOS 5. So...if you (or even I) were planning on developing using iOS 6 features, we're out of luck using this Mac mini. Might have to sell both the ones I have to try and raise money for a newer, Lion supporting one. And, by the way, my first experience at the Apple Support forum...terrible. The guy who initially answer my question had a serious attitude when I tried to get him to provide some clarification. Then an Apple person stepped in and answered in a single post. buzztouch has such an amazing forum...great people here! Mark
 
MacApple
Apple Fan
Profile
Posts: 4675
Reg: Oct 25, 2010
USA
61,150
like
08/10/12 04:44 PM (13 years ago)
Great people Mark and you are three of them!
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 04:46 PM (13 years ago)
Thanks!
 
mr-t-from-mk
Lost but trying
Profile
Posts: 14
Reg: May 01, 2012
England
2,740
like
08/10/12 10:02 PM (13 years ago)
Hi guys, thank you all so much for your responses and waiting to hear from me, such a great forum :) I live in the UK so I imagine that postage is quite a significant amount from over there in the US. I think that if I'm going to spend half the money, I may as well spend the whole bunch and get a fairly newish one as I am serious about developing apps (and maybe plugins 8-) ). @sandeep, go ahead mate :) @GoNorthWest, thanks for the offer anyway mate, looks like you have loads of people interested though lol.
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 10:13 PM (13 years ago)
@mr-t-from-mk, I'm with you on getting a more recent one. Not sure I want to even sell my old ones with this new bit of information I have. It severely ties my (and anybody else who might buy it) hands with respect to future app development. I'm quite disappointed! Mark
 
Susan Metoxen
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 1706
Reg: May 01, 2011
Hopkins, Minnes...
26,260
like
08/10/12 10:49 PM (13 years ago)
I would say it is more important to have a device for testing. Once the project is compiled and on a live testing device, most of the work is done in Buzztouch, not Xcode. But you need something to see the changes...even an iPod touch would work. With that model you could maybe get by with the virtual Mac.
 
GoNorthWest
buzztouch Evangelist
Profile
Posts: 8197
Reg: Jun 24, 2011
Oro Valley, AZ
1,000,000
like
08/10/12 11:16 PM (13 years ago)
Good point, Susan!
 
ATRAIN53
Code is Art
Profile
Posts: 1755
Reg: Nov 17, 2011
Chicago
26,450
like
08/11/12 08:50 AM (13 years ago)
Don't discount the idea of building your own if you are a hardware guy. I just finished putting togther a Quad Core i7 Hackintosh for my buddy @ $700 USD. Might make my own with a Sandy Bridge next. It's nice to have a single box that runs MAC/WIN. http://www.tonymacx86.com/home.php MacBook AIR tho is my next purchase. Develop on the go BOTH iOS and Android. I keep missing out on sub $500 deals on craigslist but they do pop up weekly...
 

Login + Screen Name Required to Post

pointerLogin to participate so you can start earning points. Once you're logged in (and have a screen name entered in your profile), you can subscribe to topics, follow users, and start learning how to make apps like the pros.