Just got off subject on another thread and it brought up a good question. If one has a PC, is it better to use VMware to create a virtual Mac or should I just go ahead and take the plunge and set up a Mac right next to my PC?

This question has been discussed before. The problem is that using the VMware appears to violate the EULA and could result in your Apple Developer Program Membership being revoked. Fred

Thanks fred...so guess I need to hit amazon for a good price on a macbook pro....gads another 2k :-)

Buy a cheap Intel based Mac ASusoeff. I love VMWare products, use Fusion at home but if you are serious about iOS development get a Mac. The other paths are fraught with dangers.

intel specifically? Is this a better machine or faster or what?....for that matter since i will be doing a bit of reseach, what are my choices?

@ASusoeff come to the Bright Side of the Force... Buy a Mac! I have been Windows, Anti-Virus, Outlook, IE and Blue Screen of Death free for four years now. I must say that I have not missed, not even for a second. Oh, and today I still use the same old Mac I bought four years ago. I dare you to find a PC heavy-user that uses the same notebook they bought four years ago and is still satisfied with its performance and didn't had a problem with Virus or system slowdown or some other sort of problem. Walk towards the light my friend!!!

Just a heads up. I'm hoping to bring a solution to the table within a week or two so you won't need a Mac so hold on to your $$. Fred

@TonyCelestino Agree wholeheartedly, especially re: 4 yr old notebook. @ASusoeff You need an Intel based Mac for xcode.

@MacApple =) @ASudoeff you have plenty of options. Buy a new one (any of the new ones would be enough if your goal is app-making!) an apple-refurbished one (my was refurbished got $300 off its regular price) or buy a good used one (eBay has tons of options). @Fred believe me I have spent years (when I was on the Dark Side) trying to emulate Mac OS X, I got it working sometimes but the performance was ridiculous and its not just about the operating system its the entire "Apple Ecosystem", its the true bond between machine, software and services!

Then you're gonna love my solution. Fred

@Fred can't wait then!!! =D

i've seen MacBook AIR going for @ $650-700 that would be the ultimate portable APP system form BT since Eclipse Runs on the MAC. So you can develop for both iOS and Android there. if i was new developer and looking for bang/buck that would be my route. I'm running a few Virtual MAC's on Oracle Virtual Box Neat to play with, but not an actual platform you can develop reliably on. that 30 pin apple cable is an issue with Virtual macs. In the end I built my own MAC on an old Intel motherboard i was not using with the Hackintosh method. Intel 915, 945, 965 boards work great with hackintosh and can be had for $50. a dual core Processor for those boards is @ $150. about a $300 investement for me total. but that same hardware runs both win or mac (or ubuntu, Gparted, or whatever i want. i even have the live Android OS running on it.)

It depends on your development budget: If you have a budget of about $2000, then You can buy a mac If you have a budget of under $1000, they you should use a VM You will need an iPhone, iPad, and an Android device to build apps. Apple requires that submitted apps be tested on iPhone and iPad.

If you wish to keep your $1000 or use it to buy an idevice and still develope on a Mac my upcoming solution will be your solution. Fred

But if you are going to buy a used device, make sure it is at least an iPhone 4. My logic is that the Retina screen is needed for testing, and Apple makes you upload Retina screenshots. If you get an iPhone original or 3G, it uses Arm v6 architecture, which is completely different than the Arm v7, which the newer devices use.

I can't wait Fred...I just got off eBay looking at options and then read this post.

@bhnet If you are going to buy a used mac, make sure that it at least has 4GB or RAM, a Core 2 Duo with at least 2.26GHz, and no older than 2008. These are specs that will last a few more years, anything less will make your computer probably not be able to run Mountain Lion.

Thanks for the info Jake. I have never touched a Mac in my 22 years as an IT engineer so I wasn't sure what to even look at.

Go to Apple.com, you can get a MacMini for about $599 it will have an i5 processor (Dual Core + Hyper-threading). You can use your existing monitor, mouse and keyboard.

Mac mini's are on amazon for $568 and for another $35 can buy 8 gigs of ram to upgrade it, perfect for development...Its what I use. Also used vmware to do development on worked fine only problem I had was connecting a actual device to test on, the work around for me wasnt worth the wasted time so I took the plunge and bought the mini. So far I'm happy with the decision, even though I'm not a osx fan at heart.

Which MacMini? (White, Aluminum, or No CD Aluminum)

^ of you're talking about the ones on this page: http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/shop_mac/family/mac_mini/select all of those will work but you don't need the LION Server if you're shopping elsewhere Intel Based and make sure it has SNOW LEOPARD or LION installed. You don't want TIGER or LEOPARD. it needs to be OS 10.6 or higher so it can run XCODE 4. @bhnet - almost 20 years myself only having to touch Apple hardware a handful of times. It'll take some getting used to. The real bonus is you can also do Android development on the MAC. You can't do Mac development on anything but a Mac.