Minimum Macbook requirements to develop iphone games

[elkhawajah]

Hello Experts,

I am a software developer interested in developing iPhone apps, specifically iphone games.

I mainly use windows XP (hate win7!!), and now I am considering buying new Mac laptop (Mac Book or Mac Book Pro?), so I am wondering what is the minimum hardware requirements so that I can develop iPhone apps/games?

Thanks,

 

[louishen]

I would say any intel mac will do, so basically a new MacBook or MacBook pro will be fine. Just depends on your budget

All Macs come with Xcode as an optional install on the disk, so you already will have the software, and you can sign up to a developer account as well.

http://developer.apple.com/programs/ios/

 

[elkhawajah]

Thank you for your fast response =)

I got these deals:

for Mac Book, Intel due core, 2 GB RAM, 60Gig hard disk, 13.4" screen for 700$ (note sure about graphics specs).

Mac Book Pro, Intel 2 Due Core, 2/4GB RAM, 160G Hard Disk, 15" screen for 1500$ (1700$ as monthly installments)

Mac Book Pro, Intel Core i7 2.66GHz, 4GB RAM, 500Gig Hard Disk, 15.4" screen, NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 330M Graphics 3500$ as monthly installments (170$ X 20month)

What do you think?

I am more concerned about game graphics/rendering performance and whether the installed processor will have impact on it?

For now, I am interest in developing puzzle/card games, in the future I am considering developing car-racing/arcade games.

I am just trying to pull all the help I can get from you so I make sure that I will not put my money on something I will regret later on =)

Thank you,

 

[vansmith]

As per their dev site:

To develop with iOS SDK and participate in the iOS Developer Program you must have an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X Snow Leopard. Refer to the iOS SDK Read Me document for full details on system requirements. You must be registered as an Apple Developer in order to access the iOS SDK and iOS SDK Read Me document.

I can't see to find the iOS SDK Read Me - maybe you'll have better luck.

 

[elkhawajah]

I already tried but could not find it!

iOS Dev Center - Apple Developer

That's why I am asking, maybe someone already read the document and can provide more detailed information about the minimum hardware requirement =)

Thx!

 

[elkhawajah]

Ok, I will buy Macbook with the following specs, please I need someone to confirm that it is good enough to have the latest OS installed into it and enough to develop iOS applications.

Macbook
Intel Core 2 Due, T7300, 2.0GHz
2G RAM
120GB H.D.D
Screen 13.4"
Mobile Intel 965 Express 128MB
Have Snow lepord 10.5.8 installed into it, can I upgrade it to 10.6?.
What do you think?

 

[safarisurfer]

if you are paying 700 for that machine its to much. if you can just get the macbook pro from the mac refurbished store for 999. you will get 13 inch screen 2.4 ghz processor 4 gb ram nvidia graphics chip backlit keyboard. much better value and if you havent bought refurbished from mac before they are the best in the industry. they come like new with no scratches or dents and standard warranty.

 

[[DT]]

If you've got a decent existing monitor, you could also find a nice Mac Mini. A buddy of mine does some iOS development on a previous gen Mini (~2GHz, 9400M GPU) picked it up for around $400-450 with a wired KB/Mouse.