Help. Be my apple genius, I can't choose!

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I'm a PC user and have been my entire life, I owned a MBP a few years ago but sold it after 6 months , my personal opinion at the time was that windows 7 is a lot better than OSX and my desktop PC was a lot more powerful.

I'm now going to start developing iOS apps, learning Objective C - I have experience in C# and C++ so it's not completely alien. But I need something that I can use xCode on

I'm torn between the three available models, MBP, Mac mini and an iMac, reasons as follows;
• I don't really want to be confined to a desk, and have wanted a new laptop for a while, which sways me towards the MBP. But I have an iPad for sofa surfing and if I got an MBP then I would probably get the 13" and I'm not really sure that Ill have enough desktop real estate to do what I want to do. Plus the MBP 13" are only dual core.
• I love the looks of the iMac and they are quad core, again will 22" of screen be enough? Maybe. Plus everyone wants a new iMac in their living room. It will also mean that I'll be having two relatively large monitors in my front room (I use my PC still for downloading and playing the occasional game of DOTA, although the iMac has a dedicated graphics card, I could play dota on that). Does the iMac have a video input at all so I can use it as a monitor for my PC?
• Finally the Mac mini, which seems to be the best choice for me at the moment. It's quad core, tiny, efficient, will give me everything that the iMac will excluding the dedicated graphics card. If I was to get the 27" Cinema Display then I could connect my PC and Mac to the same monitor (but I'd have to use the **** Mac keyboard for my PC).

So I'm really torn between them all, the Mac mini solution seems the best choice so I can run it parallel with my PC, although if I bought the iMac I could play DOTA on it still and just get a download box instead of using my PC. Then again, I can't upgrade the screen size on the 21.5"Mac if I decided I wanted something bigger. Help!
 
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21 M1 Pro 14" MBP, 23 M2 Pro Mac Mini (MacOS 14), iPhone 15 Pro Max (iOS 17), iPad 6 (iPadOS 17)
another thing to think about if you go for an iMac, is that you can't upgrade the RAM yourself on the 21.5" model - you'll have to order it pre-installed from Apple and it costs!

with the 27", you can purchase and upgrade RAM yourself
 

bobtomay

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15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
iOS is the operating system for iDevices - iPhone, iPad, ...
OS X is the operating system for Apple computers

Your desktop PC was likely a lot more powerful than just about any Windows notebook also.
Since notebooks typically don't have the same CPUs nor GPUs that you would find in a good desktop.

I certainly don't want a computer screen sitting in my Living Room - don't think the wife would let me even if I did want one.

Tough choices to make whenever it's time for a new computer if you're considering both a notebook and a desktop.
 
OP
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Thanks for correcting my typo.

And you're right, it probably was more powerful than any windows laptop. But for my requirements a top of the range windows machine will outperform any mac for the same price. Not really the purpose of my thread though.

I certainly don't want two screens in the living room. One would be enough but at least the iMac looks a lot better than most conventional screens - I have the same issue with my GF, but it would probably be worse if I was to spend hours and hours coding sitting in another room. I wouldn't let her touch my PC, but with Macs being harder to break it would be most of a home computer than my baby.

I'm drifting towards getting a Mac mini and the Cinema Display. I could get a HTPC for most of my personal requirements. Macs might be terrible with excel but can always use my work laptop for that. Any idea how SAS performs on a Mac? If I bought a MBP I'd probably end up getting the Cinema Display as well anyway


Arghhhhhhh!!
 

bobtomay

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15" MBP '06 2.33 C2D 4GB 10.7; 13" MBA '14 1.8 i7 8GB 10.11; 21" iMac '13 2.9 i5 8GB 10.11; 6S
Personally, if all you're going to do is develop apps for iOS, would just get the Mac Mini and probably connect it to the screen you already have - "assuming" it has multiple inputs.

Would keep a separate keyboard for each machine - or - I would learn to use the Windows keyboard with the Mac since I use split key ergonomic keyboards while sitting at a desk. All my Macs are notebooks... I have never yet sat at a desk while using OS X. edit: Well, I take that back - I have when in a hotel room.
 
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I like the iMac.s who doesn't but everyone I know ends up getting a MBP/Air or iPad to add to their iMac for mobility sake just a thought in this day and time everyone likes to migrate around their home and take things on the road with them.
 

pigoo3

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Just get the MacBook Pro + a large external monitor. Best of both worlds.:)

- Nick
 

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