I plan to study iOS Development. I need to buy a MacBook.

Hello everyone! I have questions, especially for experienced Apple developers.

In short, I will start with the most important issue. I am going to study iOS development. As I understand, this is only possible if I am a Mac user.

Unfortunately, at this stage, I don't have the financial means to buy a MacBook Pro. This is where my first and most important question arose - for learning (and preferably not only learning) and possibly working on large projects in Xcode (I will also most likely install and use Swift Playgrounds during the learning process) how useful will it be to buy a MacBook Air 13-inch? (If it's better to stop at the 15-inch model anyway? I like the 13-inch one because it's smaller and lighter to move around) I'll probably buy it with an M2 or M3 chip. (Is the chip crucial?)

Also, the initial specs I saw for the 13-inch model are:

  • 8-Core CPU
  • 8-Core GPU
  • 8GB Unified Memory
  • 256GB SSD Storage

Will this be enough, or must it be better if there were more of them?

What would be the most optimal option for me?

Thank you very much in advance for your time and honest answers.

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Macintoshvili
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I would suggest at least 16 Gb and 512Gb of disk space, and an m2 is quite sufficient

Posted by
fbronner
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For Xcode development, the most important, in order:

  • recent enough Mac (in case you buy a second hand), so 2020 as the oldest to be able to load recent OS version and consequently Xcode
  • If you intend to develop for visionOS, you need a M-Mac. And M-Mac is future proof.
  • Disk storage: 500 MB is a minimum, more (1 TB or even 2 TB) is just better. Xcode is disk hungry for installing
  • Memory: 8 GB may soon be short, specially because you will not be able to upgrade. I would advise 16 GB
  • Screen size: Xcode needs to display a lot of content. So, a good compromise if you buy a MacBook is to buy an external large display (21" or better 27"). But that could be a second step purchase.
  • Performance: that's not critical (you don't really care if building the app takes 40 seconds instead of 30). Chip is not crucial (M1 quite enough).

So, at the end:

  • you can look for a MacBook, possibly second hand, with:
  • any number of Core CPU: 8-Core CPU is OK
  • any number of Core GPU: 8-Core GPU is OK
  • 16GB Unified Memory
  • 512GB SSD Storage or better 1TB
  • 13" screen if you can buy a large (21") external display later. Otherwise, 15" is much preferred.
  • M-Mac. M1 chip would still be OK.
Posted by
Claude31
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You don’t need a high-specification mac for software development.

I have an M1 mac mini and an M2 air. The mini has 16 GB RAM and the air has 8 GB. I don’t notice the difference.

Regarding storage, it continues to amaze me how much disk space Xcode consumes. It is like a black hole that constantly grows and grows.

First consider a mac mini. If that’s not practical, if I were you I’d get an apple-refurbished 13” M2 macbook air with 8 GB RAM. Then consider getting a large monitor (maybe you already have one?) for desk use. If you have cash to spare, get more storage.

This is different from my previous advice where I have suggested that RAM is more important than disk.

Note this question has been asked before, you will find more opinions if you search.

Posted by
endecotp
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  • I agree storage is more important than RAM. But one concern with M Mac is that RAM cannot be expanded…

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    Claude31
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I have been using an M1 mbp 256 gb w 16gb of ram since it came out in 2020 for professional development. I develop iOS and visionOS apps, and this laptop still has good performance!

But, every time Apple releases an Xcode beta, or when I am limited to a prior version of Xcode (when I need more thean 1 Xcode version on disk), I do have to do some disk cleanup, which I find tedious.

For studies, I would recommend a MacBook that would also allow you to do professional development after you have graduated, and will still last you several more years! As mentioned above, the M2 air is a great choice, and would recommend at least 512 GB as well to avoid the chore of clearing up some disk space. Whatever you choose though, get at least 16 gb of ram!

Dreaming of that M3 max :P

Posted by
VaiStardom
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