Menu
I would like to use it an an iOS development machine (as i own no other mac) but i need to know if it will be sufficient for iOS dev. And is it sufficient for PS?
220
We have already established that you will need a Mac that can run macOS 12 Monterey or later in order to use the latest version of Xcode, and here are the Mac that can run Monterey: MacBook (2016 or newer) MacBook Pro (2015 or newer) MacBook Air (2015 or newer)
doubtful. xcode is a memory hog and osx likes to cache apps in memory. xcode will gobble up 12gb+ with documentation, simulators, tools.
Xcode is an Integrated Development Environment (IDE) developed by Apple and the vast majority of iOS developers rely on it for making iPhone or iPad applications. Xcode 11 can only be installed on a Mac running macOS 10.14.
Conclusion. Overall, the Macbook Air is good enough for programming, but the MacBook Pro is reccomended for those using Python, Ruby, java, web development, machine learning and many other programming related tasks.
I have tried Xcode development with 4 GB and I can say it is possible. After I upgraded to 8 GB, however, I noticed that things like launching the iPhone Simulator performed much better. I would be a bit more concerned about the 11" screen, actually.
With my 13" screen, it is frustrating to not get as much visual area to display my code. I find myself switching the top and right sidebars in Xcode 4 on and off all the time.
So all in all, my advice would be against it without an external monitor. With an external monitor, I would give it a try--the SSD might compensate for the 4 GB of RAM and make it sufficient. Hope this helps.
58
To add to Christian's answer, the screen is the worry for me as well. 11" is small. you would almost have to have at least one other monitor to really use it as a full time dev machine without going blind (seriously). 4 gigs is enough, and the processor is fine. Also, here is a great post on the exact question basically by a well known iPhone developer (Jeff LaMarche, author) Jeff LaMarche's blog
39
If you love us? You can donate to us via Paypal or buy me a coffee so we can maintain and grow! Thank you!
Donate Us With
