Virtual machine with Mac OS X [closed]

Question

I would like to develop an iPhone application, but I do not have a Mac. I would like to find out if it is possible to rent a virtual machine with a Mac OS so that I could develop on that machine. Does anyone offer that service? Would it not make sense because I couldn't connect my phone directly to that machine?

Or perhaps I could rent a Mac.

Or option three is to run Mac OS X in a virtual machine on my Windows laptop. Is that possible?

Answer 1

It's probably better to just fork out and buy a Mac Mini, then you can use your existing monitor, mouse and keyboard, and it's pretty OK price wise. Especially since developing an application often means also maintaining it in the future.

Answer 2

It's certainly possible to run OS X in a VM on Windows - the latest version of VirtualBox is capable of running Snow Leopard.

As the cheapest way of getting into iOS development, I bought an iPod Touch and got VirtualBox up and running. I've now got two apps approved on the App Store. However, once they have made enough money I will be buying a Mac - there is no sound on the VirtualBox VM (although the latest VirtualBox may be capable of producing sound, I haven't managed it yet), I can't map the Mac Control key on the keyboard (so no keyboard shortcuts work) and it's a bit sluggish (on my Core i7 PC with 12GB RAM).

To sum up - the cheapest option is to go for the VM, but you'll probably find yourself wanting a Mac eventually, so it may be easier to just go for the Mac Mini.