App Development

[lkilgore]

I am interested in developing apps for iPhones and iPads. I know about Apple's Developer account and SDK. I also know that I should have a Mac to develop the apps. So, here is my question:

Should I buy a Macbook Pro or a Mac Air?

I don't want a desktop computer, because I live internationally and I need to be mobile. I would prefer the Air, because it is lighter and easier for travel, but I don't want to buy a laptop that won't do the job. The sole reason to buy is to support SDK.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[jmbarker]

Great question! I would think the MacBook Air would be sufficient for the task as you would mostly be writing code. Only issue may be lack of optical drive if you were to need one but it can be purchased separately. This being said, the smallest MacBook Pro does not cost much more than the Air and is easy to travel with compared to the larger versions.

 

[ipaddeveloper888]

My situation is the same as yours. I got the Macbook Pro with a 15" screen. I also need to be mobile but I felt that the Macbook pro was still light enough for me to handle. I downloaded XCODE the first night and I have slowly been learning objective C. Since I already know several programming languages it seems to be a matter of learning the new syntax. I am feeling OK. I am not at the App development level, yet, but should be soon. We will see. Right now I am just having a lot of fun with the new environment. Good luck

 

[lkilgore]

Thank you, jmbarker and ipaddeveloper888, for your quick responses. I was hoping to hear from some others, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

I don't mind being without an optical drive, since I can buy an external one. Actually, for the past few years, I have rarely used an optical drive in my other laptops... and of course I don't have one with my iPads. I set up a 3TB Western Digital drive to my wireless router, which gives me my own personal cloud, so file storage is never a problem. Internet speeds here in Korea are the fastest in the world, so upload/download speeds are multiple megabit/second.

I am still torn as to whether I will get a Macbook Pro or Macbook Air. But since both will support SDK, I just need to decide which one I would rather carry in my travels.

The next challenge will be to decide which kind of apps I want to develop. Between my wife and I, we speak five languages and have limited language skills in three more... and because of our international teacher positions, I have access to another dozen or so native languages, so I am thinking about a whole line of language training apps (I haven't seen anyone developing an Armenian app, for example).

I recently found an education technology magazine in iBooks. I am interested in developing my own K-12 technology related magazine for the iPad. I think there are plenty of opportunities.

 

[twerppoet]

If you end up wanting to develop apps that contain a lot of media (especially video), you might want to think about the extra processor power of the MacBook Pro. Don't stop your thinking at what will support XCode. Consider the whole picture.

 

[lkilgore]

Good advice twerppoet. Spaciba!

 

[twerppoet]

No problem. Pajalsta (or however you'd spell that in english).

 

[lkilgore]

lol you spelled it fairly well... thanks!

 

[rtruett14]

I've never used an Air, but I really don't think the MacBook Pro is anything special. Before I upgraded to it, I had a regular MacBook (the discontinued white one). Compared to that, it's amazing, but I don't really think a Pro would better than an Air since the lightness would be a lot nicer for travel.

(I don't know anything about creating apps, just wanted to let you know the Pro isn't as "pro" as they say)

Sent from my iPad 2 using iPF

 

[J. A.]

Thank you for trying to help!

Ikilgore has posted this question in 2012, so it has certainly been solved in the meantime. With that said, we close this thread.