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    Buy a mac just for coding?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by hpenvylove, Aug 25, 2014.

  1. hpenvylove

    hpenvylove Notebook Guru

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    Just had a quick question for the apple community. I love coding, do it for fun, and have finally decided to build apps for apple products. I have been using my wifes mac for starters but the time on it is limited since she uses it for work and travel. Would it honestly be worth the money to buy a new one just for objective-c and so on. Obviously I would use the mac as my main computer from now on, and I love having powerful models of whatever I buy. What would you do?

    Thanks everyone.
     
    hpenvylove, Aug 25, 2014
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  2. Jarhead

    Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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    Well, if you're going to code in Apple-only languages like Objective-C, it would be an advantage. Personally, if you're going to do that, I'd go for a base Mac mini or get a refurbished laptop from Apple, MacMall, etc. if you already have a main computer.

    If you're going for a laptop, make sure to get one with a decent resolution. 800p is pretty terrible for programming imo, as it doesn't offer enough screen real estate.
     
    Jarhead, Aug 25, 2014
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  3. hpenvylove

    hpenvylove Notebook Guru

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    Was thinking just that. Currently have a hp envy 17, 2 years old but still running strong. So if I got the laptop it would be to replace the envy, which i'd leave at home since its heavy to carry around. I would want the 15in retina since I always can't resist the most powerful versions, it's a curse lol. If you are familiar with apple programming, would I need the extra power or would a simple 13in suffice? I'll take a look at refurbished macbook pros, appreciate the info, thanks.
     
    hpenvylove, Aug 25, 2014
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  4. Jarhead

    Jarhead 恋の♡アカサタナ

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    It's not really an Apple-specific question about how much power for need for programming. How much compute power you need really depends on what sort of programming you plan on doing. For simple stuff (say, making a simple emulator or OS, and everything below that), you can use older/slower hardware for that just fine (I use a Thinkpad X61t with a C2D L7500 and an Intel 320 SSD for my CS classwork, and it runs just fine). Now, if you're doing much, much more computationally-complex programming, then a beefier CPU would come in handy. For GPU programming, GeForces are pretty much crap thanks to the lack of decent OpenCL/OpenGL/CUDA/etc. support, which is a problem for any laptop with a GeForce 6xxM or newer (Apple or not).

    But, long story short, if you can't think of a specific reason to get the more powerful hardware, then most likely you don't really need it. However, a SSD is always a nice all-around performance boost, since I/O is the bottleneck in all systems.
     
    Jarhead, Aug 25, 2014
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