Mac Computer For Making iOS and macOS Apps

FMX
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I’ve gotten a few cross platform (Windows / Android) apps on the go now and have been asked about making iOS and macOS versions available.

Would something like the new MacBook Neo be suitable to compile these? The other alternatives seem to be a classic MacBook or Mac Mini (I do not want to go down the path of a cloud based Mac instance).

An all in one solution would be best for my home office desk, but I guess I could maybe fit a Mini with a small monitor. This is for my freeware app hobby, so not wanting to spend a lot. The annual developer fee from Apple is bad enough. I know nothing about Macs and don’t know if older hardware could be used for this.

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I’ve been using MacInCloud. I probably just should have bought a mac mini though. If you are just remotely connecting from another computer, I think that would be ok - Delphi only really links and signs on the mac. The macInCloud has a program that allows Remote Desktop to be used, but I believe the MacOS Remote Desktop is VNC compatible. My plan is to run headless and just remotely connect to it.

My plan is to get a Mac Mini shortly, perhaps when they release the Mac Mini 5.

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I previously used a Mac mini for several years for iOS/macOS development. They’re reasonably affordable and work exceptionally well.

I always used to use Mac laptops and then went for about 4 years without one and used the Mac minis (I had an Intel and then an Arm one). No problems with the current line of Mac minis - they are very underrated computers.

I can’t speak for the new Neo, but it seems to have the equivalent of a phone CPU. That said, I am pretty sure there will be plenty of reviews around so you can decide. From the Delphi point of view, as long as it can run XCode and install the XCode command line tools as well as running Tahoe, it should be fine.

My current Mac is a Macbook Air M4 and it’s awesome. Apple got their mojo back when it comes to laptops. I’ve had it for a year now, no problems. I intend to upgrade it to an Macbook Pro M5 Max or possibly hold out until later in the year and get the expected new Macbook model which is thought to have an M6 with some other significant updates.

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Looking at the XCode requirements suggests that 16GB or RAM is required for it to run properly so the Neo with only 8GB is not going to cut it.

I’ll see what older hardware is out there that supports Tahoe and has 16GB of RAM.

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At least one of my Mac Minis had 8gb and ran XCode fine.

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The reviews I have seen suggest it’s not suited to software dev.

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Thanks for the feedback guys.

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Hey Geoff, is it possible to use MacInCloud (or any of those online services) with a local phone i.e. for debugging purposes.

I have used online services to compile Flutter mobile apps, but I’ve yet to find a way to compile to a local phone for debugging (for iOS apps at least).

For Delphi mobile I use a Macbook Air. The downside as far as I am concerned is that Apple limits what hardware new MacOS versions can be installed on and hence what new XCode versions can be installed. So after about 7 or 8 years old, it’s no longer current and you have to upgrade. It’s annoying when all it is really doing is linking and signing an app.