Second-hand Apple computer / writing an app

adamdynamic

Hey,

I've been searching the internet for a while now and feel like I'm going round in circles, hopefully someone here can help me out

I want to write an app for an iphone, no real reason, just thought it would be a challenge. The problem is that I don't have £1500 for a new apple computer and (as I understand it) the software you need to write them only runs on apple machines? So, I've been looking on ebay - does anyone have any experience buying second-hand computer hardware on ebay? Anything specific dangers to watch out for with apple hardware? Also does anyone know if the app software will run on 'any' apple? Does it need to be a relatively recent machine?

Any info on this would be appreciated!

Many thanks,

Adam

CoolHotCold

If it's a Intel processor you're pretty good to go.

Shame I have two Core 2 Duo MacBooks (One White and one Black) I'm trying to offload. But not via eBay, scammed far to many times by that.


But no, you don't have the same rights as buying from a retailer, so after 45 days you have very little comeback if something goes wrong (as thats paypals deadline) and even before then it's usually a strugle if something goes wrong after a few days of delivery.


Apples are very well built and usually won't fail the same way other manufactures will.

InsertWittyName

I'm an iOS Developer.

As CoolHotCold mentioned, you'll need an Intel processor for a start and the more recent OSX version you can get the better.

My original dev machine was a Mac Mini and I would recommend them if you already have a monitor, keyboard etc.

Currently I use a combination of a Macbook Pro and the Mac Mini.

What's your programming background, have you coded in Objective-C before? You don't need a Mac to develop in Objective-C, however you do need a Mac to developer an iPhone app in Objective-C

almillar

Does it have to be for iPhone? How about you develop the app for another platform on your PC, and if it sells successfully, you can buy a Mac with the proceeds THEN develop for iPhone, they're getting easier to port these days.

2bFrank

Grab a Mac Mini for about £530. To run XCode you need a intel processor version of the mac and also make sure it runs at least OS X Snow lepord for the latest XCode version.

Also you can pick up a big discount on Macs through the refurbished store on the Apple website. You can currently pick up a nice Macbook Air for £719.99 with a 1 Year warranty. The air though does have a small 11" screen, but I used one for over a year for XCode without too many issues (Invest in a good mouse though)