I am looking to buy a Mackbook to begin learning app development with xcode, I have very limited knowledge at this point and would like some advice on choosing the right Macbook, I know I want a Macbook Pro Retina 13" but i am not sure what the differences are in the different models. I know the latest would obviously be the best but would I be able to get by easily with an older model whilst I am starting out?
Thanks for any help given.
The most important spec is probably hard drive / SSD size.
Right now I have Xcode 7.3.1 (the current release version) and Xcode 8 beta installed. They take up 11.64 GB and 13.2 GB respectively in the Applications folder.
My Library/Developer folder (where the simulators "live") is 160 GB. Granted, I've been developing on this machine for 3 years, and I could probably reduce the Developer directory size some by doing things like a) removing older simulators and/or resetting the contents of the newer simulators to get rid of a bunch of miscellaneous apps that were just to test specific code and b) deleting the derived data for a bunch of miscellaneous apps.
My Xcode projects take up 530 MB (3 active Enterprise apps plus a bunch of apps to test things over the years).
Plus you will need swap file space, space to uncompress new versions of Xcode, plus space for whatever else you will want to install.
Also important since newer machines have the RAM soldered in is to get as much RAM as you can afford to begin with.
Search these forums for "xcode free space" to see other threads on the topic.
Any mac since mid/late 2012 will do the job for a while, just remember that you rarely run just Xcode.
For dev work, expect to want a larger (external) monitor, larger (external) HD, and as gwm noted, max the ram. I think if you factor externals into your budget, you may want something other than a laptop, tho.
Good luck.
Screen size is extremely useful as KMT noticed.
I started XCode on 13" MacBookAir, and was pleased at the beginning ; quite good to learn XCode, Swift… but it becomes cumbersome on more complex projects where you need to have multiple files opened ; in addition, small fonts are really tiring at the end of the day.
I now work mostly on 27" and the productivity boost is enormous.
