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General Discussion

Posted by busterlabs
busterlabs
9,276 Points

Which hardware set up should I get?

Now that I've started learning programming / developing for iOs, what Mac hardware set up should I get as minimum? I've chosen the 2011 Macbook Pro as my initial machine with at least 8GB of RAM. As for the storage, I'm planning to upgrade the HDD to an SSD then move the HDD to the optical drive.

My question is, if I use the SSD as the boot drive to launch applications like Xcode (and other programs that I am yet to learn about), what should the SSD amount be? What brands and types (Pro, Evo etc) should I get?

Not exactly a coding question, but related nonetheless. Thanks Treehouse Forums

2 Answers

Luke Glazebrook
Luke Glazebrook
13,564 Points
Luke Glazebrook
Luke Glazebrook
13,564 Points

The amount of storage is just preference really and it also depends on your budget; go for the biggest you can afford! As for brands I'm not so sure but I know a quick google search would tell you everything you need to know!

Best of luck programming.

Michael Flynn
Michael Flynn
3,084 Points
Michael Flynn
Michael Flynn
3,084 Points

Using a 2011 Macbook with 8GB of ram and an i5 processor I tried making an android app. Running both Android studio and the built in emulator (using 1GB ram) I ran out of ram and the laptop went incredible slow and fans went crazy. Search around for peoples experience with a similar set up and xCode to avoid running in to a similar problem I had cause I eventually had to give up.

Haven't had any experience with SSDs but when it comes to RAM I recommend either Kingston or Crucial.