Looking to get my first Mac--Help?

[Xiar]

OK, so--quick backstory, because I know there are a few options and maybe someone can suggest something better for me that I'm not yet aware of:

I'm currently in college, majoring in game programming and design. I'm looking to start developing a few iOS applications and games that I have some ideas for, and thus far I've found that I'm incapable of developing these via my current Windows PC. My options, as I've been informed thus far, are as follows:

-A new Mac computer for the easiest development, due to the XCode development kit that's given to Mac OS users
-A full suite of Adobe tools which permit compiling of programs (Haven't looked much into this one for various reasons, but I heard something about it)
-Utilizing certain development kits, such as the Dragonfire SDK (found here) which would let me compile them, but would force writing of the program in C++ instead of Objective C# / XCode / etc.

I'm not yet 100% certain which of these is my best bet in terms of what to get--if I buy a Mac, I want a MacBook Pro because I'm currently in need of a laptop regardless. And if I go with buying the Macbook, I'd like a few suggestions on which route to go--for instance, how worth it is the AppleCare protection plan? Should I buy it from a different company in order to go with their warranty protection plans instead? What size of a hard drive / amount of RAM should I be looking into buying, both for the development of my apps as well as for work in class up at school?

Any help anyone can give me would be much appreciated. Like I said, I'm not sure which path I want to go down for certain just yet, so I'm more than open to suggestions.

[coldfiredragon]

I'm currently in college, majoring in game programming and design..

Why would you want a Mac then..

Anyway if you plan to do development on it, you do not want a Hackintosh that is aginst their EULA for OSX. So you would have an illigal isntall of the XCode tools. Not a grate place to start.

I would recomend you pick up an iMac if you are serious about thiat. Also bear inmind that to write the program for both OSX and Windows is going to be a pain if you are writting pure C++. I would recomend you write the Non UI in C++ with nice hooks in then write the UI serperate for Windows in C# and OSX in Objective C. That gives you the most reusable Code Base and a couple nice languages to write the UI in.

[DeltrusDisc]

I suggest not bringing up "Hackintosh" here at all anymore in the future (and to possible posters after me) as it is against the forum rules because "Hackintosh" is technically, illegal.

As for your questions, I'm not totally versed in programming and such (yet) however I'd personally suggest at least a 750GB (1TB+ optimal) HDD (make sure it is 7200RPM rated) and at least a good 8GB of RAM.

[Heca]

how worth it is the AppleCare protection plan? Should I buy it from a different company in order to go with their warranty protection plans instead? What size of a hard drive / amount of RAM should I be looking into buying, both for the development of my apps as well as for work in class up at school?

I don't know how much you will need from your computer school wise, but I have always played WoW on a Mac of some sort. I started on a Macbook, and if you want to try and use this to play WoW, put as much Ram as you can, with the best graphics card because while it played the game, and I used it for over a year, the settings were always on low.

In regards to AppleCare, GET IT. Any problem I had with my Macbook/iMac I've just brought to the store and they have fixed in house quickly. I burned out my hardrive from overuse after the three year warranty was up, but since it was so close to the 3 years they end tended it and replaced my laptop. It's worth it. If you're going to spend the amount of money you plan on a Mac device, get their warranty.

[DeltrusDisc]

Why would you want a Mac then..

Maybe if you read the whole post.....

I'm looking to start developing a few iOS applications and games that I have some ideas for, and thus far I've found that I'm incapable of developing these via my current Windows PC.

[Xiar]

I would recomend you pick up an iMac if you are serious about thiat. Also bear inmind that to write the program for both OSX and Windows is going to be a pain if you are writting pure C++. I would recomend you write the Non UI in C++ with nice hooks in then write the UI serperate for Windows in C# and OSX in Objective C. That gives you the most reusable Code Base and a couple nice languages to write the UI in.

Thanks for the input. I'll keep it in mind.

As for your questions, I'm not totally versed in programming and such (yet) however I'd personally suggest at least a 750GB (1TB+ optimal) HDD (make sure it is 7200RPM rated) and at least a good 8GB of RAM.

Thanks for the input -- see more below.

I don't know how much you will need from your computer school wise, but I have always played WoW on a Mac of some sort. I started on a Macbook, and if you want to try and use this to play WoW, put as much Ram as you can, with the best graphics card because while it played the game, and I used it for over a year, the settings were always on low.

In regards to AppleCare, GET IT. Any problem I had with my Macbook/iMac I've just brought to the store and they have fixed in house quickly. I burned out my hardrive from overuse after the three year warranty was up, but since it was so close to the 3 years they end tended it and replaced my laptop. It's worth it. If you're going to spend the amount of money you plan on a Mac device, get their warranty.

Thanks for the input. I'll be using this computer as a school/work laptop only; I have my custom built desktop for playing games and surfing the web on. Thus, the only requirement I need is enough HD space to store my school files as well as my game files, which I can also easily back up on said desktop or on my legions of externals. Video cards and RAM are similarly an almost non-issue; I won't be developing the next SW:TOR on these singlehandedly, nor will I be downloading terabytes of movies while streaming Youtube and playing WoW simultaneously. It doesn't have to be high end, it just needs to do the job.

And thanks quite a bit for the tip on the AppleCare. I'll definitely look into it.

[DeltrusDisc]

Well, like I said, don't know too much about programming, however I assume you will likely need a good chunk of RAM and HDD space, but if you have tons of externals, get a laptop with just like a 120GB SSD and cruuuuuuuuuuuiiiissssse smoothly! :P

[Deleted]

I'd get the Macbook pro with either 4 or 8 GB RAM and a 7200 RPM HDD.

About the applecare... Well, if you think you're unlucky and so on, go for it. But if you just take care of it like every other item, imo it's not worth it. I didn't got it when i bought my MBP 3 years ago.

[Xiar]

Well, like I said, don't know too much about programming, however I assume you will likely need a good chunk of RAM and HDD space, but if you have tons of externals, get a laptop with just like a 120GB SSD and cruuuuuuuuuuuiiiissssse smoothly! :P

Haha, thanks. It's not necessarily that, but I am planning on getting some basics for it--some Office lookalike software that will function (maybe just Office itself), my development kits, and that's about it. The RAM is only a slight issue, but all of the Macbooks I'm considering come with a minimum of 4GB standard, and Macs don't take (from what I've been told) NEARLY as much RAM as Windows do.

I'd get the Macbook pro with either 4 or 8 GB RAM and a 7200 RPM HDD.

About the applecare... Well, if you think you're unlucky and so on, go for it. But if you just take care of it like every other item, imo it's not worth it. I didn't got it when i bought my MBP 3 years ago.

Thanks for the input. Which screen size carries the 7200 RPM? I'm debating heavily between a 13 and 15 inch, mostly because I have both difficulty seeing or reading on small screens as well as clunky hands when it comes to small keyboards, so I may get the 15 just for convenience sake if it's not much of a difference. That being said, I could also just as easily pick up a MicroMini to DVI/HDMI/VGA adapter and let it steal one of my desktop's monitors whenever I'm working at home--though of course, that kind of defeats the purpose of getting a laptop if I'm only able to use it in one place.

[DeltrusDisc]

Idk if it works on Macs, you should look into it, but Openoffice.org is based on the OSS (open source software) dream for end-users and is a great look-alike to Office. Doesn't have EVERYTHING, but it does have things like Word and Excel, most of the things most college students would use.

[galileoacosta]

dont, u just paying 2000$ for a pretty sticker of an fruit


* User was infracted for this post.

[Xiar]

Idk if it works on Macs, you should look into it, but Openoffice.org is based on the OSS (open source software) dream for end-users and is a great look-alike to Office. Doesn't have EVERYTHING, but it does have things like Word and Excel, most of the things most college students would use.

Exactly, that's what I was thinking. If it's available for Mac, I'd love to pick it up. Haven't used it in a while, because my school gave me a "free" (automatically paid for by my tuition, they didn't ask me =/) copy of Microsoft Office either for Windows or Mac (but not both) and I used it on my Windows desktop, so I'll need something for my Mac as well. I probably won't need Powerpoint, but out of curiosity, do you know of OpenOffice carries a lookalike?

dont, u just paying 2000$ for a pretty sticker of an fruit

Thank you for your input, but please read my post--there's a reason I want one, I'm not buying a $2000 Facebook machine.

[HoursSH]

Not exactly an answer to your question, but thought it may help;
If you don't immediately need the laptop and can wait until august or so, you may be able to get a good deal on a new macbook, apple usually has deals worked out with a large number of schools, if you are lucky enough to go to one of them you can get a good chunk of change off when you buy it through your respective school. I ended up doing it back in '09 and got a pretty good deal.
I know nothing about programming and such, just thought that may help in making a decision.

[BicycleMafioso]

Blatant Mac (or any other brand) hating will be dealt with. Keep it constructive, and all you get is love instead!

[Nynax]

you mentioned you could use adobe programs, I think you should keep that as a student you can pick up any of the adobe suites at the student discount which is like $400. So consider that from a cost perspective.

Also, if you're using the mac for professional development defiantly go with a Pro. In most cases RAM is going to be far more important than your gfx card, but for game development that may or may not be important too (probably depends on how much time you spend in 3d engines, but for iOS games its probably not a big deal).

I'd also suggest getting a good sized hard drive, or an external USB one for extra file space because.... you can install the windows OS you already own onto your mac via boot camp in case you ever need it. I just started using it and it switches between OS's as fast as any normal restart and will broaden your laptops capability.

[Deleted]

Haha, thanks. It's not necessarily that, but I am planning on getting some basics for it--some Office lookalike software that will function (maybe just Office itself), my development kits, and that's about it. The RAM is only a slight issue, but all of the Macbooks I'm considering come with a minimum of 4GB standard, and Macs don't take (from what I've been told) NEARLY as much RAM as Windows do.


Thanks for the input. Which screen size carries the 7200 RPM? I'm debating heavily between a 13 and 15 inch, mostly because I have both difficulty seeing or reading on small screens as well as clunky hands when it comes to small keyboards, so I may get the 15 just for convenience sake if it's not much of a difference. That being said, I could also just as easily pick up a MicroMini to DVI/HDMI/VGA adapter and let it steal one of my desktop's monitors whenever I'm working at home--though of course, that kind of defeats the purpose of getting a laptop if I'm only able to use it in one place.

Well, you can get it in the 15''. The miniDisplay to VGA is like 30 bucks.

[Xiar]

Well, you can get it in the 15''. The miniDisplay to VGA is like 30 bucks.

My thoughts exactly, because the Apple Store prices the adapter of any sort at roughly 30 dollars, while the cost of upgrading from a 13" to a 15" screen is roughly $300 or more.

[DeltrusDisc]

Sorry for the late reply, not sure if Openoffice has a look-a-like, though it might be worth looking into.

Funny enough.... my school has a premium or whatever membership to DreamSpark, Microsoft's source to provide students/faculty with free software, full versions too. O_o Just no Office 2010! D: I can download TONS of other stuff, even free 7 Pro 64 bit, Project, Access, etc, but no Office. Pfffft. I just want to type in Word, damnit! :P

[kidsafe]

About the applecare... Well, if you think you're unlucky and so on, go for it. But if you just take care of it like every other item, imo it's not worth it. I didn't got it when i bought my MBP 3 years ago.

It doesn't really have anything to do with taking good care of your system as the only AppleCare plan that even includes accidental coverage is the iPhone AppleCare+ option. Since 1998 I have had the following Macs:

Green = didn't need AppleCare repairs
Orange = died after 3+ years
Red = Required AppleCare repairs

1998 / original iMac / no AppleCare / still worked until I scrapped it.
2000 / Graphite iMac DV SE / no AppleCare / display issues after 6 years, scrapped.
2001 / PowerBook G4 Titanium / no AppleCare / main logicboard replaced at Apple Store during initial 1-year warranty
2002 / Power Mac G4 "Quicksilver 2002" 2x1GHz / no AppleCare / heavy internal modifications after 4 years, system started locking up.
2006 / Mac mini Core Duo / no AppleCare / still works, still own.
2006 / iMac 20" Core 2 Duo / purchased AppleCare / PSU replaced at Apple Store in first year. Died again after 4.5 years.
2011 / iMac 21.5" Sandy Bridge / purchased AppleCare / PSU and main logic board died in less than a year, fixed at Apple Store. Still in use.
2011 / MacBook Air 11" / no AppleCare / No issues.

If you buy an iPhone, AppleCare+ is somewhat nice for accident protection.
If you buy an iPad, AppleCare is only one additional year worth of warranty, and no accident protection. I wouldn't buy it.
AppleCare is worth it if you buy a Mac Pro, iMac, higher-end MacBook Pro or an oddly configured Mac.

I would not buy AppleCare for a low-end MacBook Pro, Mac mini or MacBook Air. Why not? Because these systems are ~$600-1200 total and resell within one year for a good portion of the original value.

If I pay $1200 for an 11" MacBook Air brand new, I can sell it for $800-900 used. I'd rather take that money and put it towards a new MacBook Air when it comes out. Because I don't have to pay $250 for AppleCare, it's more or less paying $50-150 to get the newest model. The buyer can choose to get AppleCare for the used MacBook Air too as long as he activates it within one year of when I purchased it.

[Deleted]

By the way, you should consider using iWork instead of microsoft office. I'm using it and i love it. Pages is kinda like word, numbers is kinda like excel and keynote is kinda like powerpoint. The functions is the same, but the intergration to other OS X things (like time machine, icloud and so on) is very good. Like OS X, the applications feels very smooth. Oh, and iWork is cheaper than office anyways