Looking to get a sensible host platform to develop for iPhone (et al) and potentially for Mac OS X itself. I understand that the mininum OS required for X-Code will continually move upwards, which means not any old Mac will do, certainly not going forward.
I reckon either a Core 2 Duo-based Mac Mini (late '07 and onwards) or the corresponding Macbook would be the best bet, to get Snow Leopard running, to in turn get the latest X-Code and iPhone SDK running. Correct?
But then there's the issue of target platforms. I'd like to avoid buying an iPhone for now, as it seems rather expensive and beyond my (already covered) needs in Smartphone functionality. I'm much more likely to get an iPod touch actually. For now, I just want to get my feet wet. No idea how far I want to swim. I want to minimize hardware expenses for now, and my ideal would be to just run with the Mac, and nothing else, at least for a while.
How accurate is the emulator? Are there any big gotchas (UI, service integration) when developing without tests on target hardware?
I reckon either a Core 2 Duo-based Mac Mini (late '07 and onwards) or the corresponding Macbook would be the best bet, to get Snow Leopard running, to in turn get the latest X-Code and iPhone SDK running. Correct?
But then there's the issue of target platforms. I'd like to avoid buying an iPhone for now, as it seems rather expensive and beyond my (already covered) needs in Smartphone functionality. I'm much more likely to get an iPod touch actually. For now, I just want to get my feet wet. No idea how far I want to swim. I want to minimize hardware expenses for now, and my ideal would be to just run with the Mac, and nothing else, at least for a while.
How accurate is the emulator? Are there any big gotchas (UI, service integration) when developing without tests on target hardware?