Question iOS Development without a hardware

[YuliApp]

I am a mobile developer, now my latest mac won't do any updates, refusing to buy new hardware.

Is there any service or option for full blown mac experience (cloud, virtual pc,...) to do iOS development on a remote pc?

Yes i can google, just looking for hands on experience.

 

[A///]

Used this and other services for years before ponying up for hardware. It worked well for me. At the time, I was able to install my own licensed software and run it in the cloud. Almost zero downtime or performance constraints. Pricing has gone up over the years. There's other methods to get access to Catalina, for example, without relying on a third party or new hardware. However, these methods bend the law and EULAs so I can't discuss them publicly or privately.

MacinCloud - Rent a Mac in the Cloud! - Mac in Cloud

MacinCloud is a Mac cloud platform that provides on-demand Mac cloud servers, flexible dev workload infrastructure and comprehensive Mac in the Cloud solutions

www.macincloud.com

 

[YuliApp]

Used this and other services for years before ponying up for hardware. It worked well for me. At the time, I was able to install my own licensed software and run it in the cloud. Almost zero downtime or performance constraints. Pricing has gone up over the years. There's other methods to get access to Catalina, for example, without relying on a third party or new hardware. However, these methods bend the law and EULAs so I can't discuss them publicly or privately.

MacinCloud - Rent a Mac in the Cloud! - Mac in Cloud

MacinCloud is a Mac cloud platform that provides on-demand Mac cloud servers, flexible dev workload infrastructure and comprehensive Mac in the Cloud solutions

www.macincloud.com

thank you, i will look at it...

 

[jpiniero]

However, these methods bend the law and EULAs so I can't discuss them publicly or privately.

You mean hackintoshes... not sure you'd really want to do that doing development. You could try to acquire a used 2018 Mac Mini for cheap.

 

[YuliApp]

thank you for insights... How long will me 2018 last before they block the updates again?
I had a nice 2009ish iMac but couldnt install latest dev tools on it at all

 

[A///]

You mean hackintoshes... not sure you'd really want to do that doing development. You could try to acquire a used 2018 Mac Mini for cheap.

That's one method. There are others.

thank you for insights... How long will me 2018 last before they block the updates again?
I had a nice 2009ish iMac but couldnt install latest dev tools on it at all

5-6 years is the usual support life of an Apple product. Each version of macOS gets 3 maybe three and a half years of support. There are ways to trick a new macOS to install on much older hardware, for what it's worth. They're slightly gray area solutions. These are community made solutions, FYI.

 

[YuliApp]

ok thank you guys, i will look what older Mac Mini costs and compare it to the cloud solution. That is already more help than i expected.
So easier with open platforms like Android and windows.
What are the "other methods"?

 

[ultimatebob]

That's one method. There are others.



5-6 years is the usual support life of an Apple product. Each version of macOS gets 3 maybe three and a half years of support. There are ways to trick a new macOS to install on much older hardware, for what it's worth. They're slightly gray area solutions. These are community made solutions, FYI.

You might get even less than 5 years of official support if you buy a new Intel Mac now. They're currently beginning the transition to Apple ARM-based processors. As someone who made the mistake of buying a device at the beginning of an Apple CPU transition in the past, I can warn you that we might only get support for the next two macOS releases before they cut us off.

 

[A///]

You might get even less than 5 years of official support if you buy a new Intel Mac now. They're currently beginning the transition to Apple ARM-based processors. As someone who made the mistake of buying a device at the beginning of an Apple CPU transition in the past, I can warn you that we might only get support for the next two macOS releases before they cut us off.

That crossed my mind. I couldn't remember how the PPC to x86 transition was handled. Generally Apple in modern times supports hardware for around 5 years. They may kick support patches and I wouldn't be surprised if future ARM variants of macOS still carry legacy translation up until X point in time.

 

[YuliApp]

yes i dont like apple at all but few hunderts for a mini i can spare for sure. Would be better as a cloud service always offering the actual model needed to code the apps, but yea. Will just pass the costs to customers.

 

[manly]

You might get even less than 5 years of official support if you buy a new Intel Mac now. They're currently beginning the transition to Apple ARM-based processors. As someone who made the mistake of buying a device at the beginning of an Apple CPU transition in the past, I can warn you that we might only get support for the next two macOS releases before they cut us off.

Although some industry pundits expect Apple to support the "newest" legacy Macs for a while, your advice is excellent.

That crossed my mind. I couldn't remember how the PPC to x86 transition was handled. Generally Apple in modern times supports hardware for around 5 years. They may kick support patches and I wouldn't be surprised if future ARM variants of macOS still carry legacy translation up until X point in time.

I can't speak to software support, but the hardware transition was very fast. It was done in a blink. Come to think of it, the software support wasn't exactly great. IIRC the last version to support PPC was OS X 10.5, which was released in 2007 and updated to 10.5.8 in 2009. There might have been some security updates for another year or two (Wikipedia says discontinued in 2011). Recall that back then, Mac OS X was not an annual release so it was more valuable to be able to run the newest version. Chrome was brand new, and Safari was about the only Web browser in widespread use.

Consumer impact was more limited back then, because Mac was a niche (but growing) platform with well under 5% PC market share. The reality is you got about 3.5 years of PPC support once Intel Macs were released in early 2006. Overall, this mattered less because single core G4s weren't exactly "future proof" and by the late 2000s, such Macs were mostly due for replacement anyway. I have an original Mac mini (G4 1.25 GHz) which I haven't turned on in ages, but that thing runs like a slug. It sucked somewhat for those who bought a Power Mac G5 in 2005, but these were not high volume products.

Today, it would matter more because Macs have more market share and for the vast majority of consumers, quad-core Macs of recent vintage are all the CPU they truly "need" for the foreseeable future. In theory, Apple should/could support 2019/2020 Intel Macs for up to 5 years but I wouldn't bet on it. As Apple continues to transition to a "services" provider, they should be less reliant on forced obsolescence practices (as evidenced by generally excellent iOS support for older devices).

 

[A///]

Yeah, I caught about a third of that Linus video today. I had it in my head that they dropped PPC support in 2011. Still, doesn't stop people from dropping thousands on hardware that'll probably be useless in a few years. It'll be interesting whether their market share remains, grows or shrinks.