Mac mini - specifically a 2012 or later, Xcode 10.2 requires 10.14.3 minimum, which the 2011 can't run. – Tetsujin May 3 '19 at 6:36 1 To make this answer still relevant in a year or two, you could include the steps required to figure out the minimal OS/hardware needs at the top of the answer. SwiftUI is an innovative, exceptionally simple way to build user. I'm using the Mac OS to install the XCode10.1. I have 18.43GB free disk space in the mac, but when I click the install button on the Xcode from the app store, it's always show the 'Not enough s. A Mac mini is fine for Xcode. I'd max out the RAM in any case, 4 GB isn't enough. 8 GB is survivable, but 16 GB+ is better. There's also an argument to be made that the 2012 Mac mini is better than the 2014 Mac mini, if you get the right version of the 2012 one. There was a 4 core Mac mini in 2012, but the 2014 models were limited to 2 cores.
How fast does your MacBook need to be to comfortably code iOS apps with Xcode? Is a MacBook Pro from 2-3 years ago good enough to learn Swift programming? Let’s find out!
Here’s what we’ll get into:
- The minimum/recommended system requirements for Xcode 11
- Why you need – or don’t need – a fancy $3.000 MacBook Pro
- Which second-hand Macs can run Xcode OK, and how you can find out
I’ve answered a lot of “Is my MacBook good enough for iOS development and/or Xcode?”-type questions on Quora. A few of the most popular models include:
- The 3rd- and 4th-gen MacBook Pro, with 2.4+ GHz Intel Core i5, i7, i9 CPUs
- The 2nd-gen MacBook Air, with the 1.4+ GHz Intel Core i5 CPUs
- The 4th-generation iMac, with the 2.7+ GHz Intel Core i5 and i7 CPUs
These models aren’t the latest, that’s for sure. Are they good enough to code iOS apps? And what about learning how to code? We’ll find out in this article.
My Almost-Unbreakable 2013 MacBook Air
Since 2009 I’ve coded more than 50 apps for iOS, Android and the mobile web. Most of those apps, including all apps I’ve created between 2013 and 2018, were built on a 13″ MacBook Air with 8 GB of RAM and a 1.3 GHz Intel i5 CPU.
My first MacBook was the gorgeous, then-new MacBook White unibody (2009), which I traded in for a faster but heavier MacBook Pro (2011), which I traded in for that nimble workhorse, the mighty MacBook Air (2013). In 2018 I upgraded to a tricked out 13″ MacBook Pro, with much better specs.
Frankly, that MacBook Air from 2013 felt more sturdy and capable than my current MacBook Pro. After 5 years of daily intenstive use, the MacBook Air’s battery is only through 50% of its max. cycle count. It’s still going strong after 7 hours on battery power.
New Apple Mac Mini 2020
In 2014, my trusty MacBook Air broke down on a beach in Thailand, 3 hours before a client deadline, with the next Apple Store 500 kilometer away. It turned out OK, of course. Guess what? My current MacBook Pro from 2018, its keyboard doesn’t even work OK, I’ve had sound recording glitches, and occasionally the T2 causes a kernel panic. Like many of us, I wish we had 2013-2015 MacBook Air’s and Pro’s with today’s specs. Oh, well…
Learn how to build iOS apps
Get started with iOS 14 and Swift 5
Sign up for my iOS development course, and learn how to build great iOS 14 apps with Swift 5 and Xcode 12.
That 100 Mhz i486 PC I Learned to Code With
When I was about 11 years old I taught myself to code in BASIC, on a 100 Mhz i486 PC that was given to me by friends. It had a luxurious 16 MB of RAM, initially only ran MS-DOS, and later ran Windows 3.1 and ’95.
A next upgrade came as a 400 Mhz AMD desktop, given again by friends, on which I ran a local EasyPHP webserver that I used to learn web development with PHP, MySQL and HTML/CSS. I coded a mod for Wolfenstein 3D on that machine, too.
We had no broadband internet at home back then, so I would download and print out coding tutorials at school. At the one library computer that had internet access, and I completed the tutorials at home. The source codes of turn-based web games, JavaScript tidbits and HTML page snippets were carried around on a 3.5″ floppy disk.
Later, when I started coding professionally around age 17, I finally bought my first laptop. My own! I still remember how happy I was. I got my first gig as a freelance coder: creating a PHP script that would aggregate RSS feeds, for which I earned about a hundred bucks. Those were the days!
Xcode, iOS, Swift and The MacBook Pro
The world is different today. Xcode simply doesn’t run on an i486 PC, and you can’t save your app’s source code on a 1.44 MB floppy disk anymore. Your Mac probably doesn’t have a CD drive, and you store your Swift code in a cloud-based Git repository somewhere.
Make no mistake: owning a MacBook is a luxury. Not because learning to code was harder 15 years ago, and not because computers were slower back then. It’s because kids these days learn Python programming on a $25 Raspberry Pi.
I recently had a conversation with a young aspiring coder, who complained he had no access to “decent” coding tutorials and mentoring, despite owning a MacBook Pro and having access to the internet. Among other things, I wrote the following:
You’re competing with a world of people that are smarter than you, and have better resources. You’re also competing against coders that have had it worse than you. They didn’t win despite adversity, but because of it. Do you give up? NO! You work harder. It’s the only thing you can do: work harder than the next person. When their conviction is wavering, you dig in your heels, you keep going, you persevere, and you’ll win.
Winning in this sense isn’t like winning a race, of course. You’re not competing with anyone else; you’re only really up against yourself. If you want to learn how to code, don’t dawdle over choosing a $3.000 or a $2.900 laptop. If anything, it’ll keep you from developing the grit you need to learn coding.
Great ideas can change the world, but only if they’re accompanied by deliberate action. Likewise, simply complaining about adversity isn’t going to create opportunities for growth – unless you take action. I leapfrogged my way from one hand-me-down computer to the next. I’m not saying you should too, but I do want to underscore how it helped me develop character.
If you want to learn how to code, welcome adversity. Be excellent because of it, or despite it, and never give up. Start coding today! Don’t wait until you’ve got all your ducks in a row.
Which MacBook is Fast Enough for Xcode 11?
The recommended system specs to run Xcode 11 are:
- A Mac with macOS Catalina (10.15.2) for Xcode 11.5 or macOS Mojave (10.14.4) for Xcode 11.0 (see alternatives for PC here)
- At least an Intel i5- or i7-equivalent CPU, so about 2.0 GHz should be enough
- At least 8 GB of RAM, but 16 GB lets you run more apps at the same time
- At least 256 GB disk storage, although 512 GB is more comfortable
- You’ll need about 8 GB of disk space, but Xcode’s intermediate files can take up to 10-30 GB of extra disk space
Looking for a second-hand Mac? The following models should be fast enough for Xcode, but YMMV!
- 4th-generation MacBook Pro (2016)
- 3rd-generation Mac Mini (2014)
- 2nd-generation MacBook Air (2017)
- 5th-generation iMac (2015)
When you’re looking for a Mac or MacBook to purchase, make sure it runs the latest version of macOS. Xcode versions you can run are tied to macOS versions your hardware runs, and iOS versions you can build for are tied to Xcode versions. See how that works? This is especially true for SwiftUI, which is iOS 13.0 and up only. Make sure you can run the latest!
Pro tip: You can often find the latest macOS version a device model supports on their Wikipedia page (see above links, scroll down to Supported macOS releases). You can then cross-reference that with Xcode’s minimum OS requirements (see here, scroll to min macOS to run), and see which iOS versions you’ll be able to run.
Further Reading
Awesome! We’ve discussed what you need to run Xcode on your Mac. You might not need as much as you think you do. Likewise, it’s smart to invest in a future-proof development machine.
Whatever you do, don’t ever think you need an expensive computer to learn how to code. Maybe the one thing you really want to invest in is frustration tolerance. You can make do, without the luxury of a MacBook Pro. A hand-me-down i486 is enough. Or… is it?
Want to learn more? Check out these resources:
Learn how to build iOS apps
Get started with iOS 14 and Swift 5
Sign up for my iOS development course, and learn how to build great iOS 14 apps with Swift 5 and Xcode 12.
-->This guide describes how to use Pair to Mac to connect Visual Studio 2019to a Mac build host. The same instructions apply to Visual Studio 2017.
Overview
Building native iOS applications requires access to Apple's build tools,which only run on a Mac. Because of this, Visual Studio 2019 must connect toa network-accessible Mac to build Xamarin.iOS applications.
Visual Studio 2019's Pair to Mac feature discovers, connects to,authenticates with, and remembers Mac build hosts so that Windows-basediOS developers can work productively.
Pair to Mac enables the following development workflow:
Developers can write Xamarin.iOS code in Visual Studio 2019.
Visual Studio 2019 opens a network connection to a Mac build host anduses the build tools on that machine to compile and sign the iOS app.
There is no need to run a separate application on the Mac – VisualStudio 2019 invokes Mac builds securely over SSH.
Visual Studio 2019 is notified of changes as soon as they happen. Forexample, when an iOS device is plugged in to the Mac or becomes availableon the network, the iOS Toolbar updates instantly.
Multiple instances of Visual Studio 2019 can connect to the Macsimultaneously.
It's possible to use the Windows command-line to build iOS applications.
Note
Before following the instructions in this guide, complete the following steps:
- On a Windows machine, install Visual Studio 2019
- On a Mac, install Xcode and Visual Studio for Mac
- You must manually open Xcode after installing so that it can add any additional components.
If you would prefer not to install Visual Studio for Mac, Visual Studio 2019can automatically configure the Mac build host with Xamarin.iOS and Mono.You must still install and run Xcode.For more information, see Automatic Mac provisioning.
Mac Mini 2018
Enable remote login on the Mac
To set up the Mac build host, first enable remote login:
On the Mac, open System Preferences and go to the Sharing pane.
Check Remote Login in the Service list.
Make sure that it is configured to allow access for All users, orthat your Mac username or group is included in the list of allowedusers.
If prompted, configure the macOS firewall.
If you have set the macOS firewall to block incoming connections, youmay need to allow
mono-sgento receive incoming connections. An alertappears to prompt you if this is the case.If it is on the same network as the Windows machine, the Mac shouldnow be discoverable by Visual Studio 2019. If the Mac is still notdiscoverable, try manually adding a Mac or takea look at the troubleshooting guide.
Connect to the Mac from Visual Studio 2019
Now that remote login is enabled, connect Visual Studio 2019 to the Mac.
In Visual Studio 2019, open an existing iOS project or create a new oneby choosing File > New > Project and then selecting an iOS projecttemplate.
Open the Pair to Mac dialog.
Use the Pair to Mac button iOS toolbar:
Or, select Tools > iOS > Pair to Mac.
The Pair to Mac dialog displays a list of all previously-connectedand currently-available Mac build hosts:
Select a Mac in the list. Click Connect.
Enter your username and password.
The first time you connect to any particular Mac, you areprompted to enter your username and password for that machine:
Tip
When logging in, use your system username rather than full name.
Pair to Mac uses these credentials to create a new SSH connectionto the Mac. If it succeeds, a key is added to the authorized_keysfile on the Mac. Subsequent connections to the same Mac will loginautomatically.
Pair to Mac automatically configures the Mac.
Starting with Visual Studio 2019 version15.6,Visual Studio 2019 installs or updates Mono and Xamarin.iOS on aconnected Mac build host as needed (note that Xcode must still beinstalled manually). See Automatic Macprovisioning for more details.
Look for the connection status icon.
When Visual Studio 2019 is connected to a Mac, that Mac's itemin the Pair to Mac dialog displays an icon indicating thatit is currently connected:
There can be only one connected Mac at a time.
Tip
Right-clicking any Mac in the Pair to Mac list brings up a contextmenu that allows you to Connect..., Forget this Mac, orDisconnect:
If you choose Forget this Mac, your credentials for the selectedMac will be forgotten. To reconnect to that Mac, you will need to re-enteryour username and password.
If you have successfully paired to a Mac build host, you are ready to buildXamarin.iOS apps in Visual Studio 2019. Take a look at theIntroduction to Xamarin.iOS for Visual Studioguide.
If you have not been able to pair a Mac, try manually adding aMac or take a look at the troubleshootingguide.
Manually add a Mac
If you do not see a particular Mac listed in the Pair to Mac dialog,add it manually:
Locate your Mac’s IP address.
Open System Preferences > Sharing > Remote Login on your Mac:
Alternatively, use the command line. In Terminal, issue this command:
Depending on your network configuration, you may need to use aninterface name other than
en0. For example:en1,en2, etc.
In Visual Studio 2019's Pair to Mac dialog, select Add Mac...:
Enter the Mac's IP address and click Add:
Enter your username and password for the Mac:
Tip
When logging in, use your system username rather than full name.
Click Login to connect Visual Studio 2019 to the Mac over SSH and addit to the list of known machines.
Automatic Mac provisioning
Starting with Visual Studio 2019 version 15.6,Pair to Mac automatically provisions a Mac with software necessary forbuilding Xamarin.iOS applications: Mono, Xamarin.iOS (the softwareframework, not the Visual Studio for Mac IDE), and various Xcode-relatedtools (but not Xcode itself).
Important
- Pair to Mac cannot install Xcode; you must manually install it on theMac build host. It is required for Xamarin.iOS development.
- Automatic Mac provisioning requires that remote login isenabled on the Mac, and the Mac must be network-accessible to the Windowsmachine. See Enabling remote login on the Macfor more details.
- Automatic Mac provisioning requires 3GB of free space on the Mac to install Xamarin.iOS.
Pair to Mac performs necessary software installations/updates when VisualStudio 2019 is connecting to theMac.
Mono
Pair to Mac will check to make sure that Mono is installed. If it is notinstalled, Pair to Mac will download and install the latest stable versionof Mono on the Mac.
Progress is indicated by various prompts, as shown by the followingscreenshots (click to zoom):
| Mono | Install Check | Downloading | Installing |
|---|
Xamarin.iOS
Pair to Mac upgrades Xamarin.iOS on the Mac to match the versioninstalled on the Windows machine.
Important
Pair to Mac will not downgrade Xamarin.iOS on the Mac from alpha/betato stable. If you have Visual Studio for Mac installed, set yourrelease channel asfollows:
- If you use Visual Studio 2019, select the Stable updates channel inVisual Studio for Mac.
- If you use Visual Studio 2019 Preview, select the Alpha updateschannel in Visual Studio for Mac.
Progress is indicated by various prompts, as shown by the followingscreenshots (click to zoom):
| Xamarin.iOS | Install Check | Downloading | Installing |
|---|
Xcode tools and license
Pair to Mac will also check to determine whether Xcode has been installedand its license accepted. While Pair to Mac does not install Xcode, itdoes prompt for license acceptance, as shown in the following screenshots(click to zoom):
| Xcode | Install Check | License Acceptance |
|---|
Additionally, Pair to Mac will install or update various packagesdistributed with Xcode. For example:
- MobileDeviceDevelopment.pkg
- XcodeExtensionSupport.pkg
- MobileDevice.pkg
- XcodeSystemResources.pkg
The installation of these packages happens quickly and without a prompt.
Note
These tools are distinct from the Xcode Command Line Tools, whichas of macOS 10.9 areinstalled with Xcode.
Troubleshooting automatic Mac provisioning
If you encounter any trouble using automatic Mac provisioning, take a lookat the Visual Studio 2019 IDE logs, stored in%LOCALAPPDATA%XamarinLogs16.0. These logs may contain error messagesto help you better diagnose the failure or get support.
Build iOS apps from the Windows command-line
Pair to Mac supports building Xamarin.iOS applications from the commandline. For example:
The parameters passed to msbuild in the above example are:
ServerAddress– The IP address of the Mac build host.ServerUser– The username to use when logging in to the Mac build host.Use your system username rather than your full name.ServerPassword– The password to use when logging in to the Mac build host.
Note
Visual Studio 2019 stores msbuild in the following directory:C:Program Files (x86)Microsoft Visual Studio2019<Version>MSBuildCurrentBin
The first time Pair to Mac logs in to a particular Mac build host fromeither Visual Studio 2019 or the command-line, it sets up SSH keys. With thesekeys, future logins will not require a username or password. Newlycreated keys are stored in %LOCALAPPDATA%XamarinMonoTouch.
If the ServerPassword parameter is omitted from a command-line buildinvocation, Pair to Mac attempts to log in to the Mac build hostusing the saved SSH keys.
Summary
This article described how to use Pair to Mac to connect Visual Studio 2019 to aMac build host, enabling Visual Studio 2019 developers to build native iOSapplications with Xamarin.iOS.
Next steps