>I am developing iOS apps on a 2012 Macbook Pro. Those aren't expensive nowadays. I would be willing to bet that a used Thinkpad is even cheaper, and has the b

>I am developing iOS apps on a 2012 Macbook Pro. Those aren't expensive nowadays. I would be willing to bet that a used Thinkpad is even cheaper, and has the benefit of having more upgrade options. To make a car analogy, your argument boils down to, "Well, you need a car anyway, so why not buy a Lexus?" I think a lot of the people replying to your posts are arguing that requiring luxury hardware (and, let's face it, Macs are luxury hardware) adds a pretty huge barrier to entry for software development. Trying to argue that the price difference between Apple hardware and Windows/Linux hardware is "insignificant" in the long run just doesn't cut it. Even the cheapest Apple laptop is a thousand dollars in the US. It costs even more overseas. Meanwhile, you can get similarly spec'd Windows machines for a half to three quarters of the price. There is a Mac premium, and it is a barrier to entry for developers. You can't make that barrier disappear by blindly asserting that it doesn't matter.