5 ms·

That the Macs are not given as much attention doesn't surprise me. It seems 'fitting' that they would gravitate toward the current MacBook end of the spectrum c

by mercer 10y ago

That the Macs are not given as much attention doesn't surprise me. It seems 'fitting' that they would gravitate toward the current MacBook end of the spectrum considering that a huge amount of users don't really need much more than that. Cutting out the middle-ground (MacBook Air) makes a certain amount of sense. But I expected that they'd keep a high-performance developer-focused MacBook (the Pro) for all those guys who are actually making the iOS/MacOS apps. And part of me hoped they'd show some love for that target audience. On the other hand, who am I kidding. As I'm getting more and more into 'native' development and as my laptop is showing its age when I use Xcode, I'll probably eventually cave and get a MacBook Pro because I can't do my work without it. It's just not nice, I guess. But then Apple isn't particularly known for being nice, so it makes business-sense. iOS/MacOS devs will still get their new machines, even if they end up feeling fleeced.

corv 10y ago
I think in the long run Apple will try to move developers over to iPad Pro. Rudimentary Xcode functionality is already in place on iOS.
- mercer 10y ago
  Interesting. I find it hard to see how they could pull that off, but who knows...
  - equalarrow 10y ago
    I had a buddy who dreamed about this when the iPad first came out. Swift Playgrounds is a first step in that direction. There's still a lot of work to do, but you can technically write Swift on an iPad right now, so why not just add an IDE that will compile directly to device (no simulator required). Would I be surprised to see this happen for an iPad 'Pro' a few years down the line? Nope, not at all, especially given how Apple touted that the Pro cpu specs can take on tasks once reserved for "workstations and PCs".
    - mercer 10y ago
      I'm more thinking about multitasking and all that. For things like web development I usually have open: - photoshop/illustrator/sketch - a bunch of chrome tabs for research and one with dev tools open - sometimes safari for testing - a task app to keep track of what needs doing - multiple screens so I can use one for reference/research and the other for work I suppose much of that could work on an iPad Pro assuming it can keep that much stuff in memory and assuming that I can use a keyboard to task-switch. But the multiple screens could be an issue.
      - brandon272 10y ago
        I can't fathom doing all of my web dev Photoshop work without a cursor and mouse. A pen seems fine for art projects, but for tasks requiring pixel precision?
- snowwrestler 10y ago
  I could certainly see them adding developer capabilities to the iPad Pro. But I have a hard time understanding why they would bother trying to move developers, which to me implies removing dev capabilities from the Mac (how?) or killing the Mac line entirely (why?).
  - phaed 10y ago
    I wouldn't put it past them. They believe themselves to be market makers.
  - nihonde 10y ago
    PC and laptop sales are in a free fall and the prices will trend toward zero profit. It's Apple planning to exit a dying form factor.
rqebmm 10y ago
It's hardly surprising. I mean, since when has Apple done anything to show love for the developers on their platforms? Developers are locked in because Apple has the highest paying userbase, not because they provide the best tools. Sadly it's hard to blame them when you look at Google and Microsoft. Both had much better development environments and got crushed in revenue.
- Jtsummers 10y ago
  Are Google's development environments better than what Apple offers? I mean, they don't have a platform to run their development tools on. You can't really run them on Android, I mean, I guess you could, but the same issues with trying to use an iPad. Chromebook? Maybe? With some work, but not out of the box. Microsoft certainly has good dev tools, while I don't care for Windows in general, I do appreciate the good tooling when I'm at my day job.
  - mercer 10y ago
    > Are Google's development environments better than what Apple offers? I'd also like to hear from people who have developed for both platforms. > Microsoft certainly has good dev tools, while I don't care for Windows in general, I do appreciate the good tooling when I'm at my day job. Interesting. I do get that impression and it's one reason I'm open to eventually moving to a Microsoft product again for my development work. Is it currently possible to do iOS development exclusively on a Microsoft laptop/environment? Or at least could I get away with using a remotely-controlled Mac Mini for some of the Xcode stuff?
    - Jtsummers 10y ago
      I don't do iOS development so I can't say, I've only toyed with it, and on my Mac at home. I will say, VS2015 has options for creating iOS projects, but I haven't tried using them and don't know the limitations (irrelevant to my day job, I use VS for C# and sneaking in bits of F# when I can for internal applications targeting Windows desktop).

by mercer 10y ago

corv 10y ago

I think in the long run Apple will try to move developers over to iPad Pro. Rudimentary Xcode functionality is already in place on iOS.

mercer 10y ago
Interesting. I find it hard to see how they could pull that off, but who knows...
- equalarrow 10y ago
  I had a buddy who dreamed about this when the iPad first came out. Swift Playgrounds is a first step in that direction. There's still a lot of work to do, but you can technically write Swift on an iPad right now, so why not just add an IDE that will compile directly to device (no simulator required). Would I be surprised to see this happen for an iPad 'Pro' a few years down the line? Nope, not at all, especially given how Apple touted that the Pro cpu specs can take on tasks once reserved for "workstations and PCs".
  - mercer 10y ago
    I'm more thinking about multitasking and all that. For things like web development I usually have open: - photoshop/illustrator/sketch - a bunch of chrome tabs for research and one with dev tools open - sometimes safari for testing - a task app to keep track of what needs doing - multiple screens so I can use one for reference/research and the other for work I suppose much of that could work on an iPad Pro assuming it can keep that much stuff in memory and assuming that I can use a keyboard to task-switch. But the multiple screens could be an issue.
    - brandon272 10y ago
      I can't fathom doing all of my web dev Photoshop work without a cursor and mouse. A pen seems fine for art projects, but for tasks requiring pixel precision?
snowwrestler 10y ago
I could certainly see them adding developer capabilities to the iPad Pro. But I have a hard time understanding why they would bother trying to move developers, which to me implies removing dev capabilities from the Mac (how?) or killing the Mac line entirely (why?).
- phaed 10y ago
  I wouldn't put it past them. They believe themselves to be market makers.
- nihonde 10y ago
  PC and laptop sales are in a free fall and the prices will trend toward zero profit. It's Apple planning to exit a dying form factor.

rqebmm 10y ago

It's hardly surprising. I mean, since when has Apple done anything to show love for the developers on their platforms? Developers are locked in because Apple has the highest paying userbase, not because they provide the best tools. Sadly it's hard to blame them when you look at Google and Microsoft. Both had much better development environments and got crushed in revenue.

Jtsummers 10y ago
Are Google's development environments better than what Apple offers? I mean, they don't have a platform to run their development tools on. You can't really run them on Android, I mean, I guess you could, but the same issues with trying to use an iPad. Chromebook? Maybe? With some work, but not out of the box. Microsoft certainly has good dev tools, while I don't care for Windows in general, I do appreciate the good tooling when I'm at my day job.
- mercer 10y ago
  > Are Google's development environments better than what Apple offers? I'd also like to hear from people who have developed for both platforms. > Microsoft certainly has good dev tools, while I don't care for Windows in general, I do appreciate the good tooling when I'm at my day job. Interesting. I do get that impression and it's one reason I'm open to eventually moving to a Microsoft product again for my development work. Is it currently possible to do iOS development exclusively on a Microsoft laptop/environment? Or at least could I get away with using a remotely-controlled Mac Mini for some of the Xcode stuff?
  - Jtsummers 10y ago
    I don't do iOS development so I can't say, I've only toyed with it, and on my Mac at home. I will say, VS2015 has options for creating iOS projects, but I haven't tried using them and don't know the limitations (irrelevant to my day job, I use VS for C# and sneaking in bits of F# when I can for internal applications targeting Windows desktop).