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If you write an app that you can sell on the app store to 860 people for $5 you already got the money to buy a Macbook Pro 16”. I don’t think the Macbook restr

by nagyf 6y ago

If you write an app that you can sell on the app store to 860 people for $5 you already got the money to buy a Macbook Pro 16”. I don’t think the Macbook restriction is such a big problem. However, if you sell it to 1 million people and Apple takes the 30% cut, that’s a loss of $1.5M for you... (Maybe I miss something, I never wrote iOS apps, I’m just doing the math)

mkl 6y ago
You need to buy the Mac before writing the app. You might make enough to repay that investment, but it's out of pocket to start with. For many people that is a big problem.
- d3nj4l 6y ago
  This also makes it difficult to write FOSS apps for iOS, because the developer would have to front the cost of a macOS workstation + the $99 yearly fee with no expectation of a return at all.
  - projektfu 6y ago
    Technically you can make it GNU compatible and charge for it with the source online. A user needs the build system but can modify your app and rerelease it at their convenience. I prefer the F-Droid model myself.
- threeseed 6y ago
  This really is a ridiculous point to make. You need a Mac because important components like the XCode Simulator require OSX libraries in order to function. It's no different to me needed a Windows machine in order to build Office plugins.
  - modeless 6y ago
    I regularly cross compile for Windows from Linux, and I don't need to buy any hardware from Microsoft.
    - efreak 6y ago
      Microsoft has little to do with the hardware you run their software on
  - mkl 6y ago
    If those software components were all that was needed, we could just run macOS in a VM, as we can easily do with Windows or Linux. Apple forbids that specifically to make all prospective Mac/iOS developers buy Mac hardware.
modeless 6y ago
I would bet that the median developer in the developer program doesn't sell enough on the App Store to recoup the cost of a mid-range MacBook Pro every 3-5 years and an iPhone every other year and the developer program annual fee.
hombre_fatal 6y ago
> If you write an app that you can sell on the app store to 860 people for $5 fwiw, that's an incredibly hard feat that most people don't ever accomplish. Even "it's just 16 work-weeks at minimum wage" would have been a better demo.

by nagyf 6y ago

mkl 6y ago

You need to buy the Mac before writing the app. You might make enough to repay that investment, but it's out of pocket to start with. For many people that is a big problem.

d3nj4l 6y ago
This also makes it difficult to write FOSS apps for iOS, because the developer would have to front the cost of a macOS workstation + the $99 yearly fee with no expectation of a return at all.
- projektfu 6y ago
  Technically you can make it GNU compatible and charge for it with the source online. A user needs the build system but can modify your app and rerelease it at their convenience. I prefer the F-Droid model myself.
threeseed 6y ago
This really is a ridiculous point to make. You need a Mac because important components like the XCode Simulator require OSX libraries in order to function. It's no different to me needed a Windows machine in order to build Office plugins.
- modeless 6y ago
  I regularly cross compile for Windows from Linux, and I don't need to buy any hardware from Microsoft.
  - efreak 6y ago
    Microsoft has little to do with the hardware you run their software on
- mkl 6y ago
  If those software components were all that was needed, we could just run macOS in a VM, as we can easily do with Windows or Linux. Apple forbids that specifically to make all prospective Mac/iOS developers buy Mac hardware.

modeless 6y ago

I would bet that the median developer in the developer program doesn't sell enough on the App Store to recoup the cost of a mid-range MacBook Pro every 3-5 years and an iPhone every other year and the developer program annual fee.

hombre_fatal 6y ago

> If you write an app that you can sell on the app store to 860 people for $5 fwiw, that's an incredibly hard feat that most people don't ever accomplish. Even "it's just 16 work-weeks at minimum wage" would have been a better demo.