Hardware Requirements for iOS Development (December 2024)

From the cheapest viable option to the best value Mac for iOS Developers.

I see people asking questions about which hardware to get for iOS development quite often, especially beginners just starting out but also sometimes more experienced developers who start running into performance issues with their current Mac. As a former iOS Team lead in two companies where I had to make informed decisions about which hardware to get for what level of developer and where I could test out different Macs on differently sized projects, here are my current recommendations.

In the end, I also answer some frequently asked questions:

• How much disk space do I need? How much RAM do I need?
• Apple Silicon or Intel? What about the Mac Studio?

This article was last updated in December 2024. If 6 months have passed since then, ping me on Bluesky & remind me to update.

The Cheapest Mac for Developers ($750+)

Hardware:

M4 Mac Mini (16GB RAM & 256GB SSD) for $600
+ monitor (at least $120)
+ wireless…