MacOS development environment

[Erix A. 8]

Hi,

 

What's the best environment for MacOS development?

- MacBook/Mini and running Delphi in Windows via VirtualBox/Parallels?

- installing Hackintosh and running Delphi in Windows via VirtualBox/Parallels?

- connect to Mac via VNC Viewer?

- just have Mac next to the PC and switch over to it each time program is deployed?

- other options?

 

I've experimented with running MacOS in VirtualBox. It works, but is damn slow and also I'd like to test my program on a real hardware.

 

[sjordi 39]

The best thing is to have a real Mac and Windows into a VM that can directly access the macOS while both environment run concurrently.
I use VMWare Fusion for Windows 10 and it works flawlessly.
Hackintosh should work but it is illegal to have a Mac VM outside of a Mac environment. Once you have to deploy your iOS or macOS app via Xcode, you don't know whether this is traced down.

[Sherlock 663]

The really best thing is to have one cheap iMac somewhere in a shelf, running headless. Then a Windows computer of your choice and a fast connection between the two. PAServer is running on the Mac and for the times you need to see results you connect remotely via some remote protocol like VNC.

This way you can scale to more developers without the cost of buying a mac for them.

I too use a mac with a Windows VM via Parallels however. The VM has the advantage of taking snapshots, but a solid backup solution should do the same trick...

[Микола Петрівський 10]

If you are going to develop GUI apps for Mac, then you really need dedicated hardware with separate screen, keyboard and mouse. But if you already have good Windows PC, then the best option will be to by some cheap Mac Mini.

[David Heffernan 2345]

16 hours ago, Erix A. said:

What's the best environment for MacOS development?

Not Delphi! 

[Rollo62 536]

6 hours ago, sjordi said:

The best thing is to have a real Mac and Windows into a VM that can directly access the macOS while both environment run concurrently.

If you mean by your above comment that MacBook Pro would be the perfect environment, I would completely sign that statement.
Its absolutely great to switch between complete VM machines back and forth in milliseconds, and you have all the environments
under one hood accessible.

Unfortunaltely the only the keyboard quality is not my favorite, but one can get used to it.
I would vote for the MB Pro as development workstation:  (+1)

! BUT WAIT:

Only recently Apple's designers decided to destroy their complete MB business, by adding the fancy TouchBar.
Since then there is no more ESC, not F1 .. F12 key, only a flat surface w/o haptic feedback,
That configuration is completely useless, not only for development/debugging, but I would say also for most productive works,

like graphics design, webdesign, video production, etc.

If you would like to pay more for a simple eye-catching internet browser, then please do, but IMHO the original MB Pro spirit is dead.
I would vote against the MB Pro (w/ touchbar):  (-1)

 

So how to solve this paradox of the most valuable company in the world ?

Maybe by purchasing a special Logitech multi-device keyboard that make MB Pro workable again ?
Unfortunately there seems to be no real alternative for the keyboard with trackpad in the market

(probably because of Apple has patented every slight shaky finger movement as gesture, and prevent any useful hardware extension

by their extensivly costly MiFi program).

Some day in the distant future there might be a good external keyboard/trackpad solution in the market,

or in the near future Apple may have moved from hardware manufacturer to cloud services provider business completely.

You never know

 

 

 

Edited May 17, 2019 by Rollo62

[Sherlock 663]

I too am working on an MBPro (2016 model though). I would not notice the touchbar because I use an external keyboard and mouse. I consider any notebook keyboard to be inferior to a regular external one. And a trackpad is an inadequate mouse replacement.

[sjordi 39]

I have a MacBook Pro connected to 2 screens, one with MacOS and one with Windows running RadStudio.

I too use it as a desktop with a external keyboard and mouse.

And it's perfect if you're traveling, you still have the entire environment with you in one machine. That's my case, I travel a lot and can work wherever I am: country, city, plane, train, jungle, etc... 

But if you want multiple users, it's right that having a dedicated cheap Mac is best as you buy it only once and it's used by everyone.

[Erix A. 8]

On 5/17/2019 at 10:56 AM, sjordi said:

I use VMWare Fusion for Windows 10 and it works flawlessly.

Are you happy with the VMWare Fusion and are you using the normal or pro version?

[Bill Meyer 337]

On 5/17/2019 at 9:11 AM, Rollo62 said:

So how to solve this paradox of the most valuable company in the world ?

"Most highly valued" is not equivalent to "most valuable."

 

[sjordi 39]

13 hours ago, Erix A. said:

Are you happy with the VMWare Fusion and are you using the normal or pro version?

Yes very happy.
I used to get the standard version without problems.
I switched to the pro one for other reasons (mainly subnets required for some Linux machines), but you absolutely don't need the PRO for RadStudio.

[Rollo62 536]

17 hours ago, Erix A. said:

Are you happy with the VMWare Fusion and are you using the normal or pro version?

I use VM Pro too, and it works perfectly here under Mac and Win for the last versions.
I think the Pro wouldn't be necessary for a simple VM, but you have to check the different features.
E.g. I can run Mac, Win, Linus guests w/o any problem.

Which is very convenient if you do mobile development, and have to check plenty of new versions from all OS and different sides.

So far Vmware is my stable pole in all this mess.

 

Every year there will be a new main version, and from time to time you see some service updates as well, and so far I followed all the updates.

The advantage is also that the images can be used from Mac and from Win (Vmware Fusion, and Vmware Workstation), so the finetuned images could
be reused if needed.

 

My only recommendation is to use a FAST and LARGE SSD, to have more fun with switching between the Vm-images.
In my old setup I had a too small SSD (500GB only), which practically only can hold 3 VM at a  time.
I switched to a fast 2TB  SSD now, which allows very easy to make intermediate backups, e.g. for Win10 update 1803 to 1809, or the like.
You're always safe, and never had to fear that you kill your current working environment.
But I also used to work with external SSD via USB3.x, which is nearly as fast as internal SSD, and allows to fastly switch to older projects,
by plugging in a USB drive.

 

Edited May 21, 2019 by Rollo62

[Sherlock 663]

I'd like to mention Parallels as a very good VM host as well.

[Erix A. 8]

6 hours ago, Rollo62 said:

My only recommendation is to use a FAST and LARGE SSD, to have more fun with switching between the Vm-images.

What about the RAM? Is 16 GB enough?

[Erix A. 8]

On 5/20/2019 at 11:15 AM, sjordi said:

I too use it as a desktop with a external keyboard and mouse.

PC or Mac keyboard/mouse? 

[Rollo62 536]

12 hours ago, Erix A. said:

What about the RAM? Is 16 GB enough?

Pls see VmWares requirements too.

Yes, usually they recommend 2GB for the guests, which is fine. Only on the Windows side I tend to put 4GB.
16GB should be OK then, but the question is what is your setup:
How many VM's you want to run in parallel (Macos-XCode,, Win-Workstation, Win-Server, CI-Server, Linux, ...) ?

They all will eat their memory, I usually have 2-3 running in parallel, but if I have another urgent case I like to open no. 4 as well.

But its also OK to close one and open another, since VM's are fast this is no big deal.

 

I used 16GB before, and upgraded now to 32GB, to stay on the safe side for the coming years.
More important is the SSD size, because VM you like to copy around with older, newer setups.
 

@Sherlock

Yes, you'right: I only can tell about my case (sorry for sounding like an VmWare salesman ).
Also Parallels and VirtualBox have nice daughters.
But Parallels is living more in the OSX-world alone, thats why I prefer VmWare.

Nevertheless what VM or what setup you have,
I think VM is a livesaver providing easy and fast testing new OSX and XCode-Versions, w/o destroying your working environment.
In mobile its no longer that you can keep your environment more or less static over the years,
but you have to adapt to all the changes from Apple, Android, Windows, Linux, etc., which appear to come nearly every 1-3 month in the average.
The more OS, the more headaches ...

 

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by Rollo62

[sjordi 39]

13 hours ago, Erix A. said:

PC or Mac keyboard/mouse? 

PC Keyboard from Logitech K750 + Logitech MX Anywhere 2

16Gb of RAM

512GB SSD hard disk

It's a Macbook Pro from late 2013 and Windows 10 in the VM is faster than Windows 10 on my new HP Z4 tower with 32Gb RAM and 512Gb SSD... try to understand

[Rollo62 536]

 

36 minutes ago, sjordi said:

PC Keyboard from Logitech K750 + Logitech MX Anywhere 2 

16Gb of RAM

512GB SSD hard disk

It's a Macbook Pro from late 2013 and Windows 10 in the VM is faster than Windows 10 on my new HP Z4 tower with 32Gb RAM and 512Gb SSD... try to understand

Yes, I have 1:1 same configuration, which is really a pleasure to work with.

Only the 2013 MB got a little aged now, so I decided to update to a 2018 MB too, which compared to the old version runs about 50% or more faster even.

Still I have the old MB in heavy use, and I hope it will last another 10 years.

 

Regarding the kb/mouse, are these supporting the multi-device feature (one kb/mouse can be switched to up to 3 different machines and OS) ?

I think the combination K780 and this mouse would support that, but I haven't tried the mouse yet.

The idea is to use ONE kb/mouse and switch between Win, Macos and a Server by just pressing a button on the keyboard.

Is your keyboard/mouse also supporting such easy switch between the running machinges on the fly ?

I'm currently loking for the most easy solution, but haven't decided yet.

 

 

Edited May 22, 2019 by Rollo62