Question

What are the options for developing iPhone apps?
Currently I’ve tried to install gnu kit for Linux without success! Too many steps, and at the and I was unable to compile a single app.
The Apple SDK seems to be much more easy, but I don’t have a Mac.
So am I missing something?

Answer 1

You need a Mac, no question. You also need an iPhone or iPod Touch to develop on as although the simulator is pretty good, it is not perfect – I have example code that works fine in the simulator but fails on the hardware. The hardware also has to be modified to add development keys to it so there is a certain risk to using a real iPhone – many people testify that it’s safe enough but myself I chickened and purchase an iPod Touch for development. Keys also have to be installed on your Mac and integrated into Xcode – and that’s tricky enough to get right even with the standard Apple setup. Xcode is free and really quite a decent IDE.

Your minimum requirements are therefore

An Intel Mac running the latest Mac OS. Cheapest option there is a Mac Mini – $599 although you could probably pick up one on Ebay that would work just fine for $400 or less.

An iPod Touch (or an iPhone if you need the camera/phone features for your app) – $229

A developer licence from apple so you can get they necessary keys – $99

To emphasize, you absolutely have to test the code on real hardware and the amount of pain you will go though trying to use anything else but a Mac and Xcode will easily eat the cost of buying a Mac.