Mac Instructions

Buying a Mac 

I don't expect anyone to buy a Mac for the purposes of this class, but you may be thinking about it. If so, my current suggestion is to get the MacBook Air 2020. It just came out. Here is a review: MacBook Air 2020 Review

The Pros

• Scissor keyboard, more reliable
• Comes with at least 256GB of SSD
• More powerful processor than the MacBook Pro 2019 
• Base price $999

The Cons

• Ships with Mac OS Catalina (see below)
• Comes with USB-C ports, incompatible with USB-A/USB-3 drives without an adapter. (Adapters are very inexpensive on Amazon.)

Be Aware

• Don't buy the 2019 model of anything. Bad keyboard. 128GB of SSD is not enough.
• 8 GB of RAM is tight. Consider upgrading to 16 GB if you can afford it.
• You may be able to get an educational discount.
• If you order from the Refurbished store, you'll get last year's model with inferior keyboard, processor, and RAM.
• If you order a computer with only 128GB of SSD, you probably won't have room for both Xcode and Adobe.

Other Options

• iMac (like we have in the classroom) is a powerful computer. The 21-inch model starts around $1100. (That is smaller than our classroom computers.)  
• Mac Mini starts at $800. You need to provide your own keyboard, mouse, and monitor. The version with i3 processor is relatively underpowered, so you'll probably want to get a more expensive model. The Mini used to be a good deal but now you can get better specs at the same price in an iMac or MacBook Air 2020.

 

Recommended Installation

• Mac OS 10.14.6 (Mojave)
• Xcode 11.2.1

I do not recommend you install Mac OS 10.15 "Catalina." It is very buggy and the latest version crashes a lot. Also, it will slow down your computer much more than earlier operating systems. This will be particularly noticeable on an older Mac. Also, Catalina may be incompatible with Adobe. You may not be able to run Adobe if you have installed Catalina.

We are using Xcode 11.2.1 in the classroom. If you attempt to install Xcode from the App Store, it will want to install the latest version, 11.4. I am unaware of any showstopper bugs in Xcode 11.4. If you are running an earlier operating system such as Mac OS 10.13 "High Sierra," you may not be able to install Xcode 11 at all. If you install Xcode 10, you should still be able to do the projects in the textbook, which is written for Xcode 9 and 10.

If you use an Xcode version other than 11.2.1, there may be small incompatibilities that prevent my running your code. If this problem comes up, I will give you instructions at that time how to fix it. Otherwise, don't worry about it.

You can download older versions of Xcode from the Apple Developer web site. You'll need to sign in with your (free) Apple developer account. We signed up for this account in class. This account is the same account you use for other Apple-related stuff, such as App Store and iTunes. Go to this link:

https://developer.apple.com/download/more/

Then search for 11.2.1 in the list, or whatever other software you are looking for.

When you run Xcode for the first time after installing it, it will ask you to install additional tools or components or command line tools. Enter the administrator password for your Mac and install those tools. Your Xcode will be crippled if you don't install them.