Research on a New Computer

A friend has asked me to work with him on a new project. This will be outside my normal work and is something completely different from what I do at my regular job. Therefore I don't want to use my work computer for the project as that is not fair to my current employer. This new project needs to run on an iPhone and so I need to invest in a Mac as that is the best place to develop iOS applications. Yes, I know you can develop on Windows, but I have another personal project where I would like to use a Mac and so buying one solves two problems for me.

My natural tendency is to go out and get the best computer on the market. Fortunately I realize that I really don't need that much processing power. Remember that this is a side project and isn't my full-time job. If it was, then I would have no problem spending the extra money.

Today I went through Apple's website and compared the iMac and Mac mini. My second project requires a 4K monitor and so I don't want a laptop. While I could add a 2nd monitor, that just adds to the cost of the machine and I am trying to spend as little money as possible. So I ran through the website and configured 2 comparable machines in each style of computer. I erroneously assumed that the Mac mini would come in at a less expensive price. That is true, but once I add a 4K monitor, even with a highly discounted one, it is about $200 than the iMac. Furthermore, the iMac has a slightly faster processor and I can get it with twice as much memory than the max configuration for Mac mini. For the record, both computers come in at under $2,000 with 16MB of memory, 1TB disk drives, and Intel i7 processors running at or above 3GHz.

I have to say that I am surprised as I expected the Mac mini to be the less expensive choice. There are a number of other things on the project to research before I purchase the computer and so pricing may change in the near future. Apple has a tendency to announce more hardware choices towards the summer and that may influence prices a bit. If that happens, then I will adjust accordingly.