> Have you ever tried to compile Xcode samples on a MacMini?
Yes, I have been doing it on a four year old, Core Duo one for the whole three years since the iOS SDK became available and have had zero compilation performance issues. Keep in mind that the vast majority of iOS applications are laughably small compared to desktop apps.
I'm not disputing that a Mini is still too costly for many, but I think it is unfair to exclude it as development machine.
Mac OS 10.7 (Lion) is virtualizable. I'm sure someone will build a rack and offer cloud-based Lion accounts for developers that can be remoted into 24/7 so long as you have internet access.
I'm a fulltime iOS developer. Standing there waiting for it to compile was a considerable length affair (multiple minutes)
2-screen iPhone apps with no media might compile quick enough, but development of the type of apps which make money that would be a huge productivity suck.
Yes, I have been doing it on a four year old, Core Duo one for the whole three years since the iOS SDK became available and have had zero compilation performance issues. Keep in mind that the vast majority of iOS applications are laughably small compared to desktop apps.
I'm not disputing that a Mini is still too costly for many, but I think it is unfair to exclude it as development machine.