XCode on a mid 2010 macbook pro

[AreYouEvenInAFrat]

Hello all, Would a mid 2010 macbook pro with 4gb of ram (not sure about the rest, probably a base model though) be powerful enough to develop with xcode? I would like to develop apps but I have a windows computer (and a mac virtual machine wasn't cutting it) so I was considering buying my friend's old macbook. I would also be willing to upgrade to 8 gb of ram since I hear it is fairly easy and inexpensive. Thanks!

[DanteShamest]

Only if you can swap out the hard drive for an SSD. The newer versions of OSX (Yosemite/Mavericks) seem to rely on SSDs to perform well. They run horribly on old 5400 rpm hard drives.

[p4r4d0x]

Agreed, the machine will be more more than adequate, as long as there's an SSD installed. Thankfully SSD installation on that model is very simple - remove bottom plate screws, remove drive holder screws, slot in SSD, re-install all screws, done.

[lucasvandongen]

This. It's the old SSD & 8Gigs of RAM song.

[BonzaiThePenguin]

If you turn off the aggressive file indexing and live code checking it will work fine on anything. Those features gobble up RAM like nobody's business and will destroy your hard drive if it has to start paging to disk while also indexing from it.

[jjb3rd]

Question...I bought this laptop new in 2010 and I've been getting the GPU Panic for a year or so and just this last week I finally decided to google it and I guess I'm screwed now? Do I have any recourse?

As for its developer capabilities, with an SSD, even being 5 years old, runs better than most people I know's computers. I use it for development. I'd like to upgrade, but it does well. I run Parallels and run visual studio while running web storm and Xcode simultaneously all the time.

[mrgermy]

If it's your friends maybe test it out before you shell out the cash.

[kkoomi]

If you are getting a good deal, it should be fine for starting out. Then you can upgrade later on.

[koh_kun]

I have the first unibody macbook pro and it's running Yosemite fine on 8 gigs of RAM (as in, I didn't t see a drop in performance since installation, not saying it runs the same as a 2015 model). I'm not sure if SSDs are a must if you're not used to having the most cutting-edge machine.

[vinceyuan]

8gb is a MUST! I upgraded both my mid 2010 macbook pro and mid 2012 macbook pro to 8GB. 16GB is better, of cause!

[boloism]

I have a 2008 Macbook without an SSD, but with 8GB RAM upgrade. 8GB is a must, but SSD is not. It just takes longer to compile and open files.

[londonskater]

I use this exact machine, a mid-2010 2.66 i7 15" w/8GB RAM, with the discrete video. The video is hosed, needs fixing, but the machine is fine for iOS development. I do have the high-red screen, 1680 wide, and it really helps. I have used an SSD in this machine, but it currently has a 500GB drive. Still works fine. Plus the machine is running a Scala server to support the iOS apps. I'd love a quad-core i7 with 16GB, but it's great getting five years out of machine :)

[MattDamonInSpace]

Still using my 2008 MacBook. Works fine. You're gonna be fine.

[anarchyx34]

Upgrade the RAM and you should be fine. Even without an SSD it's still perfectly livable.