iOS Question Minimun iPhone phone to develop

[WhiteWizard]

I'm new with B4i, I didn't know that to program I needed an iphone, I thought I didn't need it with the hosted builder, but now I found that I need to purchase one. Witch one can I get from a second market wich is cheap but enables me to test my Apps and develop for the biggest ones?, I mean that I need that final App runs on iPhone X and XI.
What model would you recomend?, and with what IOS version?
I can found iPhone 4, 5C, 5S, 5, those are cheaps, the weird part is that I see iPhones 5 with Os V8 or 9, for example.

Help would be much apreciated.
Alejandro

 

[andymc]

Ideally you'd have the second to latest iPhone as this would be the most popular with users, then one a few years old.
Just out of interest, how were you planning on testing your apps without a phone to run it on?
The hosted builder is so you don't need a mac computer. You always need an iOS device to run your apps, or an android phone if you're using b4a

 

[Peter Simpson]

I'm new with B4i, I didn't know that to program I needed an iphone, I thought I didn't need it with the hosted builder, but now I found that I need to purchase one. Witch one can I get from a second market wich is cheap but enables me to test my Apps and develop for the biggest ones?

If I were you I would go for an iPhone 6 or 7 minimum.

Hmm, you've posted this question in the Android forum...

 

[aeric]

I will suggest iPhone 6s or newer since older device is not supported to upgrade to new iOS. I personally use a second-hand iPhone 7 Plus for bigger screen and heard from the seller that 6 plus is easy to bend in pocket and the screen will malfunction.

 

[Erel]

I recommend using a device that runs iOS 12+: https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/
No real reason to deal with older versions.

 

[Sandman]

Considering that Apple are very good at making their users install updated versions of iOS, it might not be necessary to consider older OS versions. However, it might be important to get one iPhone with a very small sceen and one with a large screen, layout issues tend to show up when comparing them.

 

[aeric]

You may also want to check the list of devices that support the current cersion of iOS 13 so you can still able to develop the app for at least 2 to 3 years to come.

iOS 13 ended support for all iPhones using the Apple A8 SoC or earlier and having less than 2 GB of RAM. This also marks the first time support for 32-bit devices was dropped completely (e.g. iOS 13 is compatible on devices with a 64-bit architecture only). Devices not upgradeable to iOS 13 include the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 / 6 Plus, and the sixth-generation iPod Touch.

To further differentiate features between iPhones and iPads, Apple has rebranded the tablet-oriented platform with its own operating system, iPadOS. The iPad Mini 4 and iPad Air 2, which use the Apple A8 and Apple A8X chips respectively, support iPadOS 13 because they each have 2 GB of RAM.

iPhone iPhone 6S iPhone 6S Plus iPhone SE iPhone 7 iPhone 7 Plus iPhone 8 iPhone 8 Plus iPhone X iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPhone XR iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_13#Supported_devices

 

[WhiteWizard]

You may also want to check the list of devices that support the current cersion of iOS 13 so you can still able to develop the app for at least 2 to 3 years to come.

iOS 13 ended support for all iPhones using the Apple A8 SoC or earlier and having less than 2 GB of RAM. This also marks the first time support for 32-bit devices was dropped completely (e.g. iOS 13 is compatible on devices with a 64-bit architecture only). Devices not upgradeable to iOS 13 include the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6 / 6 Plus, and the sixth-generation iPod Touch.

To further differentiate features between iPhones and iPads, Apple has rebranded the tablet-oriented platform with its own operating system, iPadOS. The iPad Mini 4 and iPad Air 2, which use the Apple A8 and Apple A8X chips respectively, support iPadOS 13 because they each have 2 GB of RAM.

iPhone iPhone 6S iPhone 6S Plus iPhone SE iPhone 7 iPhone 7 Plus iPhone 8 iPhone 8 Plus iPhone X iPhone XS iPhone XS Max iPhone XR iPhone 11 iPhone 11 Pro iPhone 11 Pro Max

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOS_13#Supported_devices

Thanks for you reply, however in a hurry I bought an Iphone 6, for I'll be stuck at IOS 12, can I develop an app than will run over IOS 13 using that phone as a test and debug, or I do need a better one?

 

[aeric]

Thanks for you reply, however in a hurry I bought an Iphone 6, for I'll be stuck at IOS 12, can I develop an app than will run over IOS 13 using that phone as a test and debug, or I do need a better one?

If the app can run on iOS 12, it should run on iOS 13.

 

[sorex]

I guess it all depends what you're trying to create.

If you don't rely on newer features I don't think it matters much. I'm still using an iPhone 5 with IOS 9 or whatever it is.

 

[mrjaw]

I have a 5s until now so far so good

 

[WhiteWizard]

Thanks for all your anwers, fortunately the one I bought is a 6s not the 6.

 

[aeric]

Thanks for all your anwers, fortunately the one I bought is a 6s not the 6.

Great, 6s is higher performance than 6.

 

[Martin Larsen]

I am in the same situation. I have one additional question: What is the minimum RAM to consider when buying a used iPhone for development?

 

[ilan]

it is very important to get an iphone to develop app for ios although i would recommend you to get a mac first and have the ability to test your apps on a simulator where you can choose between old iphone and new iphones including ipads. you can test different OS versions too. note that the simulator will not in all cases replace a real device but it will be much simpler to develop apps specially if you plan to make them also for ipads and would like to know how they look like on ipads and how they run.

there is also another "cheap" option. i remember to read somewhere that b4i will also work with Hackintosh or installing mac os on a virtual machine. i have not tested it since i went for a real mac but for the start it could be a good and cheap option.

good luck

 

[ilan]

I recommend using a device that runs iOS 12+: https://developer.apple.com/support/app-store/
No real reason to deal with older versions.

have you thought about it that maybe they put those numbers in purpose to encourage us developer to target new OS versions and like that people will buy new iphones and also always keep their iphones updated to be able to use the latest apps?! (just thinking....)

 

[Erel]

What is the minimum RAM to consider when buying a used iPhone for development?

Any iPhone running iOS 8+ will work. As I wrote, use iOS 12+.

have you thought about it that maybe they put those numbers in purpose to encourage us developer to target new OS versions and like that people will buy new iphones and also always keep their iphones updated to be able to use the latest apps?! (just thinking....)

No.
Apple updates devices for at least 3 years, so even quite old phones run the latest OS.

 

[ilan]

old phones run the latest OS

i have few old iphones and ipad. 2x iphone 4 1x iphone 5s 1x ipad2 and evenafter all updates they run so slow that they are almost unusable. Anyway my last post was just a joke ? dont take me too seriously .

 

[Martin Larsen]

specially if you plan to make them also for ipads and would like to know how they look like on ipads and how they run.
....
there is also another "cheap" option. i remember to read somewhere that b4i will also work with Hackintosh or installing mac os on a virtual machine.

I already have an iPad and for now I use it as very big iPhone My app is not targeted iPad but it still works fine so far. But of course I need to test it on an iPhone too.

I actually have a virtual Mac in VirtualMachine but it is quite old and I will install a newer version. However, just like for Android, I want to test my apps on physical devices as well.

Any iPhone running iOS 8+ will work. As I wrote, use iOS 12+.

Thanks. I am probably going for a 6 or 6S.

 

[Jmu5667]

I bought an iPhone 7, it's perfect for development and does not cost too much for a used one.