Since one day I’ll have to change my old MBP (2013; 256 GB, memory 8GB), I have in mind to opt for Mac Air 256 GB. How much RAM have you got? (hoping you have 8GB).
Thank you for the worst news of the day!
The default RAM for the Air is 8 GB. Except for Xojo this is enough. But then Xojo still needs to be restarted now and then. For regular Xojo work the M1 Air is adequate but not really fast.
Fair enough for my needs. Thank you.
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Just for testing, I agree. Mine is used everyday as my personal computer.
While it’s true I have the habit to store all my data on external disks (or NAS), the fact I must keep XCode, Android Studio and a few others on the main volume already fills the space too much.
For instance, I’m editing audio files using Sound Studio; when I’ve opened hundred of files, the temporary files that the app creates fill my volume and I must regularly quit and relaunch the app.
I guess you know I’ve bought an app you made 
I’ll have to use it deeper than I do currently. Fact is, I’ve not managed to sort my mails yet (so I keep everything until I’ll find time to sort the very huge amount of data, a moment that worries me at this point (so I delay even more)).
Without much pleasure! 
Yeah, I know what you mean.
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MBP13" M1 8GB/512GB here.
8GB: some days I get a message that ask me to force quit applications (from two of three) because of low Memory conditions.
Sometimes, copy a single Icon from a Get Info Window to another fails… Tip: keep both open, else it never works… and copy Icon from Preview to a Get Info window: keep the image open in Preview: else it won’t copy.
Conclusion: get a 16GB memory machine.
SSD: 512 GB is manageable, but you will fight everyday with file swapping (to an external) if you use the computer for more than Xojo use (or if you have to deal with a large UI: many images in your software).
Thanks. It will be just for Xojo and Xcode I’m assuming.
then definitely 16Gb ram… even 32 and M2 Pro
Something that I did not see mentioned here is that Apple has a store for refurbished equipment. I have purchased my last four machines this way and it means that you can get older tech, sometimes at a deep discount.
Oh, and if you’ll be developing for iOS, you’re going to want to have an iPhone and an iPad. There are a number of things you just can’t test on a simulator. Gazelle is a good place to get these used.
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Gazelle is also a good place to sell your old gear. If they take it, you’ll usually get more dollars than if you trade it in with Apple.
Note that there’s a difference between “refurbished” and “old”. With today’s hardware changes acceleration I’ve found it’s worth buying the “latest” because, soon enough, a new OS will require new hardware.
Maybe I’m more sensitive because I was one of those who waited and finally bought the new iPad Mini 3 - with the only change to the previous model being a fingerprint ID. The iPad Mini 4 came out soon after and as the iOS evolved, the iPad Mini 3 was left behind. Now I’m running an iPad Mini 4 and it can no longer be updated to the latest iOS.
So be cautious of buying gear that is a few years old - like the deals on 2021 models. They will work fine, for now -especially if you don’t update the apps you are using now. But - back to the iPad Mini 3 example - after a time, more and more updated apps would no longer run on the older iOS.
General rule of thumb with buying Mac mini, MacBook Air etc. what ever the smallest drive size is. Double it. Then you get two sticks of ssd so it can write twice as fast. Cheapest way to get huge speed improvement. I read that on the internet so it must be true!
I have m1 Mac mini 16gig and MacBook Air m2 24 gig and both are amazing over Intel with speed and memory management. Even compressed memory is not a huge issue anymore. I used to have to reboot computer twice a day as my 32 gig MacBook Pro was give xojo 30 gigs of memory.