Minimal requirements ( of a MacBook) for developing with Qt
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For a processor i5 or i7 (best) would be ideal. I seen a high-end MB Pro with solid state drives and an i7 processor and I was very impressed. Super fast. Stay away from the mobile processors.
Ram is something else. 4GB might work but 8GB would be better (more is always better). Anything less than 4GB might be a problem.
OS X 10.8 is not a concern but do check if you have the option to upgrade to El Capitan. If the option is not available then consider looking for another computer (certain models cannot be updated due to hardware performance issues). I have an old MBP that cannot be updated past Snow Leopard (10.6) for example.
Most of the newer computers have the ram permanently installed on the motherboard. Don't assume you can add more unless you know for sure. The MB Pro I have now has memory modules, my wife's MB Pro does not.
I have found the MB Pro laptops work well enough but they really warm up when you are compiling something heavy for extended periods of time. All of my MB Pro's that I have had over the years I have disassembled, cleaned, and re-installed the heat sinks on these computers (my process for doing this improved over time). Use good thermal paste (use only what is actually needed to lightly coat the surface) and polish the heat sinks until you can see your reflection in it. Pre-fit the heat sink and look for anything that will prevent it from resting directly on the processor and GPU (I had a 15" MBP with a capacitor that kept the heat sink from making good contact with the GPU. It died eventually from GPU problems and a postmortem showed this was the reason). I would recommend installing the SMC Fan Control utility so you can monitor temperatures (and force a minimum fan speed if necessary when you are really pushing it). If the computer is fairly new I would hope this is not necessary ...
I also have a 27" iMac that works awesome. For any heavy work I prefer to use this computer as it hardly even breaks a sweat when working. Also you have a good sized screen allowing several windows to be opened side by side which is always handy. Just a thought...
