Trials and tribulations of an independent iPhone developer

Like most computers, over time my first generation MacBook Air was starting to no-longer perform as well as when I got it. Partly this is a perception issue since I do most of my development on an dual quad core MacPro, but partly this was also due to a failing hard drive and the general accumulation of software and background processes. Since I was going to get a new HD I thought that I might as well get a solid state drive. These drives have no moving parts so should not be as prone to failure – but more importantly these drives are orders of magnitude faster than spinning disk HDs.

Transferring file system from internal HD to runcore SSD

I got my drive from runcore – it comes with a nice kit for copying the contents of your old drive to the new drive – but the screwdriver that they send with the kit is not use able for opening the laptop so make sure you have a good screwdriver handy.  Before installation I did a speed test using the timer on the iPod touch to test the speed of opening iTunes, Word, Excel and Xcode.  Installation was pretty easy but not something you should attempt if you are non-technical.  Before final installation I did a time machine backup to ensure all my data was safe.

Internals of the MacBook Air

After successful installation (for some reason the desktop background picture did not transfer) I did my speed tests again.  iTunes went from 20 seconds to load to less than 3 seconds.  This drive is fast as lightning!!!  As a matter of fact the MacBook Air now opens applications faster than my 8 core MacPro!  Data crunching such as building in Xcode is still faster on the MacPro – but it is now acceptable on the MacBook Air.  I am very impressed with the SSD and would definitely recommend this option to anyone getting a new MAcBook Air or as a replacement for people with older MacBook Airs – it has re-energized my old computer and now allows me to develop on the road!

I did a test where I put 5 files int my dropbox folder and opened them on both the MacPro and the MacBook Air at the same time.  The documents opened: Excel, Word, Preview, Xcode, and iTunes.  As you can see from the video the MacBook Air was only slightly slower at opening these documents and party this was because Excel needed to do some importing/data crunching before opening the document.  iTunes started almost at the same time on the two computers as did Xcode.

The files used in the speed test.