Mac developers are currently in the midst of a major hardware architecture transition. But for some app makers, this is the third time that they have done this.
After years of rumors, Apple announced the transition to first-party Apple Silicon chips in 2020. Then the first Macs with a proprietary M1 processor launched in November — and apps started taking advantage of the new speed.
Although the transition is expected to take two years in total, Apple offered a system and devices to make the process easier on both consumers and developers. Existing apps that work with macOS Big Sur can — at least in theory — simply run as normal on M1.
But developers can also rebuild their software to make them native M1 apps. Even before anyone could buy an Apple Silicon Mac to try out, Apple issued a Developer Transition Kit and made app recompiling straightforward in the latest release of Xcode.
For many macOS app developers, this may be the first change in processor technology that they’ve experienced. Other developers have been down this road in the past, though.
And for a select number of developers, this road has actually been travelled three times before.
Read more at AppleInsider.com