- The Developer Transition Kit will include a Mac Mini powered by the A12Z processor, a 64-bit ARM-based system-on-a-chip designed by Apple and found in the current iPad Pro.
- Offered as a part of a Mac Developer Transition Kit (DTK) and aimed to get devs up to speed with the ins and outs of Apple's big transition to its own silicon, the Mac mini has an A12Z Bionic chip.
Among the myriad software announcements at Apple's first-ever virtual WWDC, you may have missed the only piece of hardware Apple announced — a beefed up Mac mini aimed for developers.
Create even more powerful Mac versions of your iPad apps. Apps built with Mac Catalyst now take on the new look of macOS Big Sur and help you better define the look and behavior of your apps. You can choose to turn off automatic scaling of iPad controls and layout, allowing you to precisely place every pixel on the screen. On the rear of the Mac mini are four Thunderbolt 3 ports, whereas the Developer Transition Kit uses two 10 gigabit per second USB 3.2 type C ports, echoing its iPad Pro origins.
Offered as a part of a Mac Developer Transition Kit (DTK) and aimed to get devs up to speed with the ins and outs of Apple's big transition to its own silicon, the Mac mini has an A12Z Bionic chip, 16GB of memory, a 512GB SSD, and 'a variety of Mac I/O ports.'
The program also provides access to beta versions of macOS Big Sur and Xcode 12, as well as access to documentation and forums support.
Given the price of admittance to the program is $500, this sounds like a great deal, especially considering a regular Mac mini starts at half the RAM and half the storage for $799. Sure, you can beef up the regular mini with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, but then the price jumps up to $1,119, which is more than double the price of the DTK mini.
Of course, it's not quite the same, as the A12Z Bionic chip inside the DTK mini probably isn't as powerful as the Intel chip offered in the regular mini. There will almost certainly be many bugs and incompatibilities, too, as the program is aimed for developers who will be testing their apps on this thing.
Still, it sounds so good that even a very casual developer or a commoner like me might think about getting one. But there are many, many catches. First, Apple needs to approve your application, which likely won't happen if you don't have some serious developer experience. Priority is given to applicants with an existing macOS application, Apple says, and availability is limited. Not all countries are permitted; see the list here. And finally, the biggest catch of all: Developers are expected to return the DTK Mac mini at the end of the program. So no, you're not really getting a Mac mini at half the price, at least not to keep.
A potential silver lining for developers who participate: The Next Web reports that last time Apple did a transition of this scale – from PowerPC to Intel chips – it gave Intel-based Macs to developers when they returned the testing kit. There are no guarantees, though.
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If you're an eligible developer and are thinking of participating, you can apply for the program here. Full terms and conditions are available here.
macOS Big Sur takes the most advanced operating system in the world to a whole new level of power and beauty, making your apps look better than ever on an all-new interface. New widget features and the new widget gallery help you deliver more value to your users. Adding intelligence to your apps with machine learning is even simpler and more extensive with new tools, models, training capabilities, and APIs. You can create more powerful Mac versions of your iPad apps with Mac Catalyst. And you can now easily bring your extensions to Safari — and to the App Store.
All-new Interface
macOS Big Sur brings a new design that’s been finely tuned for the powerful features that make a Mac a Mac. Core features, such as the menu bar and Dock, take advantage of the large Mac display, with translucent backings and spacious pull-down menus. The new Control Center, designed just for Mac, provides quick access to controls while keeping the menu bar clutter-free. Notification Center puts recent notifications and powerful new widgets together in a single view for at-a-glance information as you work. And a streamlined new design for apps features full-height sidebars and integrated toolbar buttons.
Widgets
Easily build widgets using the WidgetKit framework and the new widget API for SwiftUI. Widgets now come in multiple sizes, and users can visit the new widget gallery to search, preview sizes, and add them to Notification Center to access important details at a glance.
Safari Extensions
With support for the popular WebExtension API, it’s even easier to bring powerful extensions to Safari. Xcode 12 even includes a porting tool to streamline the process.
The new Extensions category on the Mac App Store showcases Safari extensions, with editorial spotlights and top charts to help users discover and download great extensions from the developer community.
Machine Learning
With macOS Big Sur, creating apps that leverage the power of machine learning is even easier and more extensive with additional tools in Core ML for model deployment, new models and training capabilities in Create ML, more APIs for vision and natural language, and improved resources for training on Mac and converting models to Core ML format.
Mac Catalyst
Create even more powerful Mac versions of your iPad apps. Apps built with Mac Catalyst now take on the new look of macOS Big Sur and help you better define the look and behavior of your apps. You can choose to turn off automatic scaling of iPad controls and layout, allowing you to precisely place every pixel on the screen. Provide full control of your app using just the keyboard, take advantage of the updated Photos picker, access more iOS frameworks, and more.
User privacy on the App Store.
Mac Mini For Development
Later this year, the Mac App Store will help users understand apps’ privacy practices. You’ll need to enter your privacy practice details into App Store Connect for display on your product page.
Universal App Quick Start Program
Get your apps ready for Apple Silicon Macs. Create next-generation Universal apps that take full advantage of the capabilities the new architecture has to offer. Get all the tools, resources, support, and even access to prototype hardware you’ll need. You can also watch a collection of videos from WWDC20 to help you get started.
Tools and resources
Mac Mini Amazon
Use Xcode 12 beta and these resources to build apps for macOS Big Sur.