Apple Seeking to Stimulate Mac Development With $99 Mac Dev Program

[GeeYouEye]

My first reaction was that this was a precursor to a Mac app store*. I'm not as worried about that now though, having read the thread.

Why? It's all about the hardware discounts. A Select membership is $500. I would imagine the average discount taken is ~$500. Every year you know you're not going to use a discount, you're not going to buy the Select membership. Between that and the cost of the free DTS incident, this is an attempt to keep the income stream both cash-flow positive and more consistent. Smaller developers are more likely to keep paying $100/year than $500 every 3 or 4 years, especially if you get any videos with it, along with forums which Apple engineers peruse. A net positive thing, overall. It's not like the online membership (Free) is going away, is it?

*and let's not kid ourselves - this would be a terrible thing for users and developers alike, and probably for Apple too. A closed software ecosystem might satisfy a certain someone's desire for control, but it would effectively kill the Mac as a desktop OS, and I suspect said someone's employer's shareholders would never allow it.

 

[MattInOz]

My first reaction was that this was a precursor to a Mac app store*. I'm not as worried about that now though, having read the thread.

*and let's not kid ourselves - this would be a terrible thing for users and developers alike, and probably for Apple too. A closed software ecosystem might satisfy a certain someone's desire for control, but it would effectively kill the Mac as a desktop OS, and I suspect said someone's employer's shareholders would never allow it.

Everyone seems to be thinking of a possible Mac App Store along the same line as the iPhone App Store.

To me it's closer to the Music Store in that as it opens the consumer already has many many ways to acquire the products in otherwise, similar to music copy protection is of limited success most causing more issues for honest consumers than stopping dishonest users. Also the store even thou controlled by Apple doesn't really have an interest in stopping the other channels but does have an interesting in helping the user organise materials they have received by various channels.

The music store worked by being convenient. It hasn't replaced an of the other channels, although it has put more pressure on the ones that wheren't doing well already. Also like any number of similar internet enabled ventures it has opened the market to allow creative people better access to consumers and to work in smaller more active groups.

Yes the iPhone App store is restrictive but that seems to stem from the device being restricted. That doesn't mean a Mac App Store would be as well. If modelled on the music store it could be good for all concerned.

 

[iBug2]

Can people please stop dwelling on this mac store thingy?

This program has existed forever, it was only more expensive, and included hardware discounts.

What they did is to remove hardware discounts and make it cheaper.

That's ALL.

 

[aegisdesign]

Can people please stop dwelling on this mac store thingy?

This program has existed forever, it was only more expensive, and included hardware discounts.

What they did is to remove hardware discounts and make it cheaper.

That's ALL.

As has been pointed out, it's the wording of the press release that's the issue. Apple are saying that the new Mac developer program is modelled on the iPhone developer program. The $99 pricetag is only one part of the iPhone developer program - it also includes code signing and a closed marketplace.

The pricetag is the least of the defining factors that someone would use to describe the iPhone developer program model.

At present, it's pretty obvious that the Mac development program only shares the dev tools and nothing else. You could imagine why developers and users might be worried though if it shared more of the iPhone model.

 

[degsyuk]

As has been pointed out, it's the wording of the press release that's the issue. Apple are saying that the new Mac developer program is modelled on the iPhone developer program. The $99 pricetag is only one part of the iPhone developer program - it also includes code signing and a closed marketplace.

The pricetag is the least of the defining factors that someone would use to describe the iPhone developer program model.

At present, it's pretty obvious that the Mac development program only shares the dev tools and nothing else. You could imagine why developers and users might be worried though if it shared more of the iPhone model.

Well put.

 

[iBug2]

As has been pointed out, it's the wording of the press release that's the issue. Apple are saying that the new Mac developer program is modelled on the iPhone developer program. The $99 pricetag is only one part of the iPhone developer program - it also includes code signing and a closed marketplace.

The pricetag is the least of the defining factors that someone would use to describe the iPhone developer program model.

At present, it's pretty obvious that the Mac development program only shares the dev tools and nothing else. You could imagine why developers and users might be worried though if it shared more of the iPhone model.

Sigh.

iPhone developer program is cheap, so there are many developers, so they said let's make Mac developer program cheap as well. It's the most important factor, which they are modeling after.

There's absolutely no way for a closed marketplace and code signing for OS X.

 

[c.hilding]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I'm a developer and have been waiting for the Mac Pro 2010 release, and was going to buy an ADC Select membership to cut down the hardware purchase by 18-20% (in addition to the tax cut as a company).

But as the following pages say:
http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/
http://developer.apple.com/programs/adcbenefits/
http://developer.apple.com/programs/adcbenefits/hardware/

"ADC Premier or Select Membership lets you purchase, at a discount, a limited number of Apple systems to use for development and testing".

"We recently introduced a new Mac Developer Program that replaces ADC Premier, Select, and Student Memberships. If you are a current ADC member, you can continue to access your resources and benefits through the end of your membership year."

SERIOUSLY disappointed. Why do they piss off developers like this? Why not keep the more pricy Select/Premier options for those that also want a hardware discount to be able to keep up with new Mac models as a developer?

Not to mention how annoying it is to see them offer overpriced hardware with extremely rare updates, and a massive focus on portable devices in the past few years. They're losing sight of their core audience just to bring in greater revenue. And what's with Apple blackmailing any music companies that take part in Amazon's "Daily Deal" program (where Amazon gets a 1 day exclusive on new songs), where Apple responded with blackmail and withdrawing the iTunes store marketing for those music labels... sounds like an antitrust suit is in order, since Apple is using their monopoly to dictate what the music labels can and can't do with their *own music*. The little guy (Apple) is starting to look a lot like the "evil empire" (IBM/Microsoft).

I used to like Apple... when they made computers.

Only one thing I'm thinking right now: Fck and their greed.

 

[aegisdesign]

Sigh.

iPhone developer program is cheap, so there are many developers, so they said let's make Mac developer program cheap as well. It's the most important factor, which they are modeling after.

There's absolutely no way for a closed marketplace and code signing for OS X.

The Mac Developer program was, and still is, FREE in BOTH usages of the word FREE, unlike the iPhone development program which is neither.

Price was not a deciding factor over being a Mac developer since it cost ZERO dollars, pounds, euros, zlotys or south sea conch shells.

The only thing they've reduced in price is access to Tech support and beta seeds if you needed them, at the expense of hardware discounts.

Price is not the relevant part of what makes the iPhone Development model what it is.

 

[iBug2]

The Mac Developer program was, and still is, FREE in BOTH usages of the word FREE, unlike the iPhone development program which is neither.

Price was not a deciding factor over being a Mac developer since it cost ZERO dollars, pounds, euros, zlotys or south sea conch shells.

The only thing they've reduced in price is access to Tech support and beta seeds if you needed them, at the expense of hardware discounts.

Price is not the relevant part of what makes the iPhone Development model what it is.

Mac Developer Program was never free. Developing for mac is free.

If you are a serious developer, you need to have access to pre release seeds. You need tech support from apple. And they always did cost.

Price is very relevant to what makes iPhone developer program what it is.

If it costed 500$ to become a iPhone developer you'd surely wouldn't see that many apps in app store.

 

[kudzutiger]

xSAN 2.2.1

For anyone who got this new membership, I was wondering if there was any pre-releases of xSAN? I'm thinking of getting an xSAN 2 administration certification, but don't want to waste the time & effort if Apple's going to release xSAN 3 in the coming months.

xSAN 2.2.1 is the latest release that I see in the downloads section.

 

[MorphingDragon]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I'm a developer and have been waiting for the Mac Pro 2010 release, and was going to buy an ADC Select membership to cut down the hardware purchase by 18-20% (in addition to the tax cut as a company).

But as the following pages say:
http://developer.apple.com/programs/mac/
http://developer.apple.com/programs/adcbenefits/
http://developer.apple.com/programs/adcbenefits/hardware/

"ADC Premier or Select Membership lets you purchase, at a discount, a limited number of Apple systems to use for development and testing".

"We recently introduced a new Mac Developer Program that replaces ADC Premier, Select, and Student Memberships. If you are a current ADC member, you can continue to access your resources and benefits through the end of your membership year."

SERIOUSLY disappointed. Why do they piss off developers like this? Why not keep the more pricy Select/Premier options for those that also want a hardware discount to be able to keep up with new Mac models as a developer?

Not to mention how annoying it is to see them offer overpriced hardware with extremely rare updates, and a massive focus on portable devices in the past few years. They're losing sight of their core audience just to bring in greater revenue. And what's with Apple blackmailing any music companies that take part in Amazon's "Daily Deal" program (where Amazon gets a 1 day exclusive on new songs), where Apple responded with blackmail and withdrawing the iTunes store marketing for those music labels... sounds like an antitrust suit is in order, since Apple is using their monopoly to dictate what the music labels can and can't do with their *own music*. The little guy (Apple) is starting to look a lot like the "evil empire" (IBM/Microsoft).

I used to like Apple... when they made computers.

Only one thing I'm thinking right now: Fck and their greed.

The price that you save for not spending all that money on the premier and select is probably more than some measly discount.

A discount is one off but that price is yearly. IMO, that price is a blessing to small guys like me.

 

[thermodynamic]

After a brief outdate on Thursday, Apple's developer site returned with a dramatically restructured developer program for the Mac that is modeled after the $99/year iPhone developer programreviously, Apple offered multiple tiers (Select, Premier) at significantly higher prices ($499, $3499) but also included hardware discounts and other perks to membership. It appears Apple may be looking to tempt the large number of iPhone developers to easily jump to Mac development. Existing ADC members accounts will continue as is until they expire, at which time members can then join the new $99/year program. Prospective Mac developers can still download the Xcode tools for free, but without access to the pre-release software and technical support.

Article Link: Apple Seeking to Stimulate Mac Development With $99 Mac Dev Program

TechNet was bad alone, but their MSDN is bloody murder in cost.

I might splurge for Apple's developer program, if their app store isn't so restrictive. Unless the app store isn't the same thing by default as the development program...

 

[MorphingDragon]

I might splurge for Apple's developer program,

lovely

 

[c.hilding]

The price that you save for not spending all that money on the premier and select is probably more than some measly discount.

A discount is one off but that price is yearly. IMO, that price is a blessing to small guys like me.

Absolutely, the year-by-year renewal for access to Apple technicians and OS X developer versions is significantly lower. However, I always downloaded the test-OSes from torrents and didn't need Apple support. For me, the ADC memberships were always about paying $499 to save $1000+ on each upgrade (always went for top upgraded pro desktops), to keep up with the new technology. That's why this is seriously upsetting. I can understand wanting to offer the base package to developers cheaper, but getting rid of the hardware discounts was low.

The hardware discounts were something I think developers were fully entitled to, as thanks for sticking with the Mac platform.

It's possible that the problem was all the hordes of non-developers "stealing" the discount by lying to Apple, getting an ADC membership, and buying computers which were never going to see a line of code.

Either way: Sigh...

 

[iBug2]

The price that you save for not spending all that money on the premier and select is probably more than some measly discount.

A discount is one off but that price is yearly. IMO, that price is a blessing to small guys like me.

Exactly. I paid 499$ for select last year, saved 850$ on my MBP purchase.

If I bought a Mac Pro for 5000$, the discount I'd get would be more than 1000$.

So the discounts were REALLY GOOD.

 

[thermodynamic]

lovely

Well that's helpful.

 

[MorphingDragon]

Exactly. I paid 499$ for select last year, saved 850$ on my MBP purchase.

If I bought a Mac Pro for 5000$, the discount I'd get would be more than 1000$.

So the discounts were REALLY GOOD.

You really only saved $350.

 

[aegisdesign]

Mac Developer Program was never free. Developing for mac is free.

Yes it was and yes it still is.

To get access to the latest developer tools and docs beyond the release that came with your Mac or copy of OSX you needed to sign up to ADC - which was free at the basic level.

If you are a serious developer, you need to have access to pre release seeds. You need tech support from apple. And they always did cost.

That really depends on your application and is entirely up to you, not Apple.

Price is very relevant to what makes iPhone developer program what it is.

If it costed 500$ to become a iPhone developer you'd surely wouldn't see that many apps in app store.

I kind of see it more as a disadvantage - $500 entry fee to the Apple store might weed out a lot of dross even. On the other hand the $99 entry fee is keeping out a lot of developers whose model is open source or who want to make an app that does not fit with Apple's store policy. If you don't fit, it doesn't really matter how much it costs to be a developer.

On other platforms you may not fit the manufacturer's store policy but you're free to release it how you wish.

My point was more about the model the Mac and iPhone Developer programs follow.

On the Mac it's free software, free docs, free tools, free to release how you want, charge what you want and no pressure to make it back at all. You're entirely the master of your own ship.

On the iPhone you're at the whims of Apple for releasing anything at all, the only distribution terms are Apple's store terms and they can whip your software out from under you + charge you $99 for the pleasure, but that's a minor issue.

I prefer the Mac model. If it ever starts being modelled after the iPhone Developer program I'll stop developing software on the Mac, stop using Macs and switch to Linux and Windows. That would sadden me immensely as there's some very nice indy software on the Mac that I'd be loath to replace.