Apple Developer Transition Kits with Apple Silicon sports a A12Z chip in a $500 Mac mini
As part of Apple's move from Intel to ARM for macOS and Macs, developers will be able to apply for a Developer Transition Kit, which will be the first Mac Apple produces using its self-designed silicon.
Following the monumental announcement that Apple is moving from Intel over to its own processor designs, Apple has confirmed it will be providing developers with hardware assistance. Developers are able to apply for a Developer Transition Kit, which will allow them to produce and try out apps under the new platform.
The Developer Transition Kit consists of a Mac mini enclosure containing an A12Z system-on-chip. It will be supported by 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD for storage. Ports on the unit include a pair of USB-A ports at 5Gbps, and a pair of USB-C ports at 10Gbps. Notably, Thunderbolt 3 is absent.
The kit will be preinstalled with the macOS Big Sur developer beta, along with Xcode.
Apple's shift in silicon will be on an aggressive schedule, with it planning to release its first ARM-based Mac before the end of 2020, while a complete move over to Apple Silicon will take place within two years.
Access to the developer's kit retails for $500 with "limited use" of the system. It isn't clear if this means that the system is a rental, but it seems likely as it used similar language for the Intel transition kit.
Following the monumental announcement that Apple is moving from Intel over to its own processor designs, Apple has confirmed it will be providing developers with hardware assistance. Developers are able to apply for a Developer Transition Kit, which will allow them to produce and try out apps under the new platform.
The Developer Transition Kit consists of a Mac mini enclosure containing an A12Z system-on-chip. It will be supported by 16GB of memory and a 512GB SSD for storage. Ports on the unit include a pair of USB-A ports at 5Gbps, and a pair of USB-C ports at 10Gbps. Notably, Thunderbolt 3 is absent.
The kit will be preinstalled with the macOS Big Sur developer beta, along with Xcode.
Apple's shift in silicon will be on an aggressive schedule, with it planning to release its first ARM-based Mac before the end of 2020, while a complete move over to Apple Silicon will take place within two years.
Access to the developer's kit retails for $500 with "limited use" of the system. It isn't clear if this means that the system is a rental, but it seems likely as it used similar language for the Intel transition kit.
Comments
OTOH these will be like gold dust but priced like platinum ingots in 10 to 20 years time!
I suspect the first ARM Mac will be the Mac Mini, maybe based around the next iPad SoC rather than the eventual full Mac SoC.
This is basically the same arrangement as the DTK for the PPC to Intel transition, except that one cost $1000 instead of $500. Apple may provide developers a $500 coupon or discount for official ARM Macs when they ship.
I would expect something like this for the A14 line:
A14: 2 big, 4 little, 4 GPU, no PCIe, ~3W. Phones and entry-level tablets.
A14X: 4 big, 4 little, 8 GPU, 4x PCIe, ~7W. Tablets and entry-level Macs. PCIe might not be used in the tablets, or might be used for a Thunderbolt port.
A14Y: 8 big, 4 little, 16 GPU, 8x PCIe, ~15W. Upgrade for entry-level Macs, base for mid-level Macs.
A14Z: 16 big, 8 little, 32 GPU, 16x PCIe, ~25W. Upgrade for mid-level Macs.
Apple Developer Transition Kits with Apple Silicon sports a A12Z chip in a $500 Mac mini
The purpose is to test Mac apps, which generally are used with screens twice the size of an iPad. Testing Mac apps on an iPad makes very little sense.
I think the they will call them Bionic and start by numbering them with a B. The first Macs could be identified as using a B1 processor. They might do B1X, B1Z, depending on the model (Macbook, iMac, etc.)
I don't think that they will rename the iMac or Macbooks. The iMac preceded and succeeded the PPC to Intel CPU change. There is no reason to change the Macbook names either. (PowerBook was dropped because they were no longer PowerPC).
2021 is going to be exciting.