Apple Silicon is required to develop apps for visionOS

Apple released Xcode beta 15.1 on Tuesday with a warning to developers — creating apps for visionOS and Apple Vision Pro requires a Mac with Apple Silicon.

There has been some question in the developer community how long Intel machines will be supported by Apple. That cutoff could extend a few more years for some developers, but that deadline may already be here for anyone hoping to build for Apple Vision Pro.

Apple left a clear note in the Xcode 15.1 beta release notes — Developing for visionOS requires a Mac with Apple Silicon. This was pointed out by developer Steve Troughton-Smith, calling it a line in the sand.

While the visionOS simulator may work on some Intel-based Macs, Apple is telling developers that some portion of development won't be available on Intel, either now or soon. That means any developer still sporting an Intel processor will need to consider an upgrade to Apple Silicon.

It's a difficult market for some since Apple's Mac Pro with M2 Ultra isn't exactly a great move from the Intel model. Those who rely on additional graphics cards won't be able to bring their workflows to Apple Silicon.

Apple declaring Apple Silicon as a requirement for developing visionOS software might be a sign of a greater move coming soon. Some speculate that macOS Sonoma may be the last operating system to support Intel.

15 Comments

emcnair 17 comments · 8 Years

About 1 year ago

It wouldn’t surprise me at all that Sonoma is the last OS for Intel machines. Why should Apple put in the additional internal effort or restrict its development path?

byronl 376 comments · 4 Years

that’s kinda crazy. imagine buying a 50k Mac Pro in 2019 and not be able to develop on it, for a platform the same company makes, just four years later…

coolfactor 2332 comments · 20 Years

byronl said:

that’s kinda crazy. imagine buying a 50k Mac Pro in 2019 and not be able to develop on it, for a platform the same company makes, just four years later…

The Vision Pro didn't exist in 2019, at least not in the public domain, so purchasing decisions based on what was coming in 4 years are completely irrelevant.

Do you make technology purchasing decisions today based on four years from now? The best we can hope for is continued compatibility, and clearly the Vision Pro has such high technical requirements, compiling on an Intel-based system just is not feasible, in Apple's eyes.

Or would this be considered forced obsolescence? 🤣

mayfly 385 comments · 1 Year

Of course they'll drop support for Intel. The VP is revolutionary, and was no doubt mostly developed on Apple Silicon computers, built to take advantage of Apple M-Series processors' unique code. It's also a high-end product, with a price to match. Allowing developers to sell dated or ported apps on the App Store would not be of merit to the Apple Brand. The most valuable brand in the world; by about $500 billion.

emcnair said:

It wouldn’t surprise me at all that Sonoma is the last OS for Intel machines. Why should Apple put in the additional internal effort or restrict its development path?

Exactly. Goodbye bloated, non-native apps! Hello pure bliss!