Developer Transition Kit

Last updated

The Developer Transition Kit is the name of two prototype Mac computers made available to software developers by Apple Inc. The first Developer Transition Kit was made available in 2005 prior to the Mac transition to Intel processors to aid in the Mac's transition from PowerPC to an Intel-based x86-64 architecture. A second Developer Transition Kit was made available in 2020 prior to the Mac transition to Apple silicon as part of its initiative to transition the Mac away from Intel to Apple's ARM64-based Apple silicon.

Contents

Intel Developer Transition Kit (2005)

The first DTK is housed in a modified Power Mac G5 case. Apple Power Macintosh G5 Late 2005 02.jpg
The first DTK is housed in a modified Power Mac G5 case.
Intel Developer Transition Kit Logic Board Intel Mac developr transition kit.jpg
Intel Developer Transition Kit Logic Board

During Apple's 2005–2006 transition from PowerPC to Intel processors, the company made available the first Developer Transition Kit (DTK), a prototype Intel-based Mac computer for developers.

During Apple's 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference, then-CEO Steve Jobs emphasized the non-commercial nature of the prototype hardware: "This is a development platform only. This is not a product; this will never be shipped as a product. It’s just for you guys to get started in development. You actually have to return them by the end of 2006. We don’t want them floating around out there. These are not products." [1]

The computer identified itself as "Apple Development Platform" (ADP2,1), and consisted of a 3.6 GHz Intel Pentium 4 660 [2] processor, 1 GB DDR2 RAM, 160 GB SATA hard disk drive, and optical disk drive in a Power Mac G5 case slightly modified with an altered cooling system. Connectivity included USB 2.0, FireWire 400, and Gigabit Ethernet. Software included Xcode 2.1 and a version of Mac OS X 10.4.1 which runs on Intel's x86 architecture. [3] [1]

The Intel DTK was available to software developers on a loan basis, and Apple required developers to return the prototype computers to the company within a week of December 31, 2006. [3] [4] Apple required developers to be a Select or Premier Apple Developer Connect (ADC) member, with memberships starting at US$499 per year and additional requirement to pay US$999 to receive an Intel DTK. [5] Apple then offered developers a free Intel-based iMac in exchange for sending back the DTK. [6] The Intel DTK would be directly succeeded by the first-generation Mac Pro.

Apple Silicon Developer Transition Kit (2020)

Specifications

The second DTK uses the same Space Gray enclosure used for the 4th Generation Mac mini. Mac Mini Mockup.svg
The second DTK uses the same Space Gray enclosure used for the 4th Generation Mac mini.

At the Worldwide Developers Conference, on June 22, 2020, Apple announced another Developer Transition Kit intended to assist software developers during the transition of the Mac platform to the ARM architecture. [7] Described informally as "an iPad in a Mac mini’s body," [8] the DTK carries a model number of A2330 and identifies itself as "Apple Development Platform." [4] [9] It consisted of an A12Z processor, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, and a variety of common I/O ports (USB-C, USB-A, HDMI 2.0, and Gigabit Ethernet) in a Mac mini case. [7] [4] [10] Support for wireless communication based upon Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) and Bluetooth 5.0 was included, while Thunderbolt 3 support, built-in to every Mac commercially available as of June 2020, was not included. [11] It eventually appeared in the first three models of Apple silicon Macs, operating in Thunderbolt 3/USB4 mode. The DTK came preloaded with beta versions of macOS 11 Big Sur. The A12Z DTK would be directly succeeded by the 2020 Mac mini with the M1 chip.

Performance

In an interview shortly after the introduction of the DTK, Apple’s SVP of Software Engineering Craig Federighi praised the DTK's performance and contributed to expectations of superlative performance of forthcoming commercial products based upon Apple silicon custom-engineered for the Macintosh platform: “Even that DTK hardware, which is running on an existing iPad chip that we don’t intend to put in a Mac in the future – it’s just there for the transition – the Mac runs awfully nice on that system. It’s not a basis on which to judge future Macs ... but it gives you a sense of what our silicon team can do when they’re not even trying – and they’re going to be trying.” [12] [13]

Conditions of use

To receive a DTK, developers were required to sign up for a one year membership to Apple's Universal App Quick Start Program at a cost of US$500. [14] [7] The membership included several benefits such as code-level technical support, access to one-on-one labs with Apple engineers, and a license to use a loaned DTK. [15]

The device had to be returned to Apple one year after joining the Universal App Quick Start Program, "or as otherwise earlier requested by Apple." [16] Several conditions of use were attached, including restrictions against disassembling the computer, running unauthorized benchmark tests, or using it for work other than transition-related software development. [4] [16]

Controversy

The terms of the Universal App Quick Start Program indicated that the program would run for the duration of one year counted from the moment the developer signed up for it, with an option to terminate it early without reason. Additionally, it had a specific provision regarding one of the benefits associated with the program, namely the DTK. The DTK was to be returned within 30 days after the end of the program itself or "as otherwise earlier requested by Apple". [16] Apple had earlier communicated that the DTK was meant to prepare for the launch of Macs based on Apple silicon, thereby suggesting that the Program would be available until the new Apple silicon Macs would be available.

In February 2021 Apple emailed the developers regarding the early return of the DTK while keeping the rest of the program and its benefits active until the original expiration of one year. [17] Additionally, Apple indicated in their email that they would provide a discount code for a US$200 discount towards the purchase of a Mac with M1 after the DTK was returned. This discount code wasn't promised beforehand or part of the original agreement but was considered as a compensation in exchange of an early return. [17]

Some developers reacted with criticism to the email. Among them were developers that voiced their unhappiness about their experience with the DTK. Apple wrote in the description of the Program that the "Developer Transition Kit [was] not fully tested and [was] to be used only for limited testing and development purposes" and that the DTK "may contain errors that could cause failures or loss of data". However developers complained that the DTK was showing much more issues than a normal user would've expected, making it "unusable" in development. [17] [16] Others were under the impression that they could use the DTK for a full year, being caught in surprise by Apple's email indicating that they soon had to return the DTK.[ citation needed ] Many were also indicating that they were unhappy about the US$200 discount code offered by Apple, comparing it to when Apple unexpectedly offered developers the option to return their Intel DTK earlier than the originally planned date for an iMac during the transition from PowerPC to Intel processors. During the last transition, a developer could also choose to keep the DTK for the whole length of the program except that they would not get the iMac. [17]

On February 5, 2021, following developer backlash, Apple sent out another email that increased the discount code to US$500 and expanded the discount to be used on any other Apple devices. In addition, the code expired at the end of 2021, instead of May. [18]

Specifications

Model2005 [19] [3] 2020 [20]
Introduction dateJune 6, 2005June 22, 2020
Order numberMA022xx/AMYAL2xx/A
Model identifier(s)ADP2,1ADP3,2 (A2330)
Processor 3.6 GHz single-core Intel Pentium 4 with 1 MB L2 cache 8-core Apple A12Z Bionic SoC with 8 MB L3 cache
Memory 1 GB (two 512 MB, two slots empty)16 GB (not upgradeable)
DDR2 ECC at 533 MHzUnified LPDDR4X
Graphics 256 MB Intel GMA 900 8-core Apple-designed integrated GPU with shared memory
Storage160 GB Serial ATA 7200 rpm HDD 512 GB SSD
Connectivity Gigabit Ethernet
N/ABuilt-in Wi-Fi 5 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac), up to 1.3 Gbit/s
N/A Bluetooth 5.0
Peripherals2× FireWire 400 2× USB-C 3.1
3× USB 2.02× USB 3.0 Type A
DVI-D HDMI 2.0
Audio3.5 mm headphone jack
Built-in mono speaker
Dimensions51.1 cm (H) × 20.6 cm (W) × 47.5 cm (D)3.6 cm (H) × 19.7 cm (W) × 19.7 cm (D)
WeightN/A1.16 kg (2.54 lb)
pre-installed operating system Mac OS X 10.4.1 Tiger (preview release) macOS 11.0 Big Sur (preview release)

Related Research Articles

macOS Operating system for Apple computers

macOS, originally Mac OS X, previously shortened as OS X, is an operating system developed and marketed by Apple since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and laptop computers, it is the second most widely used desktop OS, after Microsoft Windows and ahead of all Linux distributions, including ChromeOS and SteamOS. As of 2024, the most recent release of macOS is macOS 15 Sequoia, the 21st major version of macOS.

Darwin is the core Unix-like operating system of macOS, iOS, watchOS, tvOS, iPadOS, audioOS, visionOS, and bridgeOS. It previously existed as an independent open-source operating system, first released by Apple Inc. in 2000. It is composed of code derived from NeXTSTEP, FreeBSD, other BSD operating systems, Mach, and other free software projects' code, as well as code developed by Apple.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">64-bit computing</span> Computer architecture bit width

In computer architecture, 64-bit integers, memory addresses, or other data units are those that are 64 bits wide. Also, 64-bit central processing units (CPU) and arithmetic logic units (ALU) are those that are based on processor registers, address buses, or data buses of that size. A computer that uses such a processor is a 64-bit computer.

The history of macOS, Apple's current Mac operating system formerly named Mac OS X until 2011 and then OS X until 2016, began with the company's project to replace its "classic" Mac OS. That system, up to and including its final release Mac OS 9, was a direct descendant of the operating system Apple had used in its Mac computers since their introduction in 1984. However, the current macOS is a UNIX operating system built on technology that had been developed at NeXT from the 1980s until Apple purchased the company in early 1997.

x86-64 64-bit version of x86 architecture

x86-64 is a 64-bit version of the x86 instruction set, first announced in 1999. It introduced two new modes of operation, 64-bit mode and compatibility mode, along with a new 4-level paging mode.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xcode</span> IDE including tools for developing software for Apple platforms

Xcode is Apple's integrated development environment (IDE) for macOS, used to develop software for macOS, iOS, iPadOS, watchOS, tvOS, and visionOS. It was initially released in late 2003; the latest stable release is version 16, released on September 16, 2024, and is available free of charge via the Mac App Store and the Apple Developer website. Registered developers can also download preview releases and prior versions of the suite through the Apple Developer website. Xcode includes command-line tools that enable UNIX-style development via the Terminal app in macOS. They can also be downloaded and installed without the GUI.

In computing, Physical Address Extension (PAE), sometimes referred to as Page Address Extension, is a memory management feature for the x86 architecture. PAE was first introduced by Intel in the Pentium Pro, and later by AMD in the Athlon processor. It defines a page table hierarchy of three levels (instead of two), with table entries of 64 bits each instead of 32, allowing these CPUs to directly access a physical address space larger than 4 gigabytes (232 bytes).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac OS X Tiger</span> Fifth major release of Mac OS X

Mac OS X Tiger is the 5th major release of macOS, Apple's desktop and server operating system for Mac computers. Tiger was released to the public on April 29, 2005 for US$129.95 as the successor to Mac OS X 10.3 Panther. Included features were a fast searching system called Spotlight, a new version of the Safari web browser, Dashboard, a new 'Unified' theme, and improved support for 64-bit addressing on Power Mac G5s. Mac OS X 10.4 Tiger also had a number of additional features that Microsoft had spent several years struggling to add to Windows with acceptable performance, such as fast file search and improved graphics processing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rhapsody (operating system)</span> Apple operating system

Rhapsody is an operating system that was developed by Apple Computer after its purchase of NeXT in the late 1990s. It is the fifth major release of the Mach-based operating system that was developed at NeXT in the late 1980s, previously called OPENSTEP and NEXTSTEP. Rhapsody was targeted to developers for a transition period between the Classic Mac OS and Mac OS X. Rhapsody represented a new and exploratory strategy for Apple, more than an operating system, and runs on x86-based PCs and on Power Macintosh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rosetta (software)</span> Operating system component

Rosetta is a dynamic binary translator developed by Apple Inc. for macOS, an application compatibility layer between different instruction set architectures. It enables a transition to newer hardware, by automatically translating software. The name is a reference to the Rosetta Stone, the artifact which enabled translation of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Universal binary</span> Apple multi-architecture binary files

The universal binary format is a format for executable files that run natively either on both PowerPC-based and x86-based Macs or on both Intel 64-based and ARM64-based Macs. The format originated on NeXTStep as "Multi-Architecture Binaries", and the concept is more generally known as a fat binary, as seen on Power Macintosh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac transition to Intel processors</span> 2005–2006 change of processors in Apple computers

The Mac transition to Intel processors was the process of switching the central processing units (CPUs) of Apple's line of Mac and Xserve computers from PowerPC processors over to Intel's x86-64 processors. The change was announced at the 2005 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) by then-Apple CEO Steve Jobs, who said Apple would gradually stop using PowerPC microprocessors supplied by Freescale and IBM.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hackintosh</span> Non-Apple computer running macOS

A Hackintosh is a computer that runs Apple's operating system macOS on computer hardware that is not authorized for the purpose by Apple. This can also include running Mac software on hardware it is not originally authorized for. This is due to the software license for macOS only permitting its use on in-house hardware built by Apple itself, in this case the Mac line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yonah (microprocessor)</span> Code name of Intels first generation 65 nm process CPU cores

Yonah is the code name of Intel's first generation 65 nm process CPU cores, based on cores of the earlier Banias / Dothan Pentium M microarchitecture. Yonah CPU cores were used within Intel's Core Solo and Core Duo mobile microprocessor products. SIMD performance on Yonah improved through the addition of SSE3 instructions and improvements to SSE and SSE2 implementations; integer performance decreased slightly due to higher latency cache. Additionally, Yonah included support for the NX bit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac Pro</span> Series of computers by Apple Inc.

Mac Pro is a series of workstations and servers for professionals made by Apple Inc. since 2006. The Mac Pro, by some performance benchmarks, is the most powerful computer that Apple offers. It is one of four desktop computers in the current Mac lineup, sitting above the Mac Mini, iMac and Mac Studio.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac Mini</span> Desktop computer by Apple Inc.

Mac Mini is a small form factor desktop computer developed and marketed by Apple Inc. As of 2022, it is positioned between the consumer all-in-one iMac and the professional Mac Studio and Mac Pro as one of four current Mac desktop computers. Since launch, it has shipped without a display, keyboard, and mouse. The machine was initially branded as "BYODKM" as a strategic pitch to encourage users to switch from Windows and Linux computers.

The following outline of Apple Inc. is a topical guide to the products, history, retail stores, corporate acquisitions, and personnel under the purview of the American multinational corporation:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apple A12X</span> System on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc.

The Apple A12X Bionic is a 64-bit system on a chip (SoC) designed by Apple Inc., part of the Apple silicon series, It first appeared in the iPad Pro, announced on October 30, 2018. The A12X is an 8-core variant of the A12 and Apple states that it has 35 percent faster single-core CPU performance and 90 percent faster overall CPU performance than its predecessor, the Apple A10X. The Apple A12Z Bionic is an updated version of the A12X, adding an additional GPU core, and was unveiled on March 18, 2020, as part of the iPad Pro.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mac transition to Apple silicon</span> 2020–2023 transition of Apple computers to using Apple-designed ARM-based processors

The Mac transition to Apple silicon was the transitioning of Apple Inc.'s line of Mac computers from designs using Intel x86-64 CPUs to designs based on Apple-designed processors based on the ARM64 architecture.

macOS Big Sur 17th major version of the macOS operating system

macOS Big Sur is the seventeenth major release of macOS, Apple's operating system for Macintosh computers. It was announced at Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 22, 2020, and was released to the public on November 12, 2020.

References

  1. 1 2 Hackett, Stephen (16 Jan 2019). ""This Is Not a Product": The Apple Developer Transition Kit". MacStories. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  2. ↑ "DTK de 2005, le seul Mac en Pentium 4 : retour sur la transition d'Apple vers Intel". next.ink. 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2024-04-21.
  3. 1 2 3 Marsal, Katie (23 June 2005). "Inside Apple's Intel-based Dev Transition Kit". AppleInsider. Retrieved 2 November 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Slivka, Eric (22 June 2020). "Apple's $500 Developer Program Includes Tools and Resources for Transitioning to Apple Silicon, Plus a Loaner A12Z-Based Mac Mini". MacRumors. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  5. ↑ "Apple's Intel switch: Jobs' keynote transcript". Cnet. 2005-06-15. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  6. ↑ "Apple offers free iMac upgrade to Developer Transition Kit owners". engadget. 2006-01-11. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  7. 1 2 3 "Apple announces Mac transition to Apple silicon" (Press release). Apple. 2020-06-22. Archived from the original on 2021-01-20. Retrieved 2020-06-23.
  8. ↑ Smith, Ryan (22 June 2020). "The Next Phase: Apple Lays Out Plans To Transition Macs from x86 to Apple SoCs". AnandTech. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  9. ↑ Rossignol, Joe (22 June 2020). "macOS Big Sur Listed as 'Version 11.0' in System Preferences". MacRumors. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
  10. ↑ Welch, Chris (22 June 2020). "Apple announces Mac mini powered by its own chips for developers". The Verge. Retrieved 23 June 2020.
  11. ↑ Gartenberg, Chaim (8 July 2020). "Apple promises to support Thunderbolt on its new ARM Macs". The Verge. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  12. ↑ Gruber, John (24 June 2020). "The Talk Show Remote from WWDC 2020, With Craig Federighi and Greg Joswiak". Daring Fireball. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  13. ↑ Long, Michael (25 June 2020). "Just How Fast Is Apple Silicon?". The Startup. Retrieved 25 June 2020.
  14. ↑ "Universal App Quick Start Program". Apple Developer. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  15. ↑ "1-on-1 Developer Labs - Universal App Quick Start Program". Apple Developer. Archived from the original on 4 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Universal App Quick Start Program" (PDF). Apple Inc. 22 June 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-02-04. Retrieved 29 June 2020.
  17. 1 2 3 4 "Apple Asks Developers to Return DTK Mac Minis in Exchange for $200 Credit Toward M1 Mac". MacRumors. Retrieved 2021-02-04.
  18. ↑ "Apple Ups DTK Mac Mini Return Credit to $500 After Developer Complaints". MacRumors. Retrieved 2021-02-06.
  19. ↑ "DTK de 2005, le seul Mac en Pentium 4 : retour sur la transition d'Apple vers Intel". Inpact Hardware. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
  20. ↑ "Apple Mac mini Developer Transition Kit (DTK) Specs". EveryMac. Retrieved November 2, 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.