Apple remakes Mac developer program
Yesterday, there was rampant speculation during the Developer Center Web site outage that Apple would announce important changes to its mobile — iPhone, iPod touch, iPad — program. Now, with the site back online, the changes have happened on the Mac side.
MacRumors reports that Apple’s Developer Program Web site is back online and that indeed many changes have been put in place. However, in spite of some wishful thinking, the great majority of changes are evident in the company’s Mac Developer Program and not the mobile side.
Yes, there are new terms for iPhone, iPod touch and iPad developers to agree to, but so far nothing earth shaking has been uncovered for those people.
One size fits all?
Contrariwise, the Mac Developer Program has seen sweeping changes, including the introduction of a flat $99 membership fee that replaces the previous tiered program. Also, developer hardware discounts are no longer available and access to pre-release software is now restricted.
“Modeled after the highly successful iPhone Developer Program, we’ve relaunched the Mac Developer Program to offer members technical resources, support, access to pre-release software, developer forums and more, all for just $99 per year. As our developer base continues to grow in leaps and bounds, we’re working hard to ensure we provide our developers with everything they need to create innovative applications for both the iPhone OS and Mac OS X.”
So, the Mac Developer Program is now cheaper and, thereupon, perhaps a bit more accessible. However, it remains to be seen how developers will react to the changes…
What’s your take?
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