WWDC 2020: Apple, Tool or Toy?

The major announcement at the WWDC 2020 was the transition of processors from Intel to home-made ARM-based, to be started by the end of 2020 and completed by 2022

Two Years of FUD Ahead

For embedded systems development, this opens a two-year-long period of fear, uncertainty and doubt.

• Are the different embedded platforms going to maintain the tools to the current Intel processors?
• Are they going to update the tools to the new processors?
• What will happen to the platforms that do not transition?
• How long fixing the inevitable regression bugs is going to take?

It may be too early to answer those questions, but I expect many embedded platforms to reconsider their support for macOS.

A Self-Centered Walled Garden

Fundamentally, Apple doesn't seem to pay much attention to external non-Apple platforms.

As long as the target stays within the Apple eco-system, tools and universal apps should make the transition relatively easy. But outside this walled garden, things become really difficult.

​This self-centered approach has its merits, but is not compatible with embedded systems development.

Professional Tool or Consumer Toy?

The last point is the absence of LTS. Apple sells consumer products, not professional solutions. The implied frantic refresh rate, obsession for new features and mastered planned obsolescence come at the expense of stability and quality.

​If the current software configuration with macOS 10.15.5 and Xcode 11.5 may be frozen and kept unchanged, I am less confident about hardware, as my last two MacBooks have experienced quality issues and recalls.

So Apple offering no longer seems to be the right solution for embedded systems development. Apple is not a tool, but a toy.

An obsession for new features

First tests with Xcode 12 are successful, although some features may be removed in future versions.