It's a horrifically-worded headline. MDP is a subscription program that gives you access to a bunch of developer resources (pre-release builds of Apple's software, technical forums staffed by Apple, etc.), sort of like what MSDN does in the Microsoft world. And apparently the subscription fees have changed. Ho hum.
Not required (yet, anyway) simply to distribute software, but Apple's had the Apple Developer Connection for years, and membership in it was required to get some SDKs, early releases of products, some technical support, and listing in the Macintosh Product Guide, among other things.
I can't say I like Apple's use of the term license here. In most contexts, licensing is a process by which a central authority grants permission to certain entities with the express denial of those outside the license. ADC is supposed to be a value-add, not a barrier to entry.
Except that you are kinda forced to pay for the iPhone developer portal unless you want to jailbreak your iPhone since you need those certificates and provisioning profiles.
But to develop for the Mac you just sign up for free and download XCode (or get it from the install DVD, albeit outdated).
The only advantage is probably getting access to pre-released versions of OSX so you could test your app but I somehow doubt there is such a large number of people that need to do this that badly and couldn't afford the previous $500.
I know! It's a wonder that no one thought of building an operating system with a central repository for apps and their updates, that perhaps shipped with a corresponding tool that was apt wrt getting those updates, and also finding new software!
Apple is well aware that the make-or-break aspect of software development on the Mac is that the only barrier is programming skill. If they started charging money for the tools, people would just go elsewhere.
The iPhone App Store is so popular and lucrative that Apple can pretty much do whatever they want and we'll put up with it (by and large), but the Mac indie software market is so small and yet so important that they would never do anything to threaten it. If anything, I see this as them opening up their resources via one lower, universal price point, rather than locking them off behind a paywall.
This is pretty close to nonsensical, and shows a lack of understanding of how things work in the Apple ecosystem.
Apple has already released a beta version of Xcode that allows you to build "universal" apps: one binary that runs on both iPhone and iPad. That certainly doesn't sound like something they'd be doing if they expected to have a separate developer program for iPad.
and how on earth could they ever charge you to port your iPhone app to Mac? The code that you write for any app is your own, Apple has no control over it.
Maybe separate approval if they write a new UI for the iPad since Apple has to approve the UI.
But I'm guessing they won't need it if they don't change a thing and just have user's choose to upscale it. Apple would probably prefer to be boastful about app numbers.
We've already seen the iPad App Store. Its demoed by Steve Jobs in the iPad unveiling. It is basically the iPhone app store, with a UI that's more suited to the iPad.
[+] [-] tocomment|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] ubernostrum|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] _delirium|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] mortenjorck|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] fierarul|16 years ago|reply
But to develop for the Mac you just sign up for free and download XCode (or get it from the install DVD, albeit outdated).
The only advantage is probably getting access to pre-released versions of OSX so you could test your app but I somehow doubt there is such a large number of people that need to do this that badly and couldn't afford the previous $500.
[+] [-] netcan|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] andrewvc|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] Flow|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] danudey|16 years ago|reply
The iPhone App Store is so popular and lucrative that Apple can pretty much do whatever they want and we'll put up with it (by and large), but the Mac indie software market is so small and yet so important that they would never do anything to threaten it. If anything, I see this as them opening up their resources via one lower, universal price point, rather than locking them off behind a paywall.
[+] [-] jasonwilk|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] allenbrunson|16 years ago|reply
Apple has already released a beta version of Xcode that allows you to build "universal" apps: one binary that runs on both iPhone and iPad. That certainly doesn't sound like something they'd be doing if they expected to have a separate developer program for iPad.
and how on earth could they ever charge you to port your iPhone app to Mac? The code that you write for any app is your own, Apple has no control over it.
[+] [-] stuartjmoore|16 years ago|reply
But I'm guessing they won't need it if they don't change a thing and just have user's choose to upscale it. Apple would probably prefer to be boastful about app numbers.
[+] [-] Zev|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jerguismi|16 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jrockway|16 years ago|reply