I am a developer at this moment. I have no idea what a “Coupon code” is, that is the first I have read or heard of it. What I don’t want to do is plop down another $20 only to find out they just send me the same update I can get in the Developer area, thatis not the full install. I sent an email to Mac Dev support (that was it’s own little adventure).
It REALLY shouldn’t be this hard.
When apple started using the MAS to distribute OS X developers would go to the dev center & get a coupon code that they could redeem for a free version from the MAS
I dont see anywhere that you can get one of those at this point
For me I see all those in my list of purchases and can redownload them
Sitting on $70 Billion in cash. I can see why they need to milk registered Mac Developers that write applications for their O/S for $20 a pop to test with.
Actually they don’t want you to write software for their older operating systems. They make it increasingly difficult to do. They’re not milking you for testing on an older os, they’re fining you.
We’re not writing software for their old operating systems. We need to test to our software on some older operating systems, because that is what a lot of our customers are still running. Going to them and saying Apple says you need to upgrade regardless of how much it disrupts your business, is a laughable argument. If Apple is really that clueless, I’m starting to regret the day I recommended we start supporting OSX.
Microsoft is a software company who sells to hardware manufacturers and end users with all sorts of hardware they bought elsewhere. Backward compatibility has to be near perfect, since they have no idea what kind of hardware will run their software.
Apple is a hardware manufacturer whose primary goal is to sell machines. Software is tied to hardware generations, as for instance Lion came pre-installed on all machines late 2011, and that stopped in 2012. We are now 2 years later, two versions later, and Apple core business is machines with Yosemite pre installed. Apple vested interest is to make older Macs look obsolete, so people renew.
I do not know why they no longer make Lion accessible to developers, though.
I’m not comparing them to MS. I’m saying within the timeframe of 3 years of having an OS as the one you sell on your current machine to not even making it available as a download for people in their Developer program to use for testing is a joke. So what does Apple tell a new developer that just started with Apple in the past 6 months and developed a new application in Swift? “Only sell your program to people with machines that are running the absolute latest version of our O/S, because we aren’t going to make 2 and 3 years old versions of the O/S available to test on”??
The joke is on us, really. Think automobiles. Do you really think Ford is happy to have to maintain parts for older models ? It’s more a liability than anything. They have to for all sorts of reasons including contractual, and legal in the EU. But their core business is to sell new cars. The faster used cars die the better, so people renew.
To Apple, we are no more than the people who provide seat covers and cute gadgets dangling from the rear view mirror. And when we service older Macs with our software, we are just the equivalent of the little guy on the corner who repairs 5 years old Chevys they would not touch at the GM concession.
They do tell Swift developers to only use the latest SDK, and to make sure their apps run on Yosemite first. Why do you think they killed apps that contained Quicktime at the end of 2013 ? Why do you think they will require all iOS apps to be 64 bit enabled on February 1st ? Their focus is the current generation. And I doubt they care the least about developers who happen to cater to older Mac that don’t bring a penny by surviving obsolescence. The sooner they die, the better.
Of course, you will never catch anybody at Apple saying that so bluntly. They are the good guys, after all. Respectuous of the planet, with a hippie philosophy, and human interface guidelines. But underneath the smiling face, are the teeth of the most profitable company on the planet, with a cash register instead of a heart.
Don’t think I like less Apple because of that. As a matter of fact, I love their cunning ruthlessness and the tremendous success they have enjoyed since Steve Jobs come back. And the lovely crumbs they let me have of their feast, by inviting me at the MAS table…
No, but that is part of doing business. Can you imagine Ford saying, “in 3 years time you will no longer be able to buy engine parts for your car, so you will have to buy a new one then”. How well do you think that will drive potential customers to the car lot? Sorry, but Apple expecting me as a developer to tell my customers that Lion is just too old of an O/S to run my program doesn’t fly. And they are essentially saying that by now providing me an ability to easily get the 10.7 to test on.
They are not refusing you to test, they are simply not providing it for free. Neither is Ford providing test equipment for free. You do not have to like it, but it is their turf.
I’d contact Apple developer support & ask them where / how to get it
No one here can definitively answer your question
I don’t mind paying the $20 if that is what it is. What I am objecting to is they used to provide it for free and at some point have yanked it from the download area, apparently much to the surprise of what I consider well-informed developers on this forum. And the offering in the MAS doesn’t make it clear if it is the Full install version or just an upgrade. And I have sent an email earlier today to Apple Support and the email portal wouldn’t allow me to use “Software Download” as the subject even though it is a choice. SO I sent to another subject area (web kit I think it was), I hope it gets to the right place.
What I am saying is Apple is not making it easy for me as a Software Developer to test and support an O/S offering that is only 3 years old. I think this conversation is good because I am certain others will have the need to test on 10.7 at some point. After all Xojo supports it, so it is reasonable to think we ought to test on it.
A lot of us have all the versions since Darwin if they need them. So 10.7 is only an external drive away. I am sorry you have difficulties to procure it, though.
As I said before, I don’t think it good business practice for Apple to ■■■■ on Developers that are new to their platform. They could make this issue a hell of a lot easier on us and it wouldn’t hurt their bottom line one little bit.
Let me just play the Devil’s advocate on this one. Considering Apple releases a new version of each hardware product roughly once a year and it’s sales come from new devices, please explain how supporting old devices would not affect their sales.
I see and understand your frustration, but Apple focuses on new. They just killed off iPod entirely not too long ago.
Apple doesn’t really care much for the developers anymore. With big brands jumping ship from the MAS, and the developer fees making it so young tinkerers can’t join in it seems like they’re ignoring the folks who made the platform great. But that’s okay to them, because the customers are just as bad - they’d rather buy the $1.99 made in a few hours ripoff of a well known app than spend the money on a decent product.
And asking those same people to plop down $1500 for a new laptop every couple of years is not workable in most people’s budgets. Seriously, other than being a little faster, the current MBP laptop they sells can’t really do anything my 2012 Retina version can’t. And I see no huge hole in Mavericks that Yosemite is filling. Without developers and great apps the world’s great hardware and O/S is useless.
Is the iPod dead? My grandson has an iPod 5 with a cracked screen (he’s too young for a phone). We were going to wait until the iPod 6 came out rather than get the screen fixed, have you heard it is officially dead? I’ve heard both sides of that rumor.
Thanks, Tim. That is just the classic, He has the iPod touch. I hope that is going to continue.
I have one too i bought about 4 or 5 years ago… I am one of the few people that don’t want a feel a need for smart phone… i really need a cell phone don’t want to pay for a contract/data plan or be reachable a the time!
The touch is nice as it pretty easy to find free Wifi when traveling so I find the touch is all I really need for the amount i want to stay connected.
I wish they would upgrade them!