3 ms·

What would you want Apple to do to improve the developer experience?

prmph 2mo ago
Proper macOS virtualization, for example. Also, I do not want to have to upgrade my machine and OS every few years just to keep up with apps that stop working or installing, not because the hardware is no longer capable, but due to ridiculous obsolescence policies. Heck, I can not run the latest version of a lot of software (including basic developer tools) on one of my MacBooks, simply because it is running Monterey. A proper package manager CLI is also sorely needed. Delegating that to Homebrew and MacPorts doesn't cut it.
- holoduke 2mo ago
  Even my MacBook Intel from 2015 is still receiving updates. It's slow, but everything works.
  - doc_ick 2mo ago
    Same here, it can’t run models but it’s got all the applications I run with no problems. Sounds more like a user error or an app preference error.
    - prmph 2mo ago
      Hmm, let's see: I tried to install stuff with Homebrew; it kept warning me that they don't support such an old macOS. Almost everything I wanted to install with it, it tried to do a source build, because the binaries did not exist for it. At one point it was building LLVM to install a dependency, which ran for almost one whole day, I kid you not, and still failed Also, the latest version of Podman (both CLI and desktop) does not run properly on Monterey. Even if you manage to install those, you cannot create a Podman VM, because it relies on some newer Apple virtualization tech instead of QEmu, and that is not supported on Monterey. MS Office, Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, etc... The latest versions of these do not run on Monterey. These are just a few of the examples. On Big Sur, things were even worse. The latest versions of VSCode, VSCodium, Brave browser, and many things you might want install with Homebrew, etc. do not run on it. You will have to hunt for specifc old versions to install.
      - doc_ick 2mo ago
        I mean that is unfortunate, but those are app specific problems not problems necessarily with Mac. Exhausted example but if pull up a raspberry pi 2 I’m not going to expect it to run the latest version of rust. If the app devs drop support for a system that sucks, but it’s the devs decisions. One system I run I’ve had to air gap since it is out of date, but I’m not blaming apps. Though I gripe with the openjdk decision to not support Apple intel, it’s what it is. Edit: im sure linux distros have problems as well, just like windows does with this. (Why can’t windows 95 run oblivion with 20 mods on it?)
      - cortesoft 2mo ago
        Those are all third party services that decided to stop shipping Intel releases for their Mac software. That isn’t Apple’s fault.
      - mgaunard 1mo ago
        In general Rosetta2 is much better than QEmu, but you do need macOS 26 to get even basic things like AVX2. In general, the model on Mac is that you need to run latest. It's not like you're gonna use it for a production server, they're meant to be personal devices, so upgrading them is not a major issue.
  - georgel 2mo ago
    MacOS 27 drops Intel support, but 10 years of updates is a long run. The 2015 MBPs were so good.
- xp84 2mo ago
  Honestly, Homebrew is so healthy[1], and modern Apple is so corrupted by greed, that I'm sure I don't want Apple to try to Sherlock it. Can you imagine? To get a package published, you'd need the developer subscription, and Apple would block any package that threatened any of their revenue streams. Not to mention that they'd probably want to also run the scan the MAS does to ensure you're not using any "private APIs." No thanks, Apple has no role to play here. [1] (Personally, macports hasn't been my jam in decades)
NamlchakKhandro 2mo ago
Make installing Linux on it easy
- doc_ick 2mo ago
  Just get a dell laptop with Ubuntu on it, that’s easier
  - cortesoft 2mo ago
    The entire point of this comment chain is that Apple makes great hardware but they don’t like the OS. Buying a Dell laptop doesn’t get you the 256 GB GPU.
    - doc_ick 1mo ago
      I’m sure there’s a custom laptop out there that can get 256gb cpu that can run Linux
      - cortesoft 1mo ago
        No there isn't, and certainly not for the Apple price point
        doc_ick 1mo ago
        Well if price is your problem, sounds like you’ll just have to get along with macOS, save up, or use a vm. Just like if you ever want to work at a job (majority), you have to use windows (my least favorite of os’s by far). *or hacintosh but I haven’t kept up with that
spudlyo 2mo ago
Improve the speed of APFS. Like try forking off a job to create a bunch of git worktrees in on APFS vs EXT4 -- it's significantly slower. Deleting a ton of files, cloning repos, hardlink performance, etc; APFS performance is poor compared to just about any other Linux filesystem.
- rahkiin 1mo ago
  The grass is always greener for some problem somewhere. Try doing what you write on a (corporate) Windows machine with NTFS and file filters

prmph 2mo ago

Proper macOS virtualization, for example. Also, I do not want to have to upgrade my machine and OS every few years just to keep up with apps that stop working or installing, not because the hardware is no longer capable, but due to ridiculous obsolescence policies. Heck, I can not run the latest version of a lot of software (including basic developer tools) on one of my MacBooks, simply because it is running Monterey. A proper package manager CLI is also sorely needed. Delegating that to Homebrew and MacPorts doesn't cut it.

holoduke 2mo ago
Even my MacBook Intel from 2015 is still receiving updates. It's slow, but everything works.
- doc_ick 2mo ago
  Same here, it can’t run models but it’s got all the applications I run with no problems. Sounds more like a user error or an app preference error.
  - prmph 2mo ago
    Hmm, let's see: I tried to install stuff with Homebrew; it kept warning me that they don't support such an old macOS. Almost everything I wanted to install with it, it tried to do a source build, because the binaries did not exist for it. At one point it was building LLVM to install a dependency, which ran for almost one whole day, I kid you not, and still failed Also, the latest version of Podman (both CLI and desktop) does not run properly on Monterey. Even if you manage to install those, you cannot create a Podman VM, because it relies on some newer Apple virtualization tech instead of QEmu, and that is not supported on Monterey. MS Office, Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, etc... The latest versions of these do not run on Monterey. These are just a few of the examples. On Big Sur, things were even worse. The latest versions of VSCode, VSCodium, Brave browser, and many things you might want install with Homebrew, etc. do not run on it. You will have to hunt for specifc old versions to install.
    - doc_ick 2mo ago
      I mean that is unfortunate, but those are app specific problems not problems necessarily with Mac. Exhausted example but if pull up a raspberry pi 2 I’m not going to expect it to run the latest version of rust. If the app devs drop support for a system that sucks, but it’s the devs decisions. One system I run I’ve had to air gap since it is out of date, but I’m not blaming apps. Though I gripe with the openjdk decision to not support Apple intel, it’s what it is. Edit: im sure linux distros have problems as well, just like windows does with this. (Why can’t windows 95 run oblivion with 20 mods on it?)
    - cortesoft 2mo ago
      Those are all third party services that decided to stop shipping Intel releases for their Mac software. That isn’t Apple’s fault.
    - mgaunard 1mo ago
      In general Rosetta2 is much better than QEmu, but you do need macOS 26 to get even basic things like AVX2. In general, the model on Mac is that you need to run latest. It's not like you're gonna use it for a production server, they're meant to be personal devices, so upgrading them is not a major issue.
- georgel 2mo ago
  MacOS 27 drops Intel support, but 10 years of updates is a long run. The 2015 MBPs were so good.
xp84 2mo ago
Honestly, Homebrew is so healthy[1], and modern Apple is so corrupted by greed, that I'm sure I don't want Apple to try to Sherlock it. Can you imagine? To get a package published, you'd need the developer subscription, and Apple would block any package that threatened any of their revenue streams. Not to mention that they'd probably want to also run the scan the MAS does to ensure you're not using any "private APIs." No thanks, Apple has no role to play here. [1] (Personally, macports hasn't been my jam in decades)

NamlchakKhandro 2mo ago

Make installing Linux on it easy

doc_ick 2mo ago
Just get a dell laptop with Ubuntu on it, that’s easier
- cortesoft 2mo ago
  The entire point of this comment chain is that Apple makes great hardware but they don’t like the OS. Buying a Dell laptop doesn’t get you the 256 GB GPU.
  - doc_ick 1mo ago
    I’m sure there’s a custom laptop out there that can get 256gb cpu that can run Linux
    - cortesoft 1mo ago
      No there isn't, and certainly not for the Apple price point
      - doc_ick 1mo ago
        Well if price is your problem, sounds like you’ll just have to get along with macOS, save up, or use a vm. Just like if you ever want to work at a job (majority), you have to use windows (my least favorite of os’s by far). *or hacintosh but I haven’t kept up with that

spudlyo 2mo ago

Improve the speed of APFS. Like try forking off a job to create a bunch of git worktrees in on APFS vs EXT4 -- it's significantly slower. Deleting a ton of files, cloning repos, hardlink performance, etc; APFS performance is poor compared to just about any other Linux filesystem.

rahkiin 1mo ago
The grass is always greener for some problem somewhere. Try doing what you write on a (corporate) Windows machine with NTFS and file filters