Some developers are already receiving their A12Z Developer Transition Kits

Mac Apple Silicon (Image credit: Apple)

What you need to know

Some Apple Developer Transition Kits are already beginning to arrive.
The kit is, in some ways, an iPad Pro in a Mac mini chassis.
The machines are to help developers get their apps ready for Macs running Apple silicon.

After announcing the Developer Transition Kit (DTK) during last Monday's WWDC opening keynote, Apple hasn't wasted any time in getting the machines into the hands of developers. Some have already begun to arrive with developers taking to Twitter to share the news.

The machines are designed to give developers the opportunity to get their apps ready for when the Mac and macOS make the switch to Apple silicon – a transition that is set to begin before the end of 2020. Inside a Mac mini chassis is a Mac based around the iPad Pro's A12Z chip which is also the one used in the ARM-based Macs that Apple used during its demonstrations.

How many new transition kits would fit in the old transition kit? pic.twitter.com/mG0iTkJ4cYHow many new transition kits would fit in the old transition kit? pic.twitter.com/mG0iTkJ4cY— Adrian Thomas 🇪🇺 (@adrianthomas) June 29, 2020 June 29, 2020

Unfortunately, we aren't likely to learn too much about the DTK beyond these images, however. Apple's policy prohibits developers from running any kind of benchmarks on these things, so we're going to have to wait a little while before we find out just how good those chips really are when they're given fans and unlimited power to play with.

Wow, that was an amazingly fast shipment of my new ARM Mac, aka Apple DTK!
Happy as a clam in salt water, I am! pic.twitter.com/ODdQuphFlcWow, that was an amazingly fast shipment of my new ARM Mac, aka Apple DTK!
Happy as a clam in salt water, I am! pic.twitter.com/ODdQuphFlc— Axel Roest (@axello) June 29, 2020 June 29, 2020

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too. Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.