(Updated on September 7, 2022)
Embarcadero has just released the new version of RAD Studio 11 Alexandria, and we want to start sharing with you some of the features of RAD Studio 11 Alexandria Release 2 (or RAD Studio 11.2).
Delphi iOS Simulator Support*
A few years back, Delphi supported the iOS Simulator platform, running on Intel 32-bit Macs or 64-bit Macs offering 32-bit support. When Apple dropped this last feature, we retired the old iOS Simulator support. This year, we have been working to add a new target platform to Delphi and offer again the support for iOS Simulator, but this time on the new macOS ARM 64-bit platform, that is the M1 and M2 Apple Silicon chips.
As a Delphi developer, there isn’t much you’ll have to do. Once we release this feature you’ll be able to pick the new iOS Simulator platform among the target platforms for a FireMonkey multi-device project:
The availability of the iOS Simulator support enables developers to test and debug their Delphi applications on different Apple devices and on multiple form factors using the iOS Simulator, without the need to buy the specific hardware. It also helps fulfill the Apple Store request to provide screenshots of the apps running in multiple form factors.
FireMonkey Apps in the iOS Simulator
In general, you’ll only need to select the new target and rebuild the app, with no changes to the source code. Once you build the app, you can deploy it to a connected ARM-64 Mac via PAServer, and run it in the iOS Simulator using one of the different available formats.
iOS Simulator on iPhone format and iPad format running FireMonkey PhotoEditorDemo
FireMonkey MobileControls demo running on iPhone, horizontally
Much More to Come
There are many other features coming in the next release of RAD Studio, along with a very large number of quality improvements in all of the product subsystems, from compilers to toolchains, from runtime libraries to the IDE. Stay tuned for more information over the coming weeks.
* Again, no commitment to ship any of these at any time until the GA release of the product
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why only for ARM Macs though? Not sure if one can find such on the cloud yet, or I’d guess the Intel-based ones are less expensive to rent or physically acquire
its a simulator
from the article above: “without the need to buy the specific hardware”
At this point Intel Macs are not longer produced and getting retired, while there are still many in the hands of developers and users, they are going away — and we decided to avoid doubling the effort to support 2 separate targets.
Hi, Apple drop intel suppor for the new OS updates and all dev ecosystem, dont make any sense offer this resource for intel platform any more.
Not sure if you missed what Marco said above but this following line should make you happier – “we have been working to add a new target platform to Delphi and offer again the support for iOS Simulator, but this time on the new macOS ARM 64-bit platform, that is the M1 and M2 Apple Silicon chips” – so this is for macOS ARM and Apple Silicon, not Intel.
btw, is the beta program up yet? I had filled in the form to join, but never received any link to sign NDA (was supposed to be sent by mid-July to those interested)
In terms of the beta, please follow up over email
Hi, it’s verry nice, but instead of allways create new features, I would prefer a STABLE IDE.
We are spending most of the R&D effort in the coming 11.2 focused on improving quality, but we also added a few relatively small features to the IDE, as we need to make sure it remains relevant and we respond to requests from customers.
I am looking forward to the quality improvements. Thank you to the whole Delphi team!
Hi. Thank you for the informations. Will I still need my Mac Mini (hardware)?
Thanks again.
You will still need access to a Mac for the actual app signing and packaging process which Apple insists happens on their hardware. You would be able to use something like Mac In Cloud if you no longer have access to a physical machine or the one you have becomes obsolete in the future.
That’s good in our case, since we just invested in a Mac Mini M1 😊.
Can you already say something about the performance, so the time until the app is seen in the simulator compared to the startup process on a real device?
Unfortunately since the feature is in a coming version we can’t really go into details at the moment. Great to hear about the Mac Mini M1 – I’ve heard of quite a few developers going for this model and I’m also seriously considering getting one myself! Stay tuned for more info on the iOS Simulator – as soon as we can reveal more we will make sure to make some videos and posts about it.