Apple Silicon support: macOS SDK version and deployment target

Developer VST 3 SDK
#1

Supported Platforms VST SDK 3.7.1:

Operating System Architecture Compiler Notes
Windows 10 x86, x86_64 MSVC 2019, MSVC 2017
Windows 8.1 x86, x86_64 MSVC 2019, MSVC 2017
macOS 10.13, 10.14, 10.15 x86, x86_64, Apple Silicon Xcode 7, 8, 9, 10, 11
iOS 13, iOS 14 arm64 Xcode 11
Linux - Raspberry Pi OS (Buster) arm32 GCC 8.3 and higher Visual Studio Code
Linux - Ubuntu 18.04 LTS x86, x86_64 GCC 8.3 and higher Visual Studio Code, Qt Creator
Linux - Ubuntu 20.04 LTS x86, x86_64 GCC 8.3 and higher Visual Studio Code, Qt Creator

What is the minimum macOS SDK version to build binaries for the M1 chip in XCode?

What is the minimum deployment target to build binaries for the M1 chip in XCode?

Is XCode 12 not supported?

Why has macOS 10.9 to 10.12 been dropped? It did work fine in the 3.7 SDK.

What settings do I need to change in a VST SDK 3.7 project to to build binaries for the M1 chip in XCode?
I do not want to migrate my project again to a new VST SDK version. I already wasted one week of work for 3.6.9 to 3.7.

#2

Sorry there is a slip in the release notes with the supported compilers for macOS.

The previous SDK release already supported building for apple silicon (M1) if you use an Xcode version which supports building for arm64. So this is only Xcode 12.2 or newer or some unreleased beta versions of Xcode.
You cannot build for macOS arm64 with any earlier version of Xcode.

#3

Hello Arne,

please try to answer my questions. They should be also relevant for the other VST developers.

Is XCode 12 supported with the VST SDK 3.7 / 3.7.1 ?

What is the minimum macOS SDK version to build binaries for the Silicon chip in XCode?

What is the minimum deployment target to build binaries for the Silicon chip in XCode?

What settings do I need to change in XCode for a VST SDK 3.7 project to to build binaries for the Silicon chip?

Thank you Markus

#4

Hmm, OK, I thought I answered that question already. But again, maybe this is not obvious from my previous post: Xcode 12.2 is supported since VST SDK 3.7.0. To build binaries for Apple Silicon you need to use Xcode 12.2. Xcode 12.2 embeds the macOS 10.11 SDK. The only deployment you can do on Apple Silicon is macOS 11. There’s no earlier macOS version for that platform. To build binaries for Apple Silicon with Xcode 12.2 you just build with it and set the architecture of your build to arm64. If you want to build for both x86_64 and arm64 you need to enable the universal binary cmake setting.

#5

Thank you Arne! It is now clear for me.

One think I’ve noticed is that Xcode 12.2 includes the “macOS 10.11 SDK”. I compared it to the real “macOS 10.11 SDK” and they are different. There are many files missing. Apple deleted stuff from it. :smiling_imp: This will lead to a lot of errors when you try to compile old projects.
Not a problem for me, since I was to fix it. But will just mention it for others.

#6

Hmm, my Xcode 12.2 includes “MacOSX11.0.sdk”. No sign of a 10.11 version.

#7

:laughing:

You are right. I really need to take a break an get a beer