With today’s developer beta 5 releases, Apple also rolled out a new version of Xcode 26 beta that brings a notable change: two distinct download options, one of them being Apple silicon-specific.
Yet another step beyond the Intel Macs era
With today’s release of Xcode 26 beta 5 (build 17A5295f), developers can now choose between a “Universal” version, which runs on Apple silicon and Intel Macs, and one optimized specifically for Apple silicon Macs.
According to Apple’s developer downloads page, the Universal build clocks in at 2.61 GB, while the Apple Silicon-only version is slightly smaller at 2.05 GB. Both are compatible with macOS Sequoia 15.5, and contain the same software.
To be clear: the only difference is that the Apple silicon version will run exclusively on Apple silicon Macs, but it can still be used to build apps for both Apple silicon and Intel Macs. This change affects the IDE itself, not the kind of apps you can compile with it.
Apple hasn’t yet commented on the reason behind the change, but it does signal yet another step towards gradually phasing out Intel support.
As Apple announced during WWDC25, macOS Tahoe will be the last release for Intel-based Mac computers, kicking off a transition process in which Rosetta 2 development and maintenance will be scaled back, continuing into macOS 27 only for select apps, such as older or unmaintained games that rely on Intel-specific libraries.
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