Xcode 16 can't target RealityKitContent on macOS 14?

I'm working on a multi-platform app (macOS and visionOS for now). In these early stages it’s easier to target the Mac, but I started with a visionOS project. One of the things the template creates is a RealityKitContent package dependency.

I can target macOS 14.5 in Xcode, but when it goes to build the RealiityKitContent, I get this error:

error: Building for 'macosx', but '14.0' must be >= '15.0'
[macosx] info: realitytool ["/Applications/Xcode-beta.app/Contents/Developer/usr/bin/realitytool" "compile" "--platform" "macosx" "--deployment-target" "14.0" …

Unfortunately, I'm unwilling to update this machine to macOS 15, as it's too risky. Running macOS 15 in a VM is not possible (Apple Silicon).

This strikes me as a bug, or severe shortcoming, of realitytool. This was introduced with visionOS 1.0, and should be able to target macOS < 15.

It's not really reasonable to use Xcode 15, since soon enough Apple will require I build with Xcode 16 for submission to the App Store.

Is this a bug, or intentional?

I can’t speak to the realitytool aspect of this, but I do want to address this point:

Running macOS 15 in a VM is not possible (Apple Silicon).

That’s not right. I regularly run macOS 15 beta as guest on my macOS 14 host machine. I mean, not quite every day, but almost.

I’ve also found that our developer tools work pretty well in VMs like this. There are a couple of gotchas though:

  • Apple ID authentication doesn’t work in that configuration. We’re in the process of fixing that, but that doesn’t help you because the fix requires macOS 15 beta as both the guest and the host.

  • Xcode in a VM cannot install and run on a real device.

Share and Enjoy

Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Oh, I want to clarify one potentially misleading point in my earlier comments:

Apple ID authentication doesn’t work in that configuration. We’re in the process of fixing that

I didn’t mean to imply that, with macOS 15 beta as guest and host, Xcode can use Apple ID authentication. Apple ID authentication in a VM is a complex issue, and the Xcode 16 Beta Release Notes says:

When running in a virtualized macOS environment, Apple ID sign-in is not supported in Xcode. (127624414)

Share and Enjoy

Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Xcode 16 can't target RealityKitContent on macOS 14?
 
 
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