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So is this like UV for swift or what is the gain here or can I ditch Xcode and use this instead?

It's like rustup or nvm (node version manager) for Swift. Swiftly installs Swift. If all you needed Xcode for was to install Swift then yes, you can replace Xcode with swiftly.

Keep in mind, however, that there seems to be an intentional handicap if you’re on an older version of macOS: you can’t install the latest Swift.

I have an Intel-based MacBook Pro that doesn’t update beyond macOS 13, and it runs neither Xcode 16 nor Swift 6. Presumably, one might be able to build Swift 6 from source. My workaround is containers.

Apple is even more egregious than windows 10 years of support. As computers aren't getting faster at the same rate as before companies are forcing obsolescence more.

> that doesn’t update beyond macOS 13

...in a way supported by Apple. But OpenCore [0] makes installing the latest OS on older Macs relatively simple. You lose out on some features that your hardware doesn't support (e.g. Apple Intelligence), but most of that is unnecessary at best.

[0] https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/

no, its similar to pyenv, its for installing, updating, managing swift lang versions.

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