Edible Apple

Xcode 4 is now available on the Mac App Store for $4.99. It was previously available as a free download for registered Mac and iOS developers which requires a yearly $99 fee.

Xcode 4 is the new version of Apple’s powerful integrated development environment for creating great apps for Mac, iPhone, and iPad. Xcode 4 includes the Xcode IDE, Instruments, iOS Simulator, and the latest Mac OS X and iOS SDKs.

Xcode 4 has a streamlined new interface that integrates UI design, coding, testing, and debugging, all within a single window. The embedded Apple LLVM compiler underlines coding mistakes as you type, and is even smart enough to fix the problems for you automatically.

Releasing Xcode to the masses will inevitably let those not willing or apprehensive about forking over $99 to play around with Apple’s development platform. Actually getting an app into the iTunes or Mac App Store, however, does still require that one be a registered developer. So, Apple will get ya one way or another.

You can download it from iTunes here.