The Apple Developer Program: An insider’s guide (free PDF)

If you’re interested in becoming a member of the Apple Developer Program, you’ll want to review the costs, benefits, and signup process outlined in this ebook.

From the ebook:

What is the Apple Developer Program?
The Apple Developer Program is, in Apple’s words, the “code to customer” pipeline. Membership in the Apple Developer Program gives developers everything they need to build, test, and deploy apps for its OSes.
A lot comes with Apple Developer Program membership, including: <

• Access to beta builds of iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS
• The ability to publicly beta test apps using TestFlight
• Access to Apple’s myriad app extensions, like CloudKit, Game Center, Apple Pay, and Maps
• Code-level support that gives developers access to an Apple developer who can help troubleshoot and streamline code
• The ability to publish apps on the Apple App Store
• Developer signing for macOS app releases outside the App Store
• Ad hoc app distribution (to 100 of each device type per year)
• Access to Apple Store Connect’s App Analytics program

Along with these benefits, which come with any standard membership in the Apple Developer Program, Apple also offers two other programs that fall under the Developer Program umbrella: the Enterprise Program and the MFi Program.

The Enterprise Program offers benefits like those included in the standard Developer Program, and it adds the ability for enterprise customers to develop in-house proprietary apps for deployment on employee devices.

The MFi, or Made For iPod, iPhone, and iPad, Program is for companies that want to build Apple-certified hardware accessories. Apple considers any third-party device that connects electronically to an Apple device to fall under the MFi Program; this doesn’t include devices that use the headphone jack or standard Bluetooth profiles and non-electronic devices.