Mountain Lion = XCode update?

A lot of people around the internets are having major problems with Apple effectively making certain mac systems obsolete for Mountain Lion, some of the systems only 3 years old.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2012/07/confirmed-mountain-lion-sends-some-64-bit-macs-gently-into-that-good-night/

Obviously there will be people to hack this and make it work but i hope the 3 yr model isnt going to be something thats going to be commonplace from now on. One of the things for us developers is that often we have to get latest mac just so that we can use the latest XCode. For some that have older machines currently in development - this is really a slap in the face from Apple - considering that developers are the reason at least in part for the huge success if the iPad/iWhatever ecosystem. Are developers really going to have to go out and spend $2,000 everytime they need an upgrade just so that they can continue to develop for the latest features or will Apple still allow people to upgrade XCode? Is that even possible library/framework wise? It is also interesting as a side note that the mid 2007 iMac is supported the accompanying mid 2007 macbook pro is not. That is really weird especially since the mac pro line has seen maybe 1? update in 3 years.

It is unreasonable to expect people that shell out good money for powerful macs for personal/development use to be on the same yearly timetable as the iOS line. I hope Apple doesn’t forget one of the main backbones of their existence, at least as of late, is the developers.