That is what ARC is for which is superior to the GC which never really worked properly anyways. ARC is deterministic. The only problem is that doesn't automatically handle retain cycles.
ARC is compatible with manual reference counting entirely, but internally, when ARC detects the classes in a particular objects hierarchy are not doing anything fancy with MRC, it's super clever and bypasses it for a bit of a speed boost. It means that the developer doesn't have to do anything extra to be compatible with ARC from MRC or the other way around.
>The only problem is that doesn't automatically handle retain cycles.
That would be like saying the only problem with the Titanic is that it had a few extra holes in it.
Of course what Apple really should do is dump its old tech and more to something new and more modern. I hate to say it but when even Java is more modern and can do stuff your system can't, it is time to upgrade (preferably to something other than Java).
ARC is compatible with manual reference counting entirely, but internally, when ARC detects the classes in a particular objects hierarchy are not doing anything fancy with MRC, it's super clever and bypasses it for a bit of a speed boost. It means that the developer doesn't have to do anything extra to be compatible with ARC from MRC or the other way around.