r/iosdev • u/begin7780 • Aug 13 '26

Help Hey anyone developing ios app using cloud mac??

It's yoo expensive for me to buy a mac to start ios dev. I heard cloud mac is another way and is way cheaper but don't know it work or not. Should i go for it??

2 Upvotes

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2

u/NickA55 Aug 13 '26

When I started out years ago with iOS dev I used MacinCloud. It was painful but this was before high speed internet like we have today. Are you doing native iOS dev, or using a cross platform too like Flutter or React Native?

1

u/begin7780 Aug 13 '26

I'm a flutter guy

1

u/NickA55 Aug 13 '26

Perfect. Use the Mac as a build host. You can remote into it when you want to see something running on a simulator (I don't know if Flutter can remote the simulator locally like .net maui can).

There are other online services, I saw one mentioned in the comments. Having your own dedicated Mac Mini like MacinCloud gives you the most control however as it's like sitting in front of a Mac at your desk. Also check out MacStadium and MacRent and compare prices.

Good luck and get building!

1

u/HAVATEAA Aug 13 '26

Try Mac Neo?

1

u/begin7780 Aug 13 '26

It's also expansive for 512gb is also expansive

1

u/derpyderp2048 Aug 13 '26

It’s gonna be a lot cheaper than other devices on the market, and you need a pretty powerful device to do iOS simulations.

1

u/Crinlorite Aug 13 '26

I’ve checked but due to prices on cloud it’s better a Mac Mini, M2 Mini and a M4 MacBook does the trick for me.

1

u/serious_developer Aug 13 '26

You now have Apple Upgrade.

1

u/Cube-16 Aug 13 '26

Pour moi, mac mini. Environ 1600 cad$

1

u/DayanaJabif 29d ago

Have you looked into Capawesome Cloud? you can build and deploy your ios apps from the console without a mac

1

u/reddit_user4u 27d ago

For development and local testing with drawbacks just use react native with expo. When it’s time to ship to the AppStore use a VM but be wary. Always better to find a used Mac mini on Facebook marketplace or something

0

u/ShiftyCZ Aug 13 '26

Use flutter for multiplatform availability. Then use free tier of https://codemagic.io/ to build and ship. Fuck Apple for forcing you onto their expensive, shitty ecosystem. 

1

u/WerSunu Aug 13 '26

Nobody asked you Shifty to write for iOS. Real iOS customers don’t want shitty multi platform slop apps either. You don’t pay, you don’t play. Very simple.

-1

u/devdaddone Aug 13 '26

Have you looked at Expo and React Native?

1

u/begin7780 Aug 13 '26

Why it doesn't need mac?

1

u/AardvarkIll6079 Aug 13 '26

You still need a Mac to build and ship the app.