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macOS instances run on Apple M4 Pro or M5 Max processors, delivering native Apple Silicon performance. These processors provide hardware acceleration for graphics, machine learning, and compute workloads. Note: To switch to M5 Max exclusively, reach out to us via support@namespace.so.

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Built for Apple Development

The platform includes native support for the complete Apple development ecosystem, including Xcode, iOS, and Metal. Our macOS environment is optimized for Apple development workflows:
  • Fast access to the latest Xcode and macOS versions
  • Multiple supported OS versions: Sonoma (14), Sequoia (15), Tahoe (26) and Golden Gate (27)
  • Build and test native iOS and macOS applications
  • Support for up to 12 vCPU and 56GB of RAM

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VNC Integration

Namespace supports visual debug access which is invaluable for debugging GUI applications, testing user interfaces, and investigating display-related issues. Access your Mac runners through Remote Display (VNC) directly from the Namespace dashboard.
Tahoe Remote Display
You can also start a VNC session using our CLI:
VNC support is currently available for macOS runners. Support for other platforms is in development.

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Running Custom Applications

You can run your own applications directly on macOS instances using the Namespace Compute API. An instance is created with one or more applications, each pointing at a container image that carries your binary and the command to execute. The macrun example demonstrates the full flow:
  1. Build a darwin/arm64 binary (CGO_ENABLED=0 GOOS=darwin GOARCH=arm64 go build).
  2. Package it into a container image and push it to the Namespace Container Registry.
  3. Create a macOS instance with an InstanceShape (Os: "macos", MachineArch: "arm64") and an ApplicationRequest referencing the pushed image, the Command to run, and its Args.
  4. Wait for the instance to become ready.
See the integrations repository for the complete, runnable example.

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Base Image Selection

When starting a macOS workload on Namespace you can define requirements for the desired base image in form of selectors. The selectors are a sequence of name-value pairs passed to instance creation request. Note that there may be multiple selectors for the same name (all of them will try to be satisfied).

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Available Selectors

These are the available selectors and options: Using these selectors you can identify the following images: macos.version=14.x : macOS Sonoma macos.version=15.x : macOS Sequoia with Xcode 16 macos.version=15.x,image.with=xcode-26 : macOS Sequoia with Xcode 26 and betas macos.version=26.x : macOS Tahoe with Xcode 26 macos.version=26.x,image.with=xcode-beta : macOS Tahoe with Xcode 26 beta macos.version=27.x : macOS Golden Gate with Xcode 27
An image can include multiple Xcode versions under /Applications/Xcode_*.app. Image selectors choose the base image, which determines the installed Xcode versions and the default. They do not select a specific installed patch version. The runner images page lists the Xcode versions included in each image. You can also list the versions on a runner and use xcode-select to switch to the one you need:

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How to Use

The selectors can be specified on the command line when nsc CLI is used:
They are part of InstanceShape message in Namespace SDK.

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macOS Image Updates

Namespace team continuously makes changes to macOS runner images to keep the software up-to-date and add new Xcode versions as soon as Apple releases them. To get notified about upcoming changes and releases subscribe to the RSS feed: Base Images Updates

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OS Simulators

macOS instances ship with the Apple platform simulators, so you can build and test across Apple’s operating systems without physical devices. The available simulators are:
  • iOS
  • tvOS
  • visionOS
  • watchOS
We offer broad simulator support, including the latest Duo simulator.
The latest Duo simulator is only available on macOS Tahoe 26.6.2 with Xcode 27.1-Beta.To see exactly which simulators and device types your macOS instance offers, run the following in your instance:

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Xcode 26 Compilation Cache

Xcode 26 introduces a new Compilation Cache feature that significantly speeds up build times by reusing compiled outputs across checkouts and builds. This feature can be used in conjunction with Namespace Cache Volumes to leverage the compilation cache across CI runs.

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Xcode Caching on GitHub Runners

Xcode caching is fully integrated into Namespace GitHub Runners:
  1. Turn on caching for your runners via Runner Profile or runner labels.
  2. Add namespacelabs/nscloud-cache-action step to your workflow to configure Xcode to use the cache (also SwiftPM and CocoaPods caches):
You can verify that the caching kicks in by looking at the CompilationCacheMetrics section in the logs that xcodebuild outputs:
Last modified on September 21, 2026