Building iOS apps without owning a Mac

A practical walkthrough for developers on Windows or Linux

The problem

• Xcode only runs on macOS
• App Store builds must be signed and archived on a Mac
• Buying new hardware just for one project is hard to justify

Option: rent a dedicated Mac mini

• A remote Mac mini M4 you reach over remote desktop or SSH
• Xcode, Homebrew and Git preinstalled
• Monthly rental instead of a hardware purchase

A workable workflow

• Write code on your usual machine
• Push to Git, pull on the remote Mac
• Build, test on the simulator and archive in Xcode
• Upload to TestFlight from the same machine

Why a dedicated machine

• Never shared, so builds are predictable
• Always on: scheduled builds and overnight test runs
• One consistent environment from any location

Try it

CCRent rents dedicated Mac mini M4 machines with Claude Code preinstalled: ccrent.org

CCRent is an independent provider, not affiliated with Anthropic.