What people run on a rented machine

A rented VM or Mac mini is ordinary macOS with administrator rights that stays on around the clock. First of all people run AI tools on it: Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, their own agents and automation. The agent runs on the machine itself; the model is your own cloud AI service. The second big job is building and signing iOS and macOS apps, CI and App Store publishing.

AI agents and Claude Code

An agent needs a computer that does not sleep, does not close with your laptop lid and is not busy with your own work. Rent remote macOS — a virtual machine or a whole Mac mini — and run your AI tools on it: in a terminal over SSH, or on the desktop over Screen Sharing.

Good for

Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI and other terminal agents — on a VM
Long-running jobs around the clock while your laptop is off
Agents that need the macOS GUI, a browser or Xcode
Many agents in parallel and heavy projects — on a whole Mac
A sandbox: the agent cannot break your main computer

iOS builds and CI

Building an iOS app needs a Mac with Xcode. If you do not have one, or yours is busy, rent a macOS virtual machine or a whole Mac mini: for a day for a one-off build, or by the month for a permanent CI runner.

Good for

A one-off build and signed release without owning a Mac
A self-hosted GitHub Actions or GitLab runner
Checking a build against a specific Xcode version
Cross-platform projects: Flutter, React Native, KMP

App Store publishing

Uploading to App Store Connect needs a Mac: Xcode Organizer, Transporter or xcrun. On a rented VM or Mac mini you sign in with your Apple ID, sign the build with your certificates and submit it for review.

Good for

Uploading builds to App Store Connect and TestFlight
Signing and notarising macOS apps
An urgent release when your own Mac is not at hand

Just a remote Mac

Sometimes you need a Mac for a day: check a site in Safari, run a macOS-only program, sign a file or chase a bug that only reproduces on a Mac. Rent a VM or a Mac mini for a day and connect from Windows, Linux or another Mac.

Good for

Testing sites and web apps in Safari
Software that only exists for macOS
One-off jobs that take a day or two

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