Amp gives coding agents cloud Macs for iOS and macOS development
macOS Satellites let an agent build, test and run Apple apps on an ephemeral Mac while its main development environment stays on Linux.
Amp has launched macOS Satellites, a beta feature that lets its coding agents start cloud Macs to build, test and run iOS and macOS applications.
The main agent thread still runs on a Linux orb beside the project’s development server and toolchain. When Apple tooling is required, Amp can boot a fresh Mac with Xcode and simulators in about 30 seconds, synchronize the code and use that machine only for macOS-specific work. Screenshots, logs, builds and screen recordings return to the thread, and the developer can watch or take control of the Mac.
The split design addresses a practical limit of cloud coding agents: Apple’s build and simulation tools require macOS, but running the entire development environment on a Mac can be slower and more expensive. Amp says its beta usage showed that agents needed a Mac for only part of a typical thread, making an on-demand machine more efficient.
Each Mac is ephemeral. Amp keeps it available for 20 minutes after use so follow-up requests can reuse the build cache, then deletes it. A six-CPU, 14 GB machine costs 2 dollars per hour, while a 12-CPU, 28 GB option costs 4 dollars per hour.
The feature is opening gradually through a waitlist in Amp’s experimental settings. It makes autonomous development more practical for Apple platforms because agents can now compile code, launch simulators and inspect the result instead of stopping at text edits.
