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Amazon Web Service’s (AWS) Elastic Compute Cloud, or EC2, is an easy and secure way to deploy “resizable compute capacity in the cloud.” There are many compute components with Amazon EC2, which now includes Apple hardware and software. Inside each Mac instance, you will get an actual Mac mini with an 8th gen Intel i7 Processor with 6 cores/12 threads alongside 32GB of memory. Also, there are plans for Apple M1 SoCs to come to AWS EC2 instances in 2021, so keep an eye out for those. If you want to find out more about how the Mac mini came to be a part of AWS, you can watch the trailer below:
When anyone sets up a cloud-based Mac mini, they will be able to choose either macOS Mojave (10.14) or macOS Catalina (10.15), with macOS Big Sur (11.0) coming to the environment soon. While pricing is not clear right now, it can be estimated that the mac1.metal instance will cost no more than $.50/hr, which is comparable to other instances at roughly the same spec. This expected pricing and ease of use will make developing on the Apple platform much easier and more cost-effective for all. If you want to learn more about the Mac instances, you can do so here.
