Virtual machines & images
Amazon EC2 Mac instances: Azure equivalent
Azure has no first-party macOS VM offering comparable to EC2 Mac instances.
On Azure, macOS builds usually run on Microsoft-hosted macOS agents in Azure Pipelines or GitHub Actions, or on third-party Mac hosting.
Side-by-side comparison
| Aspect | Amazon Web Services | Microsoft Azure |
|---|---|---|
| Service | Amazon EC2 Mac instances | No first-party equivalent |
| Lifecycle | Generally available | — |
| What it is | Bare-metal Apple Mac mini and Mac Studio hardware (Intel, M1, M1 Ultra, M2, M2 Pro, M4, M4 Pro) for macOS and iOS builds. Runs only on Dedicated Hosts with a 24-hour minimum allocation. | — |
| Pricing model | Billed per Dedicated Host per second, with a 24-hour minimum. Savings Plans apply. | There's no Azure service to price. Hosted macOS CI minutes are billed by Azure DevOps or GitHub under their own plans. |
| Docs | Amazon EC2 Mac instances docs | — |
| Pricing page | Amazon EC2 Mac instances pricing | — |
| Exams | SAA-C03 | — |
Key differences
- EC2 Mac instances are bare-metal Mac minis or Mac Studios (Intel, M1, M1 Ultra, M2, M2 Pro, M4, M4 Pro) on Dedicated Hosts, with a 24-hour minimum host allocation and one instance per host.
- Hosted CI runners on Azure DevOps or GitHub provide ephemeral macOS build machines, but they're CI jobs, not persistent VMs you administer.
Pricing summary
Pricing models only. No prices are quoted because they change by region and over time.
- AWS
- Billed per Dedicated Host per second, with a 24-hour minimum. Savings Plans apply. Amazon EC2 Mac instances pricing →
- Azure
- There's no Azure service to price. Hosted macOS CI minutes are billed by Azure DevOps or GitHub under their own plans.
Certification exam mapping
| Exam | Provider | Level | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate SAA-C03 | AWS | Associate | current Italian version retires after Dec 31, 2026. |
Relevance is based on each exam's published scope, not a line-by-line objective match. Check the official study guide.
Verification notes
- "No Azure equivalent" is based on the absence of macOS in the Azure VM size and image catalog. Third-party Mac clouds exist but aren't covered here.
FAQ
Does Azure have an equivalent to Amazon EC2 Mac instances?
Azure has no first-party macOS VM offering comparable to EC2 Mac instances. On Azure, macOS builds usually run on Microsoft-hosted macOS agents in Azure Pipelines or GitHub Actions, or on third-party Mac hosting.
How does pricing compare between Amazon EC2 Mac instances and Azure?
AWS: Billed per Dedicated Host per second, with a 24-hour minimum. Savings Plans apply. Azure: There's no Azure service to price. Hosted macOS CI minutes are billed by Azure DevOps or GitHub under their own plans. Check the official pricing pages for current rates.
Which certification exams cover this topic?
AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate (SAA-C03).