Allison discusses the public preview release of the macOS 26 image for GitHub Actions, detailing how developers can use the latest Xcode and workflow labels for iOS CI/CD tasks.

Actions: macOS 26 Image Now in Public Preview

Developers can now leverage the latest Xcode technology by utilizing the new macOS 26 image in their GitHub Actions workflows. This allows building and testing iOS applications on up-to-date infrastructure directly within the CI/CD process.

Supported Runner Labels

The following labels are available for specifying the new macOS image in your workflow YAML:

  • macos-26
  • macos-26-xlarge

You can configure your workflow with these labels:

runs-on: macos-26

Or for a larger runner:

runs-on: macos-26-xlarge

Limitations and Compatibility

  • The macOS 26 runner image is currently only available on arm64 macOS runners. It is not supported on Intel-based runners.
  • This image includes updated tools and tool versions versus previous macOS images (e.g., macOS 15).
  • For more details about installed software, refer to the runner-images repository.

Getting Started

To try out the new image, update your runs-on: field in your GitHub Actions workflow YAML to one of the supported labels. This will enable ARM-based macOS 26 workflows for your builds and tests.

For issues or questions, visit the runner-images repository to view software lists or submit feedback.

Further Reading:

This post appeared first on “The GitHub Blog”. Read the entire article here