[macOS] Support policy changes; Xcode 14 and 16 will be removed from macOS 14 on November 4

[erik-bershel]

Breaking changes

Current support policy:

- all OS compatible versions side-by-side
- for beta, GM versions - latest beta only
- old patch versions are deprecated in 3 months

New support policy:

- only one major version of Xcode will be supported per macOS version
- all minor versions of the supported major version will be available
- beta and RC versions will be provided "as-is" in the latest available macOS image only no matter of beta/GA status of the image
- when a new patch version is released, the previous patch version will be replaced

• What does it means in general terms? Starting from the specified date, all minor versions of Xcode 14 and Xcode 16 will be removed from the macOS-14 image.
• What about other images? These changes will not affect macOS-12 and macOS-13 images. The changes will affect macOS-14 and all subsequent images. As a result, macOS-14-based images will contain only Xcode 15.x versions, macOS-15 images will contain only Xcode 16.x versions, and so on.
• What happens when a new major Xcode beta is released and there is no next revision of the macOS image? Such a beta will be shipped as part of the latest macOS image that supports this Xcode, until the next base macOS image is released, for example: Xcode 16 was shipped as part of macOS-14 until we released macOS-15.

Target date

November 4, 2024

The motivation for the changes

Recently, mainly due to the introduction of the new visionOS platform, macOS-based images have grown to such sizes that they are becoming more difficult to maintain, and users are experiencing difficulties with available disk space, which is critical for completing builds. Parent issue:

• Significantly less available disk space in macos-14-arm64 #10511

Possible impact

Workflows based on macOS-14 will stop running if they depend on Xcode 14 and/or Xcode 16

Platforms affected

• Azure DevOps
• GitHub Actions

Runner images affected

• Ubuntu 20.04
• Ubuntu 22.04
• Ubuntu 24.04
• macOS 12
• macOS 13
• macOS 13 Arm64
• macOS 14
• macOS 14 Arm64
• macOS 15
• macOS 15 Arm64
• Windows Server 2019
• Windows Server 2022

Mitigation ways

Users whose workflows depend on Xcode 14 and/or Xcode 16 will be forced to use the macOS-13 image for Xcode-14 and the macOS-15 image for Xcode-16, respectively. Be aware that macos-13 YAML label refer to Intel-based image.

[Cheesebaron]

This is a bit messed up since macos-15 is not available in Azure DevOps Pipelines. Will they be available in time for this change?

[LotskiAndrej]

This is a bit messed up since macos-15 is not available in Azure DevOps Pipelines. Will they be available in time for this change?

Can we get a response on this?

[erik-bershel]

Hey @Cheesebaron and @LotskiAndrej!

We are working on adding macOS-15 to ADO, but no ETA or promises are available now. I'll publish info in #10686 once available.

[mjosipovic-tgr]

Is there any way to use Xcode 16 currently using macOS-14 ? I run task for checking Xcode version on ADO and got this, but it says it cannot locate xcode 16
Xcode.app
Xcode_14.3.1.app
Xcode_14.3.app
Xcode_15.0.1.app
Xcode_15.0.app
Xcode_15.1.0.app
Xcode_15.1.app
Xcode_15.2.0.app
Xcode_15.2.app
Xcode_15.3.0.app
Xcode_15.3.app
Xcode_15.4.0.app
Xcode_15.4.app
Xcode_16.0.0.app
Xcode_16.0.app
Xcode_16.1.0.app
Xcode_16.1.app
Xcode_16.1_beta_2.app
Xcode_16.app

[erik-bershel]

Is there any way to use Xcode 16 currently using macOS-14 ?

Yes, we have not removed Xcode 16 from macOS-14. It will be done on October 28.

I run task for checking Xcode version on ADO and got this, but it says it cannot locate xcode 16

Recommended task: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/devops/pipelines/ecosystems/xcode?view=azure-devops

[mjosipovic-tgr]

Thanks for the response, but since I'm using MAUI, I cannot add xcWorkspacePath, and ADO crashes if I don't enter anything.
I tried like this also

- task: Bash@3
  displayName: 'Set Xcode Version to 16'
  inputs:
    targetType: 'inline'
    script: |
      sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode_16.0.app/Contents/Developer

But it cannot locate the file

[randyburden]

@mjosipovic-tgr, I am currently using the same command line command you are using with macOS-14 to set it to use Xcode 16 and it works fine.

sudo xcode-select -s /Applications/Xcode_16.app/Contents/Developer

I'm using the classic pipeline editor:

[mjosipovic-tgr]

I tried it few times, changed the order of the tasks in yaml, and managed to get it to work, tnx for the responses.

[ddramowicz]

Can you please clarify what the final decision is on this? It appears that this was implemented in this PR #10834 and then reverted again yesterday in this PR #10962 ...

[erik-bershel]

Hey there! 👋

Due to a combination of factors (including some unexpected issues with dependencies on Xcode 16), we've decided to mitigate the issue by reverting Xcode 16 to macOS-14 images. We'll be working on the notification model and testing, and will be back with more details on upcoming changes and plans.

[dsmitchell]

Please keep Xcode 16. Thanks to Xamarin.UITest we need to build IPA's with Xcode 16 and run the tests with Xcode 15.4

[yasali]

Hey there! 👋

Due to a combination of factors (including some unexpected issues with dependencies on Xcode 16), we've decided to mitigate the issue by reverting Xcode 16 to macOS-14 images. We'll be working on the notification model and testing, and will be back with more details on upcoming changes and plans.

When we will be able to see the changes, Xcode 16 is still not available with macos-14-xlarge runner?

[mjosipovic-tgr]

Hey there! 👋

Due to a combination of factors (including some unexpected issues with dependencies on Xcode 16), we've decided to mitigate the issue by reverting Xcode 16 to macOS-14 images. We'll be working on the notification model and testing, and will be back with more details on upcoming changes and plans.

@erik-bershel I hope you don't remove it from macOS-15 since I managed to got it to work.

[yasali]

Hey there! 👋
Due to a combination of factors (including some unexpected issues with dependencies on Xcode 16), we've decided to mitigate the issue by reverting Xcode 16 to macOS-14 images. We'll be working on the notification model and testing, and will be back with more details on upcoming changes and plans.

@erik-bershel I hope you don't remove it from macOS-15 since I managed to got it to work.

Which Xcode version it works for you in macOS-15?

[mjosipovic-tgr]

@yasali xcode 16

[tkhho]

Hey there! 👋

Due to a combination of factors (including some unexpected issues with dependencies on Xcode 16), we've decided to mitigate the issue by reverting Xcode 16 to macOS-14 images. We'll be working on the notification model and testing, and will be back with more details on upcoming changes and plans.

@erik-bershel Will this happen on Azure DevOps as well? We have there the same issues like on GitHub Runners, but still don't have the Xcode 16 on mac os 14 again. Our builds are blocked right now.

[Utsira]

This change means it is not impossible to build against iOS 17 and iOS 18. Can the iOS 17 Simulator be added to the macOS-15 image please?

[yeftha]

Hey there! 👋
Due to a combination of factors (including some unexpected issues with dependencies on Xcode 16), we've decided to mitigate the issue by reverting Xcode 16 to macOS-14 images. We'll be working on the notification model and testing, and will be back with more details on upcoming changes and plans.

@erik-bershel I hope you don't remove it from macOS-15 since I managed to got it to work.

Which Xcode version it works for you in macOS-15?

@yasali , what fix you have given to make xcode16 work on macOS-15. Can you please help me.

[yasali]

Hey there! 👋
Due to a combination of factors (including some unexpected issues with dependencies on Xcode 16), we've decided to mitigate the issue by reverting Xcode 16 to macOS-14 images. We'll be working on the notification model and testing, and will be back with more details on upcoming changes and plans.

@erik-bershel I hope you don't remove it from macOS-15 since I managed to got it to work.

Which Xcode version it works for you in macOS-15?

@yasali , what fix you have given to make xcode16 work on macOS-15. Can you please help me.
We are using Xcode 16.1 with macOS-15, it works well now.

[erik-bershel]

Hey there again! 👋

When we will be able to see the changes, Xcode 16 is still not available with macos-14-xlarge runner?

At the same time with the Standard Runners and Microsoft Hosted Runners. We are working on providing ETA and details.

@erik-bershel Will this happen on Azure DevOps as well? We have there the same issues like on GitHub Runners, but still don't have the Xcode 16 on mac os 14 again. Our builds are blocked right now.

Yeah, it will be there too. The deployment of changes has not yet begun due to preparatory work. But we understand how pressing this issue is and we are really making every effort to speed up the solution to the problem.

Please keep Xcode 16. Thanks to Xamarin.UITest we need to build IPA's with Xcode 16 and run the tests with Xcode 15.4

It seems we forced to keep it, yes. We will work on another strategy to reduce disk space usage after mitigating the current situation with the macos-14.

[erik-bershel]

Hey @yasali and @yeftha!

I will be very grateful if you share the problems you have when migrating from macos-14 to macos-15 or simply when using the macos-15 image. This can be done either as a separate issue or here. Sooner or later the macos-15 image will be the latest and we would like to resolve all possible problems by then.

[dsmitchell]

@erik-bershel if space is an issue, might I suggest keeping only the latest Xcode 14, latest Xcode 15, and Xcodes 16.x.

It's no accident, for example, that when I create a new Xcode app and target a lower iOS version (e.g. iOS 16), by default Apple targets 16.6, not 16.0.

This gives us the most stable of each previous version, and a fallback when current versions introduce a bug.

Hope this helps

[yeftha]

Hey @yasali and @yeftha!

I will be very grateful if you share the problems you have when migrating from macos-14 to macos-15 or simply when using the macos-15 image. This can be done either as a separate issue or here. Sooner or later the macos-15 image will be the latest and we would like to resolve all possible problems by then.

Hi @erik-bershel ,

I am running the pipeline in Azure DevOps, using xcode16.1 with macOS-15, getting below error at install apple certificate task.

Error message
Error outputting keys and certificates
40AB5345F87F0000:error:0308010C:digital envelope routines:inner_evp_generic_fetch:unsupported:crypto/evp/evp_fetch.c:355:Global default library context, Algorithm (RC2-40-CBC : 0), Properties ()
Could not find certificate from
##[warning]Error parsing certificate. This might be caused by an unsupported algorithm. If you're using old certificate with a new OpenSSL version try to set -legacy flag in opensslPkcsArgs input.
##[error]Error: /usr/local/bin/openssl failed with return code: 1
Finishing: InstallAppleCertificate

can you please help me on this

[MerSpyro]

@yeftha For this you can check th solution provided by mjosipovic-tgr in
#10703 (comment)

[erik-bershel]

Heads up! ⏰

To provide immediate mitigation, we have decided to roll back the current macos-14 images in production to the previous stable version from October 22. This should take about 24 hours, but may take up to 48 hours for some specific cases that can be worked around with a restart.