Choose the intended Xcode toolchain explicitly on the hosted runner. Original conceptual illustration for MacDigest.
GitHub has promoted its Xcode 27 hosted runner image to general availability. The announcement dated October 15 confirms macOS 27, Apple silicon and the existing xcode-27 and xcode-27-xlarge labels. Workflows already using those labels need no change for the GA transition.
Choose the runner and check billing
The image is available only on arm64 hosts. Teams requiring Intel-hosted tools or tests should check compatibility before changing their runner label; host architecture alone does not determine every application architecture a build can produce.
The standard xcode-27 runner supports public and private repositories. Standard usage is free for public repositories; private repositories use included minutes before additional charges apply.
The larger-runner option, xcode-27-xlarge, requires an organization or enterprise on GitHub Team or Enterprise Cloud. It incurs per-minute charges for both public and private repositories, without using included minutes.
Select the Xcode build you need
The inventory for image 20261012.0260.1 lists Xcode 27.0, build 27A266a, as the default at /Applications/Xcode_27.app.
Xcode 27.1, build 27A9275, is also listed, at /Applications/Xcode_27.1_Release_Candidate.app, with /Applications/Xcode_27.1.app as an alias. That build number matches Apple’s October 15 release listing. The RC-named directory therefore needs context; its name alone does not establish a different build.
For jobs requiring 27.1, select the documented installation explicitly. Apple supports DEVELOPER_DIR for command-scoped selection, which overrides the active developer directory without administrator privileges.
Verify each job’s image
GitHub’s image policy describes weekly updates. A major-version label does not freeze the installed tools, and this inventory is a dated snapshot rather than a guarantee about every future job.
Before merging a CI change, inspect the job’s image version, selected Xcode build, available SDKs and simulator destinations. Exercise signing and release packaging where relevant.
Some GitHub reference tables still mark these labels as public preview; the GA status above follows the newer announcement. This article is documentation-based. We have not run the image or tested a migration.
