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Andy Jassy, CEO of Web Services at Amazon.com Inc., speaks at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Summit in San Francisco on April 19, 2017.
David Paul Morris | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Amazon’s cloud division announced on Tuesday the availability of new virtual computing instances for software developers running Apple’s MacOS operating system, representing an alternative to Microsoft Windows and open-source Linux.
Amazon Web Services controls the cloud infrastructure market and has tried to maintain its lead against Google and Microsoft in part by regularly adding to its vast assortment of tools. No major cloud vendor to date has created a means to rent remote computing infrastructure with MacOS from their clouds. As a result, at least initially, Amazon has a lead in attracting customers to AWS, which is Amazon’s main source of operating income.
Rather than running MacOS on its standard computer servers, AWS is tapping into Apple’s Mac Mini computers, equipped with the Intel Core i7 chip, to provide EC2 virtual compute instances with MacOS, according to a statement. The instances run on bare metal, meaning a developer will get the full power of a Mac, rather than virtual machines, which provide small virtual sections of physical computers, a spokesperson on CNBC said Monday. Mac Mini instances have chips based on Apple’s M1 Arm will arrive in 2021, AWS said in a blog post.
Developers can put early versions of their applications into instances to run the necessary tests before rolling out updates to end users. Instances provide a way to remotely use Mac-specific software such as the Xcode Integrated Development Environment. Through Xcode, developers can upload apps to the Apple App Store. Alternatively, developers can do this with existing Mac computers or by relying on Mac specialists like MacStadium.
Intuit, a major AWS customer, has started using the new Mac instances and Amazon’s Ring subsidiary plans to use them. Instances are available from five of AWS’s 24 data center regions around the world, according to the statement.
Amazon and Apple have a close relationship. Apple’s iCloud services rely on AWS. Apple was spending over $ 30 million on AWS last year. The two companies began working closely on EC2 instance development with MacOS about a year ago, said Dave Brown, vice president of EC2, during a press session. AWS is buying Mac Mini from Apple to provide Mac instances, the spokesperson said.
AWS’s annual Reinvent conference, normally a gathering of customers, software makers and employees in Las Vegas, kicked off Monday as an online event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Correction: This article has been updated to include the correct number of data center regions in which AWS operates.
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