[macOS 14] Xcode 16.0 will be replaced by Xcode 16.2 in macOS-14 images on January 6, 2025

[sarathrajsrinivasan]

Breaking changes

Xcode 16.0 will be replaced by Xcode 16.2 in both macOS-14 Intel and ARM images.

Target date

Image deployment will start on January 6, 2025 and will take 3-4 days.

The motivation for the changes

This is to keep in accordance with our support policy for macOS14:

• Will include all minor releases of Xcode 15 with the full platform tools suite.

• Will now also include two minor releases of Xcode 16 (excluding visionOS tools). These will follow a “last two” principle, with the oldest replaced by the newest as updates are released. Beta versions will not be included.

Possible impact

Workflows based on Xcode 16.0 will fail.

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

Upgrade from Xcode 16.0 to Xcode 16.1 or 16.2 to continue with the workflows.

[Kyome22]

@sarathrajsrinivasan
As stated in the "Installed Simulators" section of the README, the iOS Simulator 18.2 is not installed in the environment, so the test cannot be executed.
https://github.com/actions/runner-images/blob/main/images/macos/macos-14-arm64-Readme.md#installed-simulators

Furthermore, if you specify iPhone 16 and iOS 18.1 instead, the test will not run.

[wiesnery]

I am having the same issue and had to solve it by manually installing the 18.2 simulator. Unfortunately this downloads about 8GB and takes about 5 minutes longer...

[FuzzyKart]

I am having the same issue and had to solve it by manually installing the 18.2 simulator. Unfortunately this downloads about 8GB and takes about 5 minutes longer...

Thank you for sharing it!

But, it can't be the only way to use a stable macOS agent version.

@sarathrajsrinivasan, can we have some feedback on that issue? It is really blocking us, so we would appreciate it if you provide an ETA for that.

[wiesnery]

@FuzzyKart If it is blocking you, the script you need to run is:
xcodebuild -downloadPlatform iOS -buildVersion 18.2
But I agree that this should be fixed asap as it is eating my credits: ~5 minutes x10 multiplier for the MacOS runner...

[erik-bershel]

Images with the Xcode 16.2 delivered, so I am going to close this item.
Separate issue for those affected by 18.2 simruntime issue: #11335