After an initially limited time offering, Apple has announced that its Apple Developer Program memberships now include 25 hours of compute time in Xcode cloud at no additional cost.
All Apple Developer Program memberships include 25 hours of Xcode Cloud
Initially, Apple had only planned to offer the 25 hours for free until the end of 2023. However, now the company says "all Apple Developer Program memberships will include 25 compute hours per month on Xcode Cloud as a standard" and will not require any additional payment.
If developers need additional hours, they can purchase them via subscription in the Apple Developer app for iPhone and iPad.
Xcode Cloud allows development teams to collaborate more efficiently, especially remotely. It automatically builds apps for all Apple devices and platforms, freeing up a developer's Mac to accomplish other tasks. It also allows developers to test apps on simulated current Apple hardware and makes it easy to deploy builds via TestFlight.
In June 2021, Apple began rolling out Xcode Cloud to developers for beta testing.
During WWDC 2022, Apple provided details about Xcode Cloud to developers, alongside new APIs such as WeatherKit.