Figment vs Simcentric: Mac Hosting Compared

Verdict: two different hardware classes, two different entry prices

Simcentric publishes a single Mac mini plan — Intel Core i7 6-core (3.2–4.6 GHz), 32 GB DDR4, 512 GB PCIe SSD, configurable 1–10 Gb network — at USD $364 per month from a Tier 3+ facility in Hong Kong (simcentric.com/products/mac-mini-server/). It includes 24/7 support and redundant power and cooling. If you specifically need a dedicated physical Intel Mac in APAC, that spec earns the price.

For most iOS and macOS teams, Figment's M-series Mac from $95/month is the better starting point: it is Apple silicon, which is the only path forward for Xcode 27, visionOS, and ARM-only runtime targets. If you want CI configured for you from day one, Managed Build Mac at $249/month adds CI setup, backups, monitoring and 30 minutes of monthly support on one M-series Mac. If you are still on an Intel-compatible Xcode 26 toolchain and want to spend less, Figment's $29 virtual Intel macOS runs on Linux/KVM and can execute Intel command-line builds and supported Intel Xcode releases — it is a real macOS environment, not a jumpbox to someone else's Mac — and the $49 physical i3 Mac mini is collected by request until supply is confirmed.

Ready to move? Request your configuration at /mac-hosting/start.

Published plan and effective cost

At the listed monthly rate Simcentric is $4,368/year. Figment's M-series entry is $1,140/year — a $3,228/year gap at the entry tier. This is an entry-price comparison, not an equal-hardware comparison: Simcentric's listed Mac is a 2020-era 6-core Intel i7 with 32 GB; Figment's $95 is the M-series entry and the exact chip, RAM and disk are confirmed in the quote. Figment physical plans (i3 and M-series) collect requests until supply is confirmed — do not assume instant stock. Taxes and fees apply as stated in each provider's offer; convert to your local currency at your payment network's rate.

Setup fees: Simcentric's pricing page does not publish a setup fee. Simcentric's SLA page describes network remedy credits but does not publish a specific uptime percentage; ask sales for the SLA wording that applies to the Mac mini product.

Hardware, macOS and toolchain fit

Apple's own porting guidance is explicit: Intel Macs must use Xcode 26 or an earlier release (Porting your macOS apps to Apple silicon). Xcode 27 requires Apple silicon. Within the Xcode 26 line the macOS pairing differs by point release, so check Apple's Xcode system requirements for the exact Xcode/macOS pair your team needs. macOS Tahoe still supports a specific set of Intel Macs (2019–2020 MacBook Pro, 2020 iMac and 2019 Mac Pro) per Apple's Tahoe compatibility list, which is not the same hardware class as Simcentric's listed i7 Mac mini.

Practical implications:

• Intel Xcode 26 can cross-compile arm64 iOS/macOS binaries, build universal macOS binaries, and sign supported targets. It does not execute arm64-only binaries, does not run Xcode 27, and does not host visionOS development.
• Simcentric's Intel i7 mini is a fit if you are pinned to a supported Intel Xcode 26 release and want physical Intel hardware with an APAC presence.
• Figment's $29 virtual Intel macOS covers the same Intel command-line and cross-compile work at a much lower entry price, with browser-console access. It is Intel on Linux/KVM, no GPU acceleration and no audio.
• Anything requiring Apple silicon — Xcode 27, visionOS, arm64 native execution, GPU-heavy Metal work — belongs on Figment's M-series from $95/month, not on any Intel plan from any provider.

Location: Simcentric is Hong Kong-only. For APAC users, artifact stores and App Store Connect reviewers in Asia, that geography is an advantage. US- and Europe-based teams will see higher round-trip times to Hong Kong on every remote session and upload.

A worked cost worksheet

Use your own numbers; this is an example for one developer planning a 12-month deployment.

• Simcentric Mac mini, listed: 12 × $364 = $4,368/year.
• Figment M-series entry: 12 × $95 = $1,140/year. Entry-tier delta vs Simcentric: $3,228/year.
• Figment Managed Build Mac: 12 × $249 = $2,988/year. This includes CI setup, backups, monitoring and 30 min/month support. Delta vs Simcentric: $1,380/year cheaper, with managed CI work included.
• Transition effort (your time): if moving costs you, say, 8 hours at $90/hour fully loaded = $720 one-off. Payback vs Simcentric at M-series entry: $720 / ($364 − $95) ≈ 2.68 months (not two).

Exact Figment hardware at $95 is confirmed in the quote; use the quoted chip/RAM/disk when you commit the comparison to a purchasing document. Simcentric's price above is the single listed Mac mini tier; storage or network upgrades on the Simcentric side change the total.

Measure before you switch

Before cancelling anything, time a real build on your project on both machines. This is an illustrative example, not a reported benchmark:

#!/usr/bin/env bash
# ./time-build.sh /path/to/YourApp.xcodeproj YourSchemeName
# Set DEST to match your project, e.g. "platform=macOS" or
# "platform=iOS Simulator,name=iPhone 16".
set -euo pipefail

PROJECT="${1:?path to .xcodeproj or .xcworkspace}"
SCHEME="${2:?Xcode scheme name from your project}"
DEST="${DEST:-platform=macOS}"

echo "Host $(hostname)  Start $(date -u +%FT%TZ)"
START=$(date +%s)

xcodebuild \
  -project "$PROJECT" \
  -scheme "$SCHEME" \
  -configuration Release \
  -destination "$DEST" \
  clean build

END=$(date +%s)
echo "OK  Host $(hostname)  Elapsed $((END - START))s"

Because of set -euo pipefail, a failed build exits non-zero and never prints a time, so only successful builds enter your comparison. Run it three times on each machine and compare medians. Xcode schedules independent targets in parallel within one scheme, so raw wall time already reflects concurrency on that hardware; do not model build time as a sum of per-target times.

Migrating from Simcentric to Figment

Do these in order to protect credentials.

On the Simcentric machine

• Inventory installed tools: brew leaves > brew-leaves.txt and brew list --cask > brew-casks.txt. Commit to your dotfiles repo. Do not export environment variable values anywhere — they can contain keys.
• Export each signing identity as an encrypted .p12 from Keychain Access (My Certificates → Export → Personal Information Exchange, strong passphrase stored in your password manager). Developer ID Application and Developer ID Installer are different identities; export the ones you actually use.
• Copy provisioning profiles from ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/ to secure storage. These are files; they are not exported from Keychain.
• Write down the names of CI secrets the machine references. Values stay in your CI secret manager; move them through that, not through SSH or files.
• Confirm your CI pipeline, Fastfile and build scripts are in version control.

On the new Figment machine

• Request your Figment plan at /mac-hosting/start. Pick M-series if any part of your roadmap is Apple silicon only; the virtual Intel macOS plan if you are staying on an Intel-supported Xcode 26 toolchain.
• Install Homebrew, then xargs brew install < brew-leaves.txt and xargs brew install --cask < brew-casks.txt.
• Import each .p12 into the login (or a job-scoped) keychain; place provisioning profiles back under ~/Library/MobileDevice/Provisioning Profiles/.
• Restore secret values through your CI provider's secret manager, not plaintext files.
• Update allowlists you control — your Git host, artifact store, internal APIs, VPN — to the new runner's egress address. There is no generic Apple IP allowlist to update.
• Run the timed-build script above and record medians.

Cutover

• Run one full release cycle on Figment in parallel with Simcentric before you cancel.
• Review Simcentric's cancellation terms and submit the cancellation only after the parallel release ships.

Which Figment plan fits

Start at /mac-hosting or request provisioning at /mac-hosting/start.

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