macOS 27: Intel apps quietly say goodbye
With macOS 26.4, there are further clear indications of the end of support for Intel applications. However, it won't happen overnight.
Blue Intel sign in front of a building with a glass facade: Apple now only likes Apple Silicon.
(Image: Tada Images/Shutterstock.com)
Macs with Intel processors are still active for many users, after all, Apple only initiated its switch to ARM chips in 2020. But the end of the x86 era at the Cupertino-based company is approaching: macOS 26 is the last version of the operating system that will run on these machines at all; from macOS 27 onwards, it must be an Apple Silicon Mac. But it doesn't stop there: from macOS 28 onwards, apps compiled for these systems will no longer be usable. Apple is now issuing this warning again clearly, as beta testers of macOS 26.4 report.
Apple does not want to further develop Rosetta 2
If you try to start a corresponding program, it won't simply start. Instead, Tahoe provides a pop-up window stating that this app will no longer be functional in the future. This is because Apple plans to equip only macOS 27 with the translation layer Rosetta 2. After that – meaning at the latest from autumn 2027 – it will be over, and apps will simply no longer run.
Videos by heise
Rosetta 2 had made the transition from the x86 architecture to ARM machines stress-free – in fact, Intel code runs just as fast or even faster on Apple Silicon computers, for which Apple received a lot of praise. However, the company does not want to support the old architecture forever and is therefore now drawing a line.
Example Switch to 64 Bit
The new pop-up, which will likely be introduced with macOS 26.4 from April or the end of March, is also intended to help put pressure on developers who have still not switched their apps to Apple Silicon code. Apple's thinking: Users who receive the message complain to the developers – and they will then hopefully finally take action. Whether this will really happen is unclear, however. It is quite possible that developers either have no resources to make the adjustment – or that it is simply no longer worth it for them. This could mean that familiar usage workflows will come to an end from 2027 with macOS 28, and alternatives will have to be sought.
In the recent past, there has already been such an example under macOS: Apple switched from the familiar 32-bit architecture to the 64-bit architecture. With macOS from 2019, support for 32-bit apps then ended. Developers who shied away from the investment in a conversion simply stopped participating – and users were left without app support.
Empfohlener redaktioneller Inhalt
Mit Ihrer Zustimmung wird hier ein externer Preisvergleich (heise Preisvergleich) geladen.
Ich bin damit einverstanden, dass mir externe Inhalte angezeigt werden. Damit können personenbezogene Daten an Drittplattformen (heise Preisvergleich) übermittelt werden. Mehr dazu in unserer Datenschutzerklärung.
(bsc)
