The Rosetta Era is Ending for Mac Users
Apple is ending Rosetta 2 support with macOS Golden Gate. Learn how to control which apps are affected.
Apple is gradually ending its reliance on Rosetta 2 technology, which enables Intel-based applications to run on Mac computers with Apple silicon processors. While Rosetta is expected to lose its functionality for many applications with macOS version 28, this will cause software that uses the technology in question to stop working.
The company started the first warnings about Rosetta’s end of life with macOS Tahoe. With the macOS Golden Gate version, these warnings have been made much more obvious.
Detecting Apps Using Rosetta
Users are notified by the system when they run applications that require Rosetta or when they restart their Mac computers. macOS Golden Gate also brings a new interface that lists applications that will stop working in the future.
To access this list, simply click on the Details option by following Settings, General, About and Intel-Based Applications. The interface clearly shows which applications will lose support, giving users time to contact developers or find alternative solutions.
macOS Golden Gate does not automatically install Rosetta. For this reason, when you try to open old Intel-based applications for the first time, you may encounter a short installation process.
System Restrictions and Transition Process
Components that depend on Rosetta, such as authentication plugins and pre-login utilities, cannot be installed in macOS Golden Gate. Apple designed Rosetta to facilitate the transition from Intel processors to Apple silicon architecture.
However, the company stopped selling Intel-based Mac models years ago and now only offers devices with Apple silicon processors. macOS Tahoe is the last major version released for Mac models with Intel processors.
The newly released macOS Golden Gate necessarily requires a Mac with an Apple silicon processor for my setup. The complete removal of Rosetta support is seen as a part of Apple’s strategy to completely sever its ties with Intel architecture.
Are you wondering if you are experiencing problems with applications that use Rosetta on your current system?
