Last June at WWDC25, Apple announced that Rosetta 2, the software that translates Intel apps to Apple silicon, would be discontinued after macOS 27. Now Apple will start warning users about apps that will soon be incompatible.
At WWDC20, along with the announcement of Macs transitioning to Apple silicon, Apple launched Rosetta 2. This is a translation layer that allows Apple silicon-based Macs to run applications built for Intel models. However, as with the switch to Intel, Rosetta 2 was meant to be temporary.
At WWDC25, Apple announced that Rosetta 2 will be fully supported through macOS 27. Starting with macOS 28, Rosetta 2 will be largely retired. Apple says that after that point it will “maintain a subset of Rosetta features focused on supporting older unmaintained game titles that rely on Intel-based frameworks.”
Starting today with macOS 26.4 beta 1, users will now be warned when launching an app that requires Rosetta 2 that it will be discontinued soon.
macOS 28 is likely to be released in the fall of 2027, so users still have plenty of time to make sure their apps are updated to native versions of Apple’s silicon. The pop-up window introduced in macOS 26.4 is intended to provide users with timely information about the change so that they can search for updated versions of the application. It also serves as a reminder for developers who haven’t yet updated their apps to be native on Apple silicon.
As a reminder, macOS 26 will also be the last release for Intel-based Mac models. After that, Apple says Intel Macs will continue to receive security updates for three years.
Chance Miller contributed to this story.
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