Apple Confirms Mojave is the Last macOS Release to Support 32-Bit Apps

[MacRumors]

As expected, Apple confirmed yesterday during its WWDC keynote that macOS 10.14 Mojave will be the last version of macOS to support legacy 32-bit apps.

Apple commenced its plan to begin phasing out 32-bit apps on Macs in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4. When a 32-bit app is opened in High Sierra, users get a warning about its future incompatibility with the macOS operating system.

Likewise, when opening 32-bit apps in macOS 10.14 Mojave (beta 1), users are shown a dialog box with a similar message telling them that "This app will not work with future versions of macOS". Clicking "OK" on the prompt then allows the app to open.

Currently, the warning is only shown one time for each app. That could well change in subsequent betas of macOS Mojave, however, since Apple previously said it would include "aggressive" warnings about 32-bit apps in the next version of macOS after High Sierra before they are phased out entirely.

32-bit app warning in macOS 10.14 Mojave (beta 1)​

Apple's effort to phase them out on Macs mirrors the path it took when ending 32-bit app support on iOS devices. In iOS 10, Apple provided increasingly more insistent warnings to let users know that their apps wouldn't work with future versions of iOS before phasing out 32-bit support entirely in iOS 11.

Once 32-bit apps are phased out on Macs, they won't be able to be used at all, so users will need to find replacements for older 32-bit apps that aren't likely to be updated to 64-bit. You can find out which apps on your Mac are still running in 32-bit by following our how-to guide.

Article Link: Apple Confirms Mojave is the Last macOS Release to Support 32-Bit Apps

 

[StellarVixen]

So, one more year for MilkyTracker... ^.^

I was thinking it's gonna be sooner.

 

[2013.1]

A virtual machine for InDesign CS6

 

[Rudy69]

It’s not like 64bit just came out. Makes sense, devs have had plenty of warnings

 

[jayducharme]

Frankly, I'm surprised Mojave didn't drop 32-bit support. Apple usually pushes forward relentlessly and I was fully expecting it to happen with this next release. I've been proactive and have already jettisoned all of my 32-bit apps. It was painful, but had to be done I guess.

 

[loby]

It’s not like 64bit just came out. Makes sense, devs have had plenty of warnings

Yes, this is old news and Apple has given plenty of warning. People on this forum will still moan and grown about the change regardless.

There are probably good reasons why now to stop 32-bit drivers and apps and not that it is just evolution of technology.

if I remember correctly back in my security days, it may have to do with security holes etc. with drivers and coding. (my guess) the resent Spectra and the many other vulnerabilities associated with intel’s cpu’s may accelerate the need for exit. Again, just my thoughts and past experiences.

 

[skitch444]

This support drop-out will change hardware of next year or nothing at all?

 

[ikir]

Sadly most devs not Apple
Focused will discover this when they will be flooded by emails. Most older games ported to macOS years ago will not run.

 

[gemoritzt]

A virtual machine for InDesign CS6

What are the advantages of InDesign CS6 towards CC?

 

[Jerion]

The overall 'attitude' around Mojave seems to be shaping up in the vein of Snow Leopard, at least in the sense that this will probably be the release that stubborn gits like myself stay on for ages.

 

[nwcs]

What are the advantages of InDesign CS6 towards CC?

Licensing. CS6 was the last perpetual license Adobe offered. With CC you pay on subscription but if you ever stop subscribing you lose access to all your assets. Adobe could stop the madness if they implemented a simple “you get a perpetual license after you subscribed x period of time to the last version you subscribed to”. I would subscribe in a heartbeat if they did. The could even hike the price of re-subscribing if you subscribed and got a perpetual license. I would be fine with that. But they won’t do that. They want you over the barrel.

 

[RogerWilco]

It would be nice if Apple released a version of Sierra that users could legally run in VirtualBox.

 

[MasConejos]

On one hand, I'm all for dropping 32-bit support. On the other, I have large Steam and GOG collections where pretty much every title is 32-bit. I know that probably 95% of titles wont be ported to 64-bit. This is going to hit Mac gaming really hard.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Dedicate a hard drive, SuperDuper or CCC, boot into that drive when you need things to "just work." I've still got a Snow Leopard drive like that for when I need to reach further back with Rosetta.

Comments like "Devs have been warned" etc are fine, but some great software will NOT be upgraded. Not all devs care enough to evolve software paid with money already long since realized and likely long gone by now. And yet, select apps are quite good and useful.

 

[macduke]

Makes sense as they’re merging UIKit into AppKit next year.

 

[soupcan]

Right, and what about all those games (yes there are games on macOS) that won’t get any change to a 64 bit engine at all? Those stop working too then huh?

 

[picaman]

Including Apple in regards to a lot of DVD authoring apps. And Toast. I emailed Craig Federighi about this and got no response. I hope they have a solution as currently a lot of these apps are still 32-bit.

 

[lunarworks]

There's going to be a healthy market for older Macs once this happens. So many professionals have indispensable apps that will never get updated.

 

[MyopicPaideia]

Maybe they will finally release macOS 11.0 one of these years... or maybe we’ll see macOS 10.99, anyone?

Thoroughly agree nixing support for 32bit apps is going to be much more impactful for Mac than it was for iDevices. The corporate world doesn’t move nearly as quickly as the consumer one.

Geez, some very large enterprise organizations are still using some pretty ancient systems based on OS’s from the early to mid 90’s!

 

[smulji]

Makes sense as they’re merging UIKit into AppKit next year.

If anything, it's the other way around. Apple will merge the UI features of AppKit into UIKit. Also, AppKit is 64-bit. It's the Carbon libraries which are 32-bit.

 

[BeatCrazy]

It would be nice if Apple released a version of Sierra that users could legally run in VirtualBox.

Jeez, I always assumed you could run a recent macOS in a VirtualBox guest environment, especially if your host is macOS.

I purposely try to move to newer 64-bit software in anticipation of this upcoming change. However, some things like my Logitech Harmony app are still 32-bit and I'm worried Logitech won't update it. How the hell am I supposed to update my remotes?

 

[macduke]

If anything, it's the other way around. Apple will merge the UI features of AppKit into UIKit. Also, AppKit is 64-bit. It's the Carbon libraries which are 32-bit.

Good to know.

 

[SnarkyBear]

Just last month I finally got rid of my old white plastic MacBook (2008) that I was running Snow Leopard on. I used it to keep some of the old 16 bit games that were never updated to 32 bit. Guess its time to pick up and older MacBook Air (or Pro) with High Sierra and install my current batch of games so I can play them over the next 10 years. If I have to do this once a decade, I guess I can accept the inevitable march of progress.

 

[GoodWheaties]

Sigh. Civ V is 32bit. No bueno.

 

[alzatron]

It’s not like 64bit just came out. Makes sense, devs have had plenty of warnings

Apple's 'DVD Player' and iDVD are STILL 32-bit programs.

Optical media is now making a massive comeback with the advent of M-DISC, because of its 1000 year lifetime. Governments and industry alike are now utilizing optica media, (M-DISC) because it is considered the most stable and longest lasting data storage that exists today.

More of our clients are asking for things to be delivered on M-Disc DVDs (and Blu-rays)