Apple Reminds Developers App Updates Must Support 64-Bit Starting June 2018, Warns Customers About Unoptimized Apps

[MacRumors]

Apple today reminded developers about upcoming changes being made to the Mac App Store. Starting on June 1, all new app updates submitted to the Mac App Store must support 64-bit.

Apple already requires new apps submitted to the Mac App Store to offer 64-bit support, a change that went into effect in January of 2018, so this upcoming policy shift will only affect older apps that have not yet implemented 64-bit support.

Along with the warning to developers, Apple says customers who are running the latest macOS 10.13.4 update will begin receiving warning messages when launching a 32-bit app for the first time to let them know that the app is not optimized for their Mac. According to TechCrunch, these warnings will start at midnight Pacific Time on April 12.

With the recent release of macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, the first time users launch an app that does not support 64-bit they will see an alert that the app is not optimized for their Mac.

As a reminder, new apps submitted to the Mac App Store must support 64-bit, and starting June 2018, app updates and existing apps must support 64-bit. If you distribute your apps outside the Mac App Store, we highly recommend distributing 64-bit binaries to make sure your users can continue to run your apps on future versions of macOS.

Apple used a similar warning system when phasing out 32-bit support on iOS before eventually ending support with iOS 11, and the company has said the same plan will be used as 32-bit Mac apps are phased out.

Apple first warned developers and consumers about the impending Mac App Store changes starting last June at the 2017 Worldwide Developers Conference. Apple is slowly ending support for 32-bit Mac apps and has said macOS High Sierra will be the "last macOS release to support 32-bit apps without compromises" and "all future Mac software will eventually be required to be 64-bit."

Article Link: Apple Reminds Developers App Updates Must Support 64-Bit Starting June 2018, Warns Customers About Unoptimized Apps

 

[AngerDanger]

Any word from the developers of App regarding whether or not there’s a 64-bit version in the works? I use App all the time and would be lost without it.

 

[FelixDerKater]

How bad would it hurt to keep it backwards-compatible?

 

[Nermal]

I must ask... why is Apple hiding stuff behind timers? If my OS started behaving differently one day - when I hadn't installed any updates - then I'd wonder whether I had some form of malware (less likely on MacOS but still technically possible).

 

[chromite]

Why even bother going to 64 at this point when 128 is right around the corner?

Apple’s stupidity never ceases to amaze.

 

[sputnikv]

Given the sorry state of the Mac App Store and the rumored cross-breeding of iOS Apps with MacOS, there's probably no better time for this transition.

 

[Baymowe335]

Why even bother going to 64 at this point when 128 is right around the corner?

Apple’s stupidity never ceases to amaze.

I wish I could be $900B stupid and the most profitable company is history.

 

[Alexander Becker]

Why even bother going to 64 at this point when 128 is right around the corner?

Apple’s stupidity never ceases to amaze.

I don't think that's the point at all. The point is to push developers to ditch 32. Apple has been in world of 64 for a while.

 

[macintologist]

Could somebody clarify that this will only affect MAS apps and not all Mac apps that are 32 bit? I have some older universal binary 32bit apps that I still want to be able to use, and hopefully they won't be obsolete in two years.

 

[CptSky]

Could somebody clarify that this will only affect MAS apps and not all Mac apps that are 32 bit? I have some older universal binary 32bit apps that I still want to be able to use, and hopefully they won't be obsolete in two years.

They plan to remove 32 bits support from the OS in the future, it includes non-MAS apps.

 

[martyjmclean]

I can't update Compressor, but is it finally 64 bit?

 

[york2600]

I don't think that's the point at all. The point is to push developers to ditch 32. Apple has been in world of 64 for a while.

Apple wants to dump the 32bit libraries from the OS. It's a pretty big win for the development of macOS to rid themselves of that code and maintenance work.

Source: I'm currently sitting waiting on a 32bit build to pop out of Jenkins. It takes 3x longer than my 64bit builds because of "reasons" and constantly holds up our development.

 

[pianoman88]

So Microsoft will finally convert Office for Mac to 64 bit. Perhaps the performance will improve. One can hope.

 

[iapplelove]

A while back, I think it was like 2 major updates ago I lost a few Mac apps from developers not updating.

 

[Seoras]

Saw this post and thought "what could I have that's so old it's 32 bit?"
Aha! Microsoft Office 2008 !
Just as well I used it's (32 bit) un-installer while I still could.
Good riddance.

 

[Westside guy]

If you have 32-bit apps, you can easily stay on High Sierra for at least a couple more years. Apple has been pretty consistent about keeping the three most recent versions of OS X / macOS patched for security holes, and it's not as if new versions of the OS have added a whole lot of "gotta have it" features in recent memory.

 

[smithrh]

So Microsoft will finally convert Office for Mac to 64 bit. Perhaps the performance will improve. One can hope.

Already 64 bit.

Don't equate 64 bit to performance.

 

[Tech198]

Just think the same happened on iOS....

...then "double it"

As soon as Apple makes themselves aware of it as well like DVD player, them all should be good

 

[szw-mapple fan]

Why even bother going to 64 at this point when 128 is right around the corner?

Apple’s stupidity never ceases to amaze.

The sheer ignorance in this comment is as amazing as “apple’s stupidity” is to you. 128 bit OS’s right around the corner? The number of bits refers 2 to the power of that many bits of addressable locations. That means the addressable locations is 4,294,967,296 for 32 bit processsors and over 18,446,744,073,709,551,616 for 64 bits. This in turn means the the most RAM per process we could have for a 32 bit computer is 4GB while for 64 bit, which is about 16 exabytes. It’s more than conceivable that we won’t have need for 128 bit environments for decades to come.

EDIT: clarification about the maximum amount of RAM.

 

[dogslobber]

A while back, I think it was like 2 major updates ago I lost a few Mac apps from developers not updating.

If Apple offered binary compatibility then those older apps would work. It's pretty terrible to not be backwardly compatible but Apple doesn't care about end users software investment.

 

[btrach144]

So Microsoft will finally convert Office for Mac to 64 bit. Perhaps the performance will improve. One can hope.

It's coming

https://dev.office.com/mac-office-64-bit-transition

 

[lostngone]

Apple took my Floppy Drive and ADB ports!!!

 

[DonutHands]

It's coming

https://dev.office.com/mac-office-64-bit-transition

Its been here, Office 2016/Office 365 for Mac has been 64 bit since 2016.

If you are still on Office 2011, well, time to get out of the dark ages or switch to Pages/Numbers/Keynote... lololololololol

 

[Jetpaction]

Office for Mac 2016 has been 64-bit since 15.25, released in August 2017. Office for Mac 2011 is an EOL product so people still on that need to make the jump to 2016 (or 2019 which is coming in September of this year) anyway.

More importantly, what will happen to Apple's own DVD player.app?

 

[asiga]

There’s no reason to do this, Apple, except if reason is your new arrogance to force the world into your will. As a developer, when we moved all our code from 32 to 64-bit, it became whatever-bit compatible (yes, even 128-bit or whatever), because we use C/C++ standard type sizes. We can safely build and run in both 32 and 64 bits now. So, unless you’re using bad code practices, keeping 32-bit compatibility is no effort for you.

This is even another bad point for you Apple. I’m sick I just cannot answer “no” to your endless and repetitive and boring nagging popups... first it was iOS, now it’s MacOS as well. I’m sick of having to answer “not now” and being asked next week again. In the past, Apple products were the ones that let you answer “no”, but now it’s always “yes, sir”, “your will sir”, “as you wish sir”, and I’m fed up with all this.

As a developer, being able to continue testing my code in 32 bit is a must (I build for 64 bit but I still build for 32 in order to check the quality and compatibility of my code). So I guess 10.13 is the last MacOS versión I’ll use.
[doublepost=1523509750][/doublepost]

Apple wants to dump the 32bit libraries from the OS. It's a pretty big win for the development of macOS to rid themselves of that code and maintenance work.

You mean MacOS has specific 32-bit code? Are they coding like in the 80s or what? Anybody who has been maintaining their code for the last two decades should have a bit-independent source tree as of now.