Is there a way to track what application resulted in a Rosetta install?

[Ethosik]

When I installed Steam it didn’t prompt me to install Rosetta???

Is this something I should be concerned about? I’m am nearly certain I canceled on the only Rosetta prompt I had. But still Steam did not prompt it and it does show it’s running as Intel.

 

[iStorm]

System Information -> Software -> Applications

Is there anything that says 'Intel' in the 'Kind' column?

Any particular reason why you're trying to avoid Rosetta? It's nothing to be concerned about, imo.

System Information User Guide for Mac

In System Information on your Mac, create a system report.

support.apple.com

 

[dmccloud]

I was trying to avoid installing Rosetta on my new M2 Ultra Mac Studio. The only thing I noticed that still required it was Steam so I did not install it right away. I finally gave in and installed it, but it didn’t prompt me to install Rosetta??? I received the prompt a few days ago because I accidentally downloaded an Intel binary vs arm of a product. I am certain I hit cancel as I later downloaded the arm version of the product.

Is this something I should be concerned about? I’m am nearly certain I canceled on the only Rosetta prompt I had. But still Steam did not prompt it and it does show it’s running as Intel.

Or is it just a fluke, and I’m not remembering right and accidentally installed Rosetta a few days ago? I heard something that Homebrew silently installs Rosetta? But I tried on my laptop and it still doesn’t have Rosetta.

Homebrew does not silently install Rosetta. In fact, the default HB installation is ARM64. You would have to switch to an X86-64 Terminal (using the 'arch -x86_64 zsh' command) to even install that version of Homebrew. I am intrigued as to why you are trying to avoid installing Rosetta though. It has no measurable impact upon system performance or stability, especially given how it works compared to the original Rosetta.

 

[leman]

I’m also puzzled why you’d want to avoid installing Rosetta? I mean, your choice is your own obviously, but it doesn’t strike me as a rational obsession.

 

[Ethosik]

System Information -> Software -> Applications

Oh wow. Does App Store silently install Rosetta? I see Carrot Weather being Intel. That might explain it.

 

[mr_roboto]

I just didn’t want it. And that’s not the point of this topic either. Not really sure why this thread needs to turn into multiple people asking me why I do or don’t want something installed. I just….wanted to stick with arm builds of products. And Rosetta will eventually go away.

How does not installing Rosetta help? If an Arm build exists, thanks to Apple's Universal Binary technology, 99% of the time you're getting it in literally the same download and file as the x86 build. Even the OS itself is like that - nearly all the applications and other executables distributed as part of macOS are Universal. (Applies both ways too, if you install Ventura on an Intel Mac, you're getting Arm code.) Third party apps are generally the same. Universal builds are very convenient for devs because they eliminate a separate download and the possibility that the user will download the wrong thing.

People are asking you why because it's this weird obsession that comes up every once in a while and they want to understand the alien mindset. You're not the only one, there's a tiny number of people who seemingly think installing Rosetta is almost like infecting their computer with something, and they want it to be pure. But nothing bad actually happens if you have it around, you just get to use more software.

 

[ovbacon]

Oh wow. Does App Store silently install Rosetta? I see Carrot Weather being Intel. That might explain it.

Unless your Mac was a completely fresh instal and not anything migrated from a previous Mac there is a good chance that there are remnants of old applications that show up in this list even if you do not actually have the applications on the machine or use them.

 

[Ethosik]

Unless your Mac was a completely fresh instal and not anything migrated from a previous Mac there is a good chance that there are remnants of old applications that show up in this list even if you do not actually have the applications on the machine or use them.

Mac is completely fresh, no migrations etc. I did install Carrot Weather from the App Store, but it did not prompt me to install Rosetta.

EDIT: I have confirmed this is the case. I installed Carrot Weather on my laptop and it did not prompt me to install rosetta. But Rosetta got installed. Thanks to iStorm for pointing me in the direction of System Information.