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macOS 27 Golden Gate Is the Last to Support Intel Apps via Rosetta 2

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macOS 27 Golden Gate is the final version of macOS to feature full Rosetta 2 support, meaning the translation layer that keeps Intel-built apps running on Apple silicon Macs is set to disappear entirely with next year's major macOS release.

rosetta-2.jpg

Golden Gate is the first macOS release limited to Apple silicon Macs and marks the end of the road for Intel-based hardware, but the implications reach Apple silicon owners too.

Rosetta 2 is the dynamic binary translator Apple introduced alongside the M1 chip in late 2020. It currently allows Intel-compiled apps to continue running on Apple silicon without modification. Apple first confirmed this timeline at its Platforms State of the Union during WWDC 2025:

Rosetta was designed to make the transition to Apple silicon easier, and we plan to make it available for the next two major macOS releases — through macOS 27 — as a general-purpose tool for Intel apps to help developers complete the migration of their apps. Beyond this timeframe, we will keep a subset of Rosetta functionality aimed at supporting older unmaintained gaming titles, that rely on Intel-based frameworks.
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With macOS 27 Golden Gate now in beta testing, that commitment has reached its final stage. Apple silicon Mac owners running Intel-only apps have one macOS release left before those apps stop working.

Apple began warning users ahead of the cutoff. With macOS 26.4 and 26.5, a system alert surfaces whenever a user launches an Intel-only app, flagging that support will end in a future macOS release. The notifications are designed to give both end users and developers time to find or build native Apple silicon alternatives before the deadline arrives.

Most widely used apps have been updated with native Apple silicon support in the six years since the transition was announced in 2020. Developers and organizations still dependent on Intel-only software, however, will need to find replacements or push for updated builds before macOS 28 ships, or simply remain on macOS 27.

Golden Gate also automatically uninstalls Rosetta 2 if you had it installed in macOS 26 Tahoe, so those who need to continue using it will have to reinstall the feature.

macOS 27 Golden Gate is currently in beta for developers, with a public beta coming next month and launch expected in September.

Article Link: macOS 27 Golden Gate Is the Last to Support Intel Apps via Rosetta 2
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2026/06/10/macos-golden-gate-last-to-support-intel-apps/
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Reactions: SFjohn and Z-4195
Rosetta 2 is more than just a great tool for migrating to Apple Silicon. The M-series Macs are wonderful in that I can used docker containers to build/run ARM and X86_64 Linux containers. This is a big win for developers and makes the MacBookPros so much more valuable as a development tool.

If they drop support for MacOS apps to run, that would be fine, but keep the technology to make the MacOS systems so much more valuable as a developer workstation.
 
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mcscot said:
That's a bonus, I swear we were told that it would be discontinued with the next (now Golden Gate) release ?
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We weren't, it's always been after macOS 27.

I just hope Kerbal Space Program is one of the games that will remain supported by the restricted Rosetta after macOS 27.
 
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There’s still _one_ Intel-era Mac app that I use because I found no better replacement, but its developer hasn’t updated it in 10+ years and so there’s little hope. Oh well, this was inevitable.
 
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I was still getting the little toast notification for Steam as recently as several weeks ago, but they seem to now be stepping up beta releases and it's now gone. Don't believe I have any abandoned apps left.
 
I find it strange overall to see comments from people here and elsewhere that seem almost happy about this.. As it stands now, if you were to install macOS 26, there's "no Intel Support" yet until you try to install something that then needs to download Rosetta 2.. If you don't have a need to install anything Intel related, you're already there? What's the issue?
 
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gank41 said:
I find it strange overall to see comments from people here and elsewhere that seem almost happy about this.. As it stands now, if you were to install macOS 26, there's "no Intel Support" yet until you try to install something that then needs to download Rosetta 2.. If you don't have a need to install anything Intel related, you're already there? What's the issue?
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Part of Apple's success is to push developers to adopt the latest and greatest by cutting off old technology. This obviously has major up sides and down sides. Youll notice Rosetta 1 hasnt been a thing in over a decade, if your app was built on powerPC you are out of luck. 32 bit apps? Dead for almost half a decade. Thats just the way Apple does things.

Microsoft is on the other end of the spectrum where apps from the 1980s can still run. Although lately MS has been turning that around because it is an absolute maintenance nightmare and it is the same reason why they are struggling to get developers to support ARM.

Microsoft sees ARM is the future but their position has made their ARM transition last 10+ years, and while it is much better, its still bad. VS apples extremely smooth M series transition.
 
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Actually the annoying part of the alerts is if your app is dual (i.e. ARM and intel) you get an alert that "part of your application" is going to stop working in the future. Uh... Why would removing Rosetta make the ARM part stop working? The intel part shouldn't be doing anything if you're running native. This didn't happen in the PowerPC to Intel transition...
 
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MKSoft said:
Rosetta 2 is more than just a great tool for migrating to Apple Silicon. The M-series Macs are wonderful in that I can used docker containers to build/run ARM and X86_64 Linux containers. This is a big win for developers and makes the MacBookPros so much more valuable as a development tool.

If they drop support for MacOS apps to run, that would be fine, but keep the technology to make the MacOS systems so much more valuable as a developer workstation.
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You could i.e. use Docker Desktop's own VMM to emulate AMD64, but it is indeed a lot slower than Rosetta.
 
miric said:
Why? I get these notifications in Sequoia while launching Intel apps:

View attachment 2637063

I treat the part of the message "in a future release of macOS..." as it should be Golden Gate. On the other hand, it may be understood in another way 🤷‍♂️
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Why? Because we were specifically told last year that Rosetta 2 support would extend up to macOS 27. The pop-up message states the app “will not open in a future release of macOS”. It doesn’t say in the next release (27). I can see how one may get confused and it’s most likely intentional, to nudge users to find alternatives or contact their software providers with questions. I’ve already gotten questions from clients about Epson Printer/Scanner software because of this pop-up.
 
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gank41 said:
I find it strange overall to see comments from people here and elsewhere that seem almost happy about this.. As it stands now, if you were to install macOS 26, there's "no Intel Support" yet until you try to install something that then needs to download Rosetta 2.. If you don't have a need to install anything Intel related, you're already there? What's the issue?
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The issue is as long as Rosetta is still possible some developers (Native instruments, Waves etc) are dragging their feet in building solutions that don’t depend on it anymore. Even a lot of installers still prompt users to install Rosetta 2 before being able to proceed (even though the appnor plugin may be native). That’s an issue when I want to keep my system fully AS native. I also think that should not be such a big ask (to bot have to rely on Rosetta) 6 years after the introduction of AS.
 
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Scipster said:
Why can’t they just leave it in?
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They can’t just leave it in because then developers don’t update their apps for Apple Silicon since the apps “work” and we’d never get proper native performance. As its stands it’s been over 6.5 years and some developers still ship Intel-only software for Mac (Epson printers, for example). For many apps the performance hit is negligible but for others going Apple Silicon native was night and day.
 
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