Rosetta Mac App Translation Process Can Take 20 Seconds on First Launch [Updated]

[MacRumors]

Given that Apple's new M1 chip is designed based on ARM architecture, apps built for Intel's x86 architecture will need to be run through Apple's translation layer Rosetta 2 in order to function on Apple Silicon Macs, and this process can take some time.

Microsoft this week indicated that when launching any of its Mac apps for the first time on Apple Silicon Macs, the apps will bounce in the dock for approximately 20 seconds while the Rosetta 2 translation process is completed, with all subsequent launches being fast. This applies to Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, OneNote, and OneDrive.

Apple's developer documentation acknowledges this matter, noting that the Rosetta 2 translation process "takes time" and that users "might perceive that translated apps launch or run more slowly at times" as a result:

If an executable contains only Intel instructions, macOS automatically launches Rosetta and begins the translation process. When translation finishes, the system launches the translated executable in place of the original. However, the translation process takes time, so users might perceive that translated apps launch or run more slowly at times.

To avoid this translation process, developers can create a universal binary for their apps, allowing them to run natively on both Apple Silicon Macs and Intel-based Macs with one executable file. Microsoft is one of many developers in the process of doing so.

A handful of apps have already been announced with universal support, including Darkroom, djay Pro AI, and OmniFocus.

The first Macs with the M1 chip will begin arriving to customers Tuesday.

Update - November 14: Microsoft has since changed the wording of its support document, and now simply says that the first launch of each Office app "will take longer," rather than specifying 20 seconds. We’re told this is because Microsoft has not yet confirmed exact speeds on production hardware.

Article Link: Rosetta Mac App Translation Process Can Take 20 Seconds on First Launch [Updated]

 

[Rudy69]

This is by far the ideal situation. You can't really beat ahead of time translation, pretty much will be faster once it's done no matter what.

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

20 seconds is about the same amount of time it takes me to launch and use most crappy electron-based apps.

A single 20 second wait for an automatic and near native binary? Bargain if you asked me.

 

[and 1989 others]

To translate an application as massive as word, in up to 20 seconds is quite impressive. ~2Gb of application data.

 

[KPOM]

I wonder how this will work with apps that require JIT translation.

 

[G725]

It would be interesting to see a comparison of native Geekbench and Rosetta Geekbench.

 

[ani4ani]

I am not familiar with Rosetta, but will it translate any x86 program, e.g. Visio or similar?

 

[bugFinder]

I wonder if Rosetta 2 will work with MacTex. I need LaTex and I don't want to completely rely on Overleaf.

 

[Starfia]

"… with all subsequent launches being fast."

That's going straight into my unofficial MacRumors style guide.

 

[rjohnstone]

I am not familiar with Rosetta, but will it translate any x86 program, e.g. Visio or similar?

No... it will only translate apps written for MacOS. Visio is a Windows only product.

 

[MacMediaNet]

Will Rosetta 2 work with crappy Java applications?

 

[zorinlynx]

Will Rosetta 2 work with crappy Java applications?

Possibly, though those applications will probably run native once the Arm native JRE comes out.

 

[ani4ani]

No... it will only translate apps written for MacOS. Visio is a Windows only product.

Ok thanks, so it will translate x86 Word MacOS version but not the Windows Word version

 

[appleguy123]

This is actually really good. I was expecting Rosetta 2 to work like the original Rosetta and have to translate the code in real time.

 

[sarcosis]

Ok thanks, so it will translate x86 Word MacOS version but not the Windows Word version

Yup that's right. Rosetta 2 will only translate Intel based macOS based applications. If you have a Windows application, it will not be translated since that has another whole bag of tricks you need to deal with (windows registry entries, dependant dll's, etc.). That being said, I'm wondering why they don't do this upon installation and just make the install process longer instead of doing it on first launch. Seems a bit off on the UI/UX considering after about 10 seconds, I just assume the darn thing crashed.

 

[Lord Hamsa]

I suppose given that developers are being encouraged to update their apps to be universal means it's unlikely that we'd just see Rosetta translation occur at install time instead of first launch, but really, it's a small price to pay for the backwards compatibility.

 

[Roller]

If subsequent launches are faster, the translated code must be stored somewhere. I wonder how much storage that will take and what that could do for systems with not much free space on disk.

 

[farewelwilliams]

have you tried Slack?

 

[Unggoy Murderer]

If subsequent launches are faster, the translated code must be stored somewhere. I wonder how much storage that will take and what that could do for systems with not much free space on disk.

If it's translated, there's probably no need to keep the old binary - I imagine it'll be deleted.

 

[Lucifer666]

If it's translated, there's probably no need to keep the old binary - I imagine it'll be deleted.

Right. Makes no sense to store. There‘s no going back to anything except your old notebook.

 

[predation]

every time the app is launched?

 

[Lucifer666]

every time the app is launched?

No, it seems. Just once.

 

[midkay]

This seems like a real non-issue in that it only happens once. However, I’m a bit surprised they didn’t go the one step further and pre-perform this translation during installation, as opposed to waiting for the user to attempt to launch the app.

 

[anson42]

Possibly, though those applications will probably run native once the Arm native JRE comes out.

I just tried googling for progress on that but came up empty, just talk of Microsoft and Azul and others working on it. I expect we'll see OpenJDK first but it's unclear which versions will be Arm native.

 

[steve217]

Could not Apple translate the apps on the App Store and create universal binaries for the M1 chip?

That would save a lot of energy as opposed to translating on each client.