WWDC’s keynote will celebrate macOS 27, but it will also be a funeral for Intel Macs. The final countdown for their apps starts tomorrow.

The introduction of Apple Silicon immediately put a timer on the Intel Mac experience. Apple Silicon was the company’s new direction, and that everyone should migrate that way or be left behind.

Evolve or die. Except less morbid and that it really dealt with software and hardware support.

As the years have progressed, the migration to an Apple Silicon existence has marched onward. There’s no signs of it stopping until it reaches the end, when Apple no longer actually supports any Intel Mac at all with its operating systems and software.

Cupertino’s multi-year impression of the Terminator crossed with the Borg has already claimed some scalps. In 2025’s WWDC Platforms State of the Union address, Apple confirmed macOS 26 Tahoe will be the last major release to include native support for Intel Macs.

That means macOS Tahoe is the last Apple-created operating system you can install on Macs using an Intel chip.

Hardware communities such as OpenCore and Hackintosh users have braced for the end for over a year already. They all know that, hardware-wise, the time has come.

Intel hardware won’t be making the move to macOS 27. Software that uses it, though, will.

Rosetta 2 goes on, for now

Reusing a trick from a previous architecture transition, Rosetta 2 is a macOS feature that translates Intel-based Mac apps to run on Apple Silicon Macs. This is handled automatically, and without modifying the source code of the app itself.

There’s a small performance hit, but otherwise the app runs fine.

The whole point of Rosetta 2 was to buy some time for both app developers and Mac users. The users get to keep running their existing collection of Intel macOS apps, while developers update them to work on Apple Silicon.

Back in the day, you were asked to install Rosetta 2 if you ran an Intel app on an Apple Silicon Mac. – Image Credit: Apple

Developers also benefited from a universal app, namely an app package that contained both Intel and Apple Silicon versions. To users, they wouldn’t have to remember whether they were using an Intel or Apple Silicon Mac, as they’d just install one app.

While you can expect universal apps to hang around for a few more years, Rosetta 2 won’t last as long.

During the same Platforms State of the Union address, Apple told developers that they need to get their apps supporting Apple Silicon in time for macOS 28.

This doesn’t mean that Rosetta 2 will be killed off entirely. Really, it’s only being scaled back to only support legacy apps that won’t get updated again, like really old games.

Don’t worry, your game saves are probably going to be playable for a while longer. To developers, this means embracing Apple Silicon if they haven’t already done so, assuming they care about their game.

Developers don’t have to go full Apple Silicon either, as they can still service Intel Mac users with the universal app package. This is especially good for apps that have a very large user base, who may be more likely to hold onto their older hardware.

They just can’t expect to produce just Intel-only apps and expect to build their audience.

Update your damned apps, people

While developers have their marching orders from Apple, it’s only half of the audience that should pay attention. End users should, too.

Like many other long-time users of Apple’s ecosystem, AppleInsider is a collection of digital packrats. We have excessive software collections, including apps and tools that are probably old enough to vote.

However, many users will be thinking that their existing apps are already fine, because they run on their Apple Silicon hardware. But, if they’re Intel-only apps, they’re running through Rosetta 2, which makes them a ticking timebomb of annoyance.

Universal apps support both Apple Silicon and Intel Macs.

Updating the apps is a pretty straightforward way to migrate, but there’s no guarantee that the apps will switch to an Apple Silicon version. It’s easy to check your own Mac app collection for compatibility, too.

Many developers have already made the jump, with DoesItARM.com listing 52.2% of apps as running natively on Apple Silicon. If we factor out the 38.4% of questionable listings that “need info,” that works out to be a massive 84.7% of apps on the site being Apple Silicon-native.

That is a very encouraging sign, but there’s also 7.4% that work on Rosetta, or 12% if we ignore the “need info” group. While the current “unsupported” group is 2%, that will raise significantly if these Rosetta-needing apps don’t get an Apple Silicon alternative.

There’s also the issue of trusting a developer or a company leaving it late to bring out an Apple Silicon-supporting version of an app. If they’re this late to the party already, there may be other things to worry about on the horizon.

You may have a year to still comfortably use your apps, but seriously consider giving your library a check-through for any Intel-only apps. You’ll have plenty of time to either nag the developers to see sense, or to replace the stragglers with an alternative.

To be fair, you should act like a digital Marie Kondo and get rid of apps that don’t spark “joy” anyway.

Hardware hangups

This is, of course, discussed from the angle of users who have already moved to Apple Silicon. I do have to acknowledge that there are some who are still using Intel Macs, and don’t really intend to make the upgrade.

For computer archivists and historians, and those into retro computing in general, it’s completely understandable to use the older hardware. There’s no argument about that at all.

But, for those who have paid a lot for their Intel Mac and feel it still suits them fine, I implore you to check out Apple Silicon.

The last Intel Mac was the Mac Pro sold in 2023

The claims during the launch of it being much faster than Intel were true. Years and multiple chip generations later, things have only become faster and better.

Sure, there’s the sunk-cost fallacy to deal with, in that you want to get your money’s worth from spending thousands on a Mac Pro.

Yes, we understand that the Mac Pro has its place as an upgradable computer for specialized applications. But really, it was a status symbol that can now be outpaced by a suitably kitted-out MacBook Pro.

The performance gains, even from models that aren’t top-of-the-line, is very real and should be considered. You’ll get over what you spent on your previous Mac, eventually.

Even if your Intel Mac is a mission-critical system for your business, seriously think about making the change. At some point, the metaphorical wheels will come off that wagon, and preventative upgrades are better than dealing with a potentially expensive cure, accompanied by severe downtime.

Monday’s WWDC keynote and Platforms State of the Union will introduce many new shiny features and a massive amount of AI news. What it also brings is the end of Intel hardware updates, and Apple’s preparation to sound the death knell for Intel apps.

It’s two messages that users may miss, but really should listen out for.

Last week’s Sunday Reboot asked Craig Federighi to make the WWDC announcements a little less AI-focused, and to make AI actually matter for once.