Overview
- This week Apple emailed developers and updated support docs to allow universal Mac App Store apps that require macOS 13 or later to be submitted as arm64 (Apple Silicon) only builds.
- Apple told developers to set app build settings to “arm64” only, rebuild the app, and submit the Apple Silicon–only binary to the Mac App Store.
- Intel‑based Mac users will keep the last compatible version of any app that drops Intel support but will not receive future updates for those apps.
- Apple confirmed a three‑stage rollout that begins with update alerts in macOS 26.4, keeps Intel apps running in macOS 27 (Golden Gate) for most cases, and will prevent Intel‑only apps from launching in macOS 28, and it is phasing out Rosetta 2 with narrow exceptions for some older games.
- The change speeds the final software shift from Intel to Apple Silicon by reducing app size and testing burden for developers, but it leaves uncertainty about Intel apps distributed outside the Mac App Store and forces dev teams to weigh how many users still run Intel Macs before dropping support.