does a particular application need Rosetta?

Dannymac22 wrote:

Looking ahead to Golden Gate, I'm trying to assess which of my applications are not Silicon native. If you look at Get Info for a specific application there is often a check box

Official Apple Support Community

What exactly does that mean?

I believe it means that

• The application is a Universal application that contains both Apple Silicon code and Intel code.
• You are on an Apple-Silicon-based Mac, and have the choice to run the Apple Silicon code, or to run the Intel code under Rosetta 2 translation.

If that check box is not present, does it mean that the application does need Rosetta to be opened, and you don't get a choice?

It means that there is no choice because

• You are on an Intel-based Mac, or
• The application only contains one kind of machine code

This does not imply that the application requires Rosetta to be opened. An Apple-Silicon-only application wouldn't have the checkbox because there is no Intel code that could be fed to Rosetta 2.

The purpose of that check box is somewhat mysterious.

Rosetta 2 cannot handle processes containing both Apple Silicon application code, and Intel application code. The application code must be all one or the other.

So let's say that you have an Apple Silicon Mac, and a Universal version of Photoshop, and third-party plug-ins that run within Photoshop.

• If you leave [ ] Open with Rosetta unchecked, the Mac will run the Apple Silicon version of Photoshop. You won't be able to use Intel plugins.
• If you check off [X] Open with Rosetta, the Mac will run the Intel version of Photoshop and any Intel plugins under Rosetta 2 translation. This could let you keep using a treasured collection of old Intel-only plugins, at a moderate cost in performance, and at the expense of not letting you use Apple Silicon plugins.

When macOS 28 comes out, and kills poor Rosetta 2, the [ ] Open with Rosetta box will go away. If presented with a Universal application, macOS 28 will run the Apple Silicon code and ignore the Intel code, every time. (Causing that Intel code to be so much "dead weight" on an Apple-Silicon-based Mac.)

And Intel-only plugins will die the same death as Intel-only applications…

Dannymac22 wrote:

Looking ahead to Golden Gate, I'm trying to assess which of my applications are not Silicon native.

Option-click Apple menu at the top left > System Information > Applications to check whether the app is Apple Silicon, Intel, Universal (=both), etc:

It means that the application contains both Apple Silicon and Intel code. For programs without that box, look at the Kind line in the Get Info window.

(265393)

Installed already with the macOS, 

from the Finder>Go>Go to Folder> copy & paste:

/System/Library/CoreServices/Rosetta 2 Updater.app

(there is no space after the copy&paste.... )

if you still have an issue:

Using Intel-based apps on a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

Dannymac22 wrote:

Except for me, MY current version is 26. For me, 27 is a "future release". So the error message doesn't know what OS I'm running. OK, that's slightly sensible. Again, the error message could be more explicit and say WHICH OS Intel apps won't run under.

The message indicates “a future release”, and mcOS 28 is “a future release”.

English can be such sweet sorrow.

You can log your feedback about this with Apple: Feedback - macOS - Apple

As for the current macOS version, macOS 27 does make it easier to find translated apps, as well

Thank you. That support page is very useful. But you mentioned "Rosetta 2".

That was quoting your reply, which I’d infer arose from another poster’s earlier reference to ‘Rosetta 2”.

Is there an upgrade to Rosetta or is there really just one Rosetta?

There is only one version of Rosetta that matters here, and it is that version of Rosetta that is (mostly) going away.

Ah, yes, I now understand. The original Rosetta was just to upgrade PPC applications to Intel.

And the original Rosetta which was removed long ago; at OS X 10.6.

So the one I have must be Rosetta 2.

Rather than exploring the subtleties of Apple and English-language error messages, best follow these instructions:

• Using Intel-based apps on a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

Dannymac22 wrote:

Looking ahead to Golden Gate, I'm trying to assess which of my applications are not Silicon native.

macOS 27 Golden Gate will be the final macOS version with full Rosetta 2 support, giving developers one more year to move Intel apps to Apple silicon.

But that's inconsistent with the error message I see. I'm on Tahoe, and I see for some apps

Isn't this telling me that this app will not work on Golden Gate? Now, what is Rosetta 2? As far as I know all I have is Rosetta.

OK, thank you. I guess that's saying that if you select this box, the app will run with Rosetta in Intel code. If the box is not selected, the app will run without Rosetta with Silicon code. the app can run either. Yes?

1. It says that the application won't run in a future OS release without specifying which one.

2. The version you have. The earlier Rosetta was for running PowerPC software on Intel Macs and removed in Lion 10.7.

3. That's correct.

(265394)

When opening an Intel-based app, you might be notified that support is ending for Intel-based apps, and that the app or a component used by the app will not work with a future release of macOS (macOS 28). 

Golden Gate 27.2

OK, that's a bit thin. The error message is NOT saying it won't work in the next OS (which for me is Golden Gate 27), but actually for SOME future OS. Which you're saying is actually 28. The error message should just say that explicitly, if that's what they mean.

Dannymac22 wrote:

…Isn't this telling me that this app will not work on Golden Gate?

Nope. macOS 27 is the current version. Not a future version. The future version is macOS 28.

Now, what is Rosetta 2?

Rosetta is an app translation tool that allows apps written for Intel x86 processors to work on computers not built with Intel x86.

As far as I know all I have is Rosetta…

Here is what Apple suggests doing for any remaining Intel x86 apps prior to (an upgrade to) the (future) macOS 28:

• Using Intel-based apps on a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

Except for me, MY current version is 26. For me, 27 is a "future release". So the error message doesn't know what OS I'm running. OK, that's slightly sensible. Again, the error message could be more explicit and say WHICH OS Intel apps won't run under.

Thank you. That support page is very useful. But you mentioned "Rosetta 2". Is there an upgrade to Rosetta or is there really just one Rosetta?

Ah, yes, I now understand. The original Rosetta was just to upgrade PPC applications to Intel. So the one I have must be Rosetta 2.

Dannymac22 wrote:

OK, that's a bit thin. The error message is NOT saying it won't work in the next OS (which for me is Golden Gate 27), but actually for SOME future OS. Which you're saying is actually 28. The error message should just say that explicitly, if that's what they mean.

macOS 28 is what they mean. I'm pretty sure they made an announcement to that effect at WWDC (or some place like that), and there is also this Support documentation:

Using Intel-based apps on a Mac with Apple silicon - Apple Support

About the Rosetta translation environment | Apple Developer Documentation

Thank you. That is a pretty definitive list. Interesting that when you click on "Applications", it takes a minute or so to come up with a list. I presume "Universal" means that the application can be run either with intel or Silicon, wherein Get Info gives you the choice of whether to run with Rosetta.

My goodness., I did that, with the Rosetta 2 Uppdater, and it said it did it. Am I to understand I did NOT have Rosetta 2 installed? How does one check and see which Rosetta one has installed?