Apple Pushes Developers to Ditch Intel Apps: Embrace Future Tech Now!

September 17, 2026

Sunlit developer desk with laptop, notepad and cable on a windowsill
Apple had already removed, in June, the requirement for developers to support x86_64 architecture in their universal apps requiring macOS 13 or later. Now, the company is actively encouraging developers to adopt this change. In an overnight email, the Apple Developer Relations Team outlined the benefits and the steps needed to drop support for Intel-equipped Macs:

We are informing you that macOS universal apps available on the Mac App Store that require macOS 13 (or later) can now drop support for Macs with Intel processors.

By eliminating Intel processor support, you can streamline development and optimize your application’s size, both for download and storage on the device.

To remove Intel support, set your application’s build settings to “arm64” only. Then recompile your application and submit it to the Mac App Store.

This fall marks the sixth anniversary of Apple’s launch of its M1 chip. The transition is nearly complete: macOS 27 Golden Gate, set to be released later this month, will be the first system not to support any Macs with an Intel processor. Currently, Rosetta 2 still enables Intel apps to run on Apple Silicon setups. However, with macOS 28, Apple will start to phase out this support, offering only a “subset of Rosetta features designed to support legacy games not maintained, which rely on Intel frameworks.”

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