Apple Confirms macOS 27 Will Drop Support for Intel Macs
The change forces recent Intel Mac owners to rely on a promised three-year security window, giving developers a final full Rosetta translation window to finish app migrations.
Overview
- Apple updated its developer site this week to confirm macOS 27 will require Apple silicon and will not install on a set of recent Intel-based Macs.
- The company will unveil macOS 27 at WWDC on June 8, with developer betas available right after the keynote, public betas likely in July, and a wide release expected in September.
- Explicitly excluded Intel models reported by Apple include the 13-inch MacBook Pro (2020, four Thunderbolt 3 ports), 16-inch MacBook Pro (2019), 27-inch iMac (2020), and Mac Pro (2019).
- Apple will include the full Rosetta translation layer through macOS 27 to let Intel apps run on Apple silicon, then retain only a limited subset of Rosetta for older, unmaintained games afterward.
- The change completes a multi-year shift that began in 2020 to Apple silicon and means owners of excluded Intel Macs will keep receiving security updates for three years but no further major macOS feature releases.