Support ending for Intel based app pop up. Why am I getting this message?

why am i getting intel based apps pop up for Mac or Mac compliant apps ? I am currently running an M3 Max 2024 MBP 16".... Within the past couple of week I have been getting the attached pop ups - the latest when running Adobe. Previously when running the most recent release of Pages in Creator and Excell and/or Word for Mac...


I can see maybe why I get them for the MS products, but my Adobe was from Adobe and Mac compliant and Pages is from Apple and their most recent version of the app. What's causing these pop ups?


MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.4

Posted on May 1, 2026 7:44 AM

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Posted on May 1, 2026 7:54 AM

Being Mac compliant and being Intel based aren't mutually exclusive.


Older Apps designed for Intel Macs may be perfectly Mac compliant and can currently run fine on Tahoe but are still designed for Intel Macs and will no longer work on the next version of macOS.


Check with Adobe and make sure you have an Apple Silicon native version of the app and all other apps that are issuing this message.



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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

May 1, 2026 7:54 AM in response to mrchntmarine

Being Mac compliant and being Intel based aren't mutually exclusive.


Older Apps designed for Intel Macs may be perfectly Mac compliant and can currently run fine on Tahoe but are still designed for Intel Macs and will no longer work on the next version of macOS.


Check with Adobe and make sure you have an Apple Silicon native version of the app and all other apps that are issuing this message.



May 1, 2026 8:07 AM in response to mrchntmarine

To appreciate where Apple has come to , we need to understand where Apple has come from


Apple Silicon (ARM64) Transition (2020): Apple announced the new Universal 2 binary format on June 22, 2020, during the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).


This format allows a single application to run natively on both Intel-based and Apple Silicon-based Macs.


That wold mean, the software developers have had 6 Year to rewrite their software to comply with the requirements to run without the need for Rosetta 2


The other major transition was >>


Intel (x86) Transition (2005): The original Universal binary was announced on June 6, 2005, at that year's WWDC. It enabled software to run natively on both the outgoing PowerPC processors and the new Intel processors


Just to add Pages 15,2 as part to Apple Creative Studio


I do not receive any " Intel based app pop up " Pop Up" related to whatsoever on 4 different M Class computers with Tahoe 26.4.1



May 1, 2026 8:14 AM in response to mrchntmarine

The popups are informing you that Intel based apps will stop working in the future. Apple has announced that the Rosetta 2 framework will be deprecated in future versions macOS. Currently there are three types of apps that run on your M3 Max


  1. Apple Silicon CPUs
  2. Apple Silicon & Intel CPUs (known as universal binaries)
  3. Intel CPUs (which require Rosetta 2 to run on your M3 Max)


After Rosetta 2 is retired any app that is Intel only will stop working. This is the final step in the transition away from Intel to Apple Silicon. Apple has announced that macOS Tahoe is the last version to support Intel CPU based Macs. macOS 27 will only run on Apple Silicon Macs going forward. Rosetta 2 will be removed in stages after that.


Botton line? It is important that you prepare for this. The popups you are receiving mean that those apps will stop working at some point. You should be looking for replacements or contacting the developer asking for an Apple Silicon update. If these apps are not important to you then delete them for they stop working.

The Adobe Reader app in your screen shot has long since been updated to run on Apple Silicon and you should update as soon as possible. Adobe Reader has been absorbed into the Adobe Acrobat suite. The Reader part is still free to use but Acrobat requires a subscription.




May 1, 2026 8:24 AM in response to Samuel-F

Samuel-F wrote:

The fact that I got this popup with Final Cut Pro is crazy ! At least we know that Final Cut Pro will have an update !

Really? I mean really? FCP was updated to universal binary Apple Silicon/Intel within days of the Apple Silicon announcement in 2020. All of Apple’s in house apps were. FCP’s latest version is 12.0 released January 2026. You are running an ancient version of FCP long since updated. Catch up to the present.

May 1, 2026 10:50 AM in response to lkrupp

lkrupp wrote:

1. The popups are informing you that Intel based apps will stop working in the future. Apple has announced that the Rosetta 2 framework will be deprecated in future versions macOS. Currently there are three types of apps that run on your M3 Max

Apple Silicon CPUs
2. Apple Silicon & Intel CPUs (known as universal binaries)
3. Intel CPUs (which require Rosetta 2 to run on your M3 Max)

After Rosetta 2 is retired any app that is Intel only will stop working. This is the final step in the transition away from Intel to Apple Silicon. Apple has announced that macOS Tahoe is the last version to support Intel CPU based Macs. macOS 27 will only run on Apple Silicon Macs going forward. Rosetta 2 will be removed in stages after that.

Botton line? It is important that you prepare for this. The popups you are receiving mean that those apps will stop working at some point. You should be looking for replacements or contacting the developer asking for an Apple Silicon update. If these apps are not important to you then delete them for they stop working.
The Adobe Reader app in your screen shot has long since been updated to run on Apple Silicon and you should update as soon as possible. Adobe Reader has been absorbed into the Adobe Acrobat suite. The Reader part is still free to use but Acrobat requires a subscription.



Ive updated Adobe yesterday. But how do I update Pages? Im already on the Creator latest version....

May 1, 2026 11:36 AM in response to mrchntmarine

Unless you have specifically intervened App Store apps automatically update. Apple apps like Pages will likely stay universal until the transition is complete. Once Intel code can no longer run universal binary apps can be sized down by removing the Intel code. Developers will no longer need to code for both intel and Apple Silicon Macs.


If users don’t want to do anything they can always decide to stay on Tahoe forever and not upgrade to the next version of macOS. Freeze in place. It’s really the Intel Macs still in use that will be stuck where they are. And this has all happened before almost twenty years ago when the PowerPC -> Intel transition took place.


But the bottom line is that this will happen over the next couple of years, not tomorrow, so you have plenty of time to sort things out.

May 1, 2026 11:40 AM in response to Samuel-F

Samuel-F wrote:

From what I see, if you open any app with Rosetta, it will show the popup (good to know) :


https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/c3f0783d-9979-44c8-b30b-a0a6c0f5a8aa

But if the app is rosetta only, you don't have the option to "not use" as you can see in those two apps :


https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/7f677f6f-fb7e-4bd8-9120-b98c9848139c

If the app is really apple silicon :


https://discussions.apple.com/content/attachment/421b5fb3-1916-45d1-abf5-8a9eb22e715e

So Logic Pro and MainStage are apple silicon, not Final Cut Pro, motion and compressor...

FCP is universal, not Intel only. Unless you specifically force it to open with Rosetta 2 it runs natively on Apple Silicon.

Support ending for Intel based app pop up. Why am I getting this message?

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