FINALLY SOLVED: Running 32-bit Mac OS apps on Apple Silicon using Virtual Intel Mac

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Level 1

4 points

FINALLY SOLVED: Running 32-bit Mac OS apps on Apple Silicon using Virtual Intel Mac

First, I hope it's ok that I post this info here. Like many others out there, I have a few older, irreplaceable, 32bit Mac OS apps that simply won't run on Apple Silicon. For the heck of it, I attempted to run these apps on virtual machines via Parallels, VMWare, QEMU, Wine, etc., with no luck whatsoever. However, thankfully, there is finally a great workaround! The project is: Virtual Intel Mac on Apple silicon and found on Github at:

github.com/nfzerox/VirtualIntelMacOnAppleSilicon

I installed it and it works perfectly! After having to run the thousands of dollars worth of apps on my 2015 MBP the past few years, I can finally have it all on my M5 MBP! Many thanks to those who created this most helpful project.

John

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 26.6

Posted on Oct 30, 2026 6:56 AM

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Answer 1

litmusician Author

Level 1

4 points

Oct 30, 2026 9:44 AM in response to VikingOSX

It took some File Sharing between my M5 MPB and the virtual "iMac" but my apps worked perfectly. The apps I have are by a company that went out of business after choosing not to update to work with Silicon. Those apps are the only ones I'll be using the virtual machine for, so I'm really not concerned about the App Store etc. Thanks for your input though! :-)

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Answer 2

VikingOSX

Level 10

131,676 points

Oct 30, 2026 8:07 AM in response to litmusician

The real test will be whether you can get your Apple ID and password entered so as to use the Mac App Store for updates or installations on Mojave, Catalina, or Big Sur guests. That would be one of the first things I suggest you investigate in a newly built guest. Then, whether your Intel applications will actually work in the guest environment.

Personally, I would either check if your Intel apps now have Apple Silicon only, or Universal2 builds. If still Intel, I would be looking for Apple Silicon functionality replacement applications before going with an offshoot Virtual machine solution.

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