Apple is abandoning support for old 32-bit applications across the board. IOS 11 won’t support 32-bit apps, and now macOS High Sierra will be the “last macOS release to support 32-bit apps without compromises”. Here’s how to check your Mac for apps that will stop working in the future. The alert appears only once per app. How to identify 32-bit apps on your Mac. To prepare for a future in which 32-bit software will no longer run without compromise, it may be a good idea to figure out which of the installed apps found on your computer are still 32-bit. Here’s how 1) Choose About This Mac from the Finder’s Apple menu.
In my last post, outlining the release of Catalina, I covered the process to check for 32-bit apps on your system prior to upgrading.
Here’s the info as a separate post, just so it might be easier to find.
To list all of your 32-bit software, go into the Apple menu > About this Mac > System Report… you’ll be taken into the System Information app (or just launch it from Applications > Utilities instead)
Check For 32 Bit Apps Mac Os
In the System Information App, down the left-hand side, find the Softwareheading. Underneath Software, click on Applications. Expand the width of the window so you can see the column heading for 64-bit (Intel) and click on it to sort by 32 or 64-bit.
Check for apps that say No and this is the software that will not run on Catalina.
In my case, there were two apps from Apple that I’m confident will be updated when I update the Operating System. There are also a whole lot of apps from Adobe as part of Creative Cloud 2018. I haven’t upgraded to CC 2019 however Adobe have published a list of which apps are and aren’t compatible with Catalina. From browsing their list, all of the major apps in the Creative Cloud suite are 64-bit compatible.
At WWDC 2017, Apple told developers that macOS High Sierra will be the last macOS release to support 32-bit apps without any compromise. And now with macOS High Sierra 10.13.4 beta, Apple is also notifying users of the imminent change.
EDIT 2nd of September 2019 macOS Catalina will kill your 32-bit apps
In the beta release notes, Apple states: “To prepare for a future release of macOS in which 32-bit software will no longer run without compromise, starting in macOS High Sierra 10.13.4, a user is notified on the launch of an app that depends on 32-bit software. The alert appears only once per app.”
This will not only apply to apps found in the Mac App Store, but also outside 3rd party apps. So if you rely solely on Mac App Store apps, it’s a pretty safe bet that all ( still ) 32-bit apps will be updated accordingly.
But it might be a good idea to be prepared when it comes to apps distributed outside the Mac App Store. Meaning that you might want to contact the developers and see if they plan to update to 64-bit. Or start finding alternatives.
Luckily there’s an easy way to quickly check which apps are 32-bit.
1. In the menu bar go to > About This Mac
2. Click on “System Report…”
3. Go to Software > Applications and wait a few seconds for your Mac to compile a list of all your installed apps. Now check the 64-bit header for each app.
How To Check For 32-bit Apps On Mac
- Yes = 64-bit app
- No = 32-bit app