Apple removing Rosetta 2 x86 emulation!?

[fightingfoo82]

Summary

 The latest macOS beta appears to be removing x86 emulation on install. The wording’s meaning and reasoning behind it is anybody’s guess.

 

Quotes

Quote

 Code in ‌macOS Big Sur‌ 11.3 suggests that Rosetta could be removed from some ‌M1‌ Macs in some select regions after the software is released. There's a mention that "Rosetta is no longer available in this region. Applications requiring Rosetta will no longer run," but no additional information is available at this time.

 

My thoughts

 If Apple actually does remove x86 emulation, it may force lazy developers to move forward with native code. But would also be a major kick in the teeth to Apple Silicon adopters who believed there would be compatability.

Source:

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.macrumors.com/2021/03/31/apple-seeds-macos-big-sur-11-3-beta-6/amp/

 

[curiousmind34]

2 minutes ago, fightingfoo82 said:

Summary

 The latest macOS beta appears to be removing x86 emulation on install. The wording’s meaning and reasoning behind it is anybody’s guess.

 

Quotes

 

My thoughts

 If Apple actually does remove x86 emulation, it may force lazy developers to move forward with native code. But would also be a major kick in the teeth to Apple Silicon adopters who believed there would be compatability.

Source:

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.macrumors.com/2021/03/31/apple-seeds-macos-big-sur-11-3-beta-6/amp/

 

Rosetta is hardware software mixed, so if M1X does not have the hardware to run rosetta apple might remove it completely to make everything the same across the board.

However, I have a gut feeling that apple will keep rosetta until atleast mid 2022 when the last macs transition to apple silicon, but that could be wrong.

[Master Disaster]

These rumours stem from the tweet...

...and probably mean nothing. Just because the string exists doesn't mean its going to actually be used. They might have just added it because they know Rosetta will be getting killed eventually.

[AMD A10-9600P]

It was gonna have to go at some point, otherwise devs would never be incentivised to move over, but wow, a potential removal just 7 or so months after the release of the M1 chip is unacceptable, especially as compatibility was heavily detailed by Apple themselves before the launch. If this does happen soon then people will only be able to make the move from Intel if they rely solely on the App Store and have never used software from outside of it.

 

This either seems like they're trying to passively-aggressively nudge devs over to ARM, or there's some sort of legal issue that's been filed in a particularly country.

[Drama Lama]

It’s just a logical step. Rosetta 2 was only meant to be for the transition like Rosetta one ( this was used for the transition from Power PC to x86 ). What surprises me is how fast Apple plans to do this.

Edited April 4, 2021 by Drama Lama

[Sauron]

43 minutes ago, fightingfoo82 said:

If Apple actually does remove x86 emulation, it may force lazy developers to move forward with native code.

Or it could make ARM Macs completely unusable for professionals for years. Eventually I'm sure they'll take it out but now is far too early.

[captain_to_fire]

Apple explicitly said in their documentation that Rosetta 2 translation is just a stop gap until developers recompile their applications as universal binary. 
 

From Apple:

Quote

Rosetta is a translation process that allows users to run apps that contain x86_64 instructions on Apple silicon. Rosetta is meant to ease the transition to Apple silicon, giving you time to create a universal binary for your app. It is not a substitute for creating a native version of your app.

This is not something new. During Apple’s transition from PowerPC to Intel, they provided built in Rosetta translation for Mac OS X Tiger for Intel up to Leopard. However during Snow Leopard in 2009, Rosetta was removed from the installation disc, but it became an optional download. It’s possible that for future macOS versions, Rosetta 2 will still be supported but as an optional download until most developers ported their programs as universal binary. 

[WereCat]

I see no reason why they shouldn't let users use Rosetta if they want to even after apps get ported to ARM.

I mean, they can have it as an opt-in/optional piece of SW that does not come with the OS installed but still, removing it seems silly.

[AndreiArgeanu]

I mean apple is definitely going to drop x86 support at some point, at it might happen within this or the next year since Apple said themselves that it's basically temporary and only meant to 'ease the transition to Apple silicon'. That's why I don't really like the move to arm.

[Fasterthannothing]

Dang that's a terrible move what are the devs thinking? You have to have more than 7 months of backwards compatibility when moving to a new platform. 

[rcmaehl]

Obligatory @DrMacintosh ping

[OoDobyoO_CN]

So if the ARM-based Apple Sillcon CAN'T run x86 apps, that would be a trouble for a while?

[Bombastinator]

2 hours ago, fightingfoo82 said:

Summary

 The latest macOS beta appears to be removing x86 emulation on install. The wording’s meaning and reasoning behind it is anybody’s guess.

 

Quotes

 

My thoughts

 If Apple actually does remove x86 emulation, it may force lazy developers to move forward with native code. But would also be a major kick in the teeth to Apple Silicon adopters who believed there would be compatability.

Source:

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.macrumors.com/2021/03/31/apple-seeds-macos-big-sur-11-3-beta-6/amp/

 

I do feel teeth kicked.  I was hoping to be able to emulate on a Mac mini pro but the possibility of doing that is looking much less likely.

[TetraSky]

Isn't it a bit quick to be killing off x86 emulation? Sure it might push lazy devs to work faster on making native apps available, but it may also have the opposite effect with some other devs who feel Apple is forcing them to "get on board or get off".

[just_dave]

Your title and summary are extremely misleading, very good job on LTT level of clickbait

[DrMacintosh]

Rosetta is just a library of code. It’s essentially an app, and like any app, it has the capability to be removed. Doesn’t mean Apple plans on doing it. 

[descendency]

There are still developer tools that require Rosetta to run. 

 

If this were 2 years, I would understand. But this is 7 months...

[Commodus]

Apple has no real reason to remove Rosetta 2, at least not across the board.

 

The key may be the "in your region" bit. If there's a country where there's a legal dispute over Rosetta 2, Apple might have to yank the code (at least until the dispute is resolved). At this point, I'd still assume that Rosetta 2 will stick around until x86 Macs are firmly in the past.

[Kisai]

1 hour ago, TetraSky said:

Isn't it a bit quick to be killing off x86 emulation? Sure it might push lazy devs to work faster on making native apps available, but it may also have the opposite effect with some other devs who feel Apple is forcing them to "get on board or get off".

IMO, they'll probably remove it as a default option. They have yet to release an ARM mac pro. Like as a security feature/optimization. If you need it, then it could be installed.

 

Consider malware, if you remove the x86 execution, then none of it can run. For now.

[Guest]

Why only in select regions? Seems like a legal thing - M1 Macs aren’t too mainstream yet.

[bcredeur97]

Make it a feature you can enable from like terminal in recovery mode or something instead of getting rid of it completely lol 

[Bombastinator]

3 hours ago, Kisai said:

IMO, they'll probably remove it as a default option. They have yet to release an ARM mac pro. Like as a security feature/optimization. If you need it, then it could be installed.

 

Consider malware, if you remove the x86 execution, then none of it can run. For now.

What about that “star swallow” or whatever it was called thing that checks a site for instructions that have yet to be given.  Or something like that.  I recall reading that it got ported.

[wanderingfool2]

Until it's actually removed, it's just a rumor and doesn't really mean too much.

 

6 hours ago, Commodus said:

The key may be the "in your region" bit. If there's a country where there's a legal dispute over Rosetta 2, Apple might have to yank the code (at least until the dispute is resolved). At this point, I'd still assume that Rosetta 2 will stick around until x86 Macs are firmly in the past.

I agree 100% with this.  It seems to me that if it were to be removed, it might be removed in an area where either they didn't have full rights to the x86 emulation (or some other contesting feature).

[StDragon]

9 hours ago, TetraSky said:

Isn't it a bit quick to be killing off x86 emulation? 

Honestly, what's the damn point? I remember when running a "hackintosh" was a useful edgy thing to do. But with MacOS being a walled garden, limited Steam library, and overall a giant PITA to implement and maintain with current hardware (specifically the GPU), WHY BOTHER??

 

Apple, you can keep your platform. I wouldn't run OSX on my PC even if you gave the OS away for free. 

[BondiBlue]

14 minutes ago, StDragon said:

Honestly, what's the damn point? I remember when running a "hackintosh" was a useful edgy thing to do. But with MacOS being a walled garden, limited Steam library, and overall a giant PITA to implement and maintain with current hardware (specifically the GPU), WHY BOTHER??

 

Apple, you can keep your platform. I wouldn't run OSX on my PC even if you gave the OS away for free. 

Apart from your obvious dislike of Apple stuff, the point is that Rosetta 2 emulation is used to allow the use of current programs that aren't AS native yet. More and more are becoming native, but when you transition to a completely different platform like this it can take time. 

Also, running a Hackintosh isn't an "edgy" thing to do. It's shockingly easy these days, and can yield great results.