Six years after Apple began transitioning the Mac to Apple silicon, the vast majority of popular apps have been updated to run natively. But a significant tail of Intel-only software remains, ranging from printer drivers that manufacturers have quietly abandoned to niche utilities that may never see an update. This post draws on real data from the Rosetta Check community database to highlight the most commonly reported Intel holdouts in 2026.
Where the data comes from
The Rosetta Check database aggregates anonymous app architecture reports from Mac users who have run the Rosetta Check app and opted in to community sharing. With 2,794 contributing Macs and 12,252 distinct apps catalogued, the database reflects real-world Mac fleets rather than theoretical app lists. Of those, the community has now confirmed 2,668 apps as available natively on Apple silicon. The rest, around 9,973 apps, still appear only with an Intel architecture. Apps are ranked by the number of distinct Macs on which they have been reported.
Printer and scanner drivers: still the biggest problem category
Peripheral drivers represent by far the most stubborn category of Intel holdouts, and the picture has only sharpened over the last six weeks. Unlike general-purpose software, printer and scanner drivers are tightly coupled to specific hardware models, and manufacturers frequently stop updating drivers for older hardware long before users are ready to replace it. Across the database the totals look like this (Intel-only components, no native sightings):
- Brother: 32 Intel-only driver components across 1,334 device-installs
- HP: 23 Intel-only driver components across 1,291 device-installs
- Canon: 110 Intel-only driver components across 1,168 device-installs
- Epson: 76 Intel-only driver components across 1,137 device-installs
- Samsung: 6 Intel-only driver components across 194 device-installs
That's more than 5,100 device-installs of Intel-only printer and scanner software in a fleet of fewer than 3,000 contributing Macs. The average Mac in this dataset carries between one and two legacy peripheral driver components.
Epson still appears extensively. Epson Scanner (com.epson.scanner.ica) has now been seen on 680 Macs, up from just over 400 when this post was first written. A handful of users have reported a native version (72 native sightings), but the Intel build remains dominant. The EPSON Manuals app sits on 270 Macs, Epson Firmware Updater on 133, and Easy Photo Scan on 116. All Intel.
HP contributes a particularly dense cluster of CUPS print-pipeline binaries. The HP fax filter (com.hp.fax) is on 356 Macs, rastertofax on 346, and hpdot4d (a device communication helper) on 268. None have native sightings. HP's newer hardware generally works via AirPrint, but legacy printers that still depend on these CUPS filters will stop working when Rosetta is removed.
Canon has the largest variety of Intel-only components, with 110 distinct binaries. That reflects Canon's habit of shipping a per-model utility for each scanner generation. CIJAutoSetupTool is on 243 Macs, CIJScannerRegister on 194, and IJScanner1 on 168. Several IJScanner variants (IJScanner1/2/4/6) coexist on the same Macs because Canon often installs the new utility without removing the old one.
Brother scanner and monitoring utilities concentrate on a smaller number of binaries but with very high device counts: Brother Status Monitor sits on 294 Macs, USBserver and NETserver on 217 and 216 respectively, and a pair of workflow/control servers on 190 Macs each.
Samsung (since absorbed into HP's printer business) appears with a smaller but persistent footprint: Samsung Scanner on 144 Macs and a handful of related components.
For peripheral drivers, the practical advice is unchanged: check whether your hardware supports macOS's built-in driverless printing (AirPrint) and driverless scanning capabilities, which are native and do not use Rosetta. If the manufacturer has released a native driver for your specific model, install it. If neither option exists, the hardware itself may need replacing before macOS 28.
Adobe legacy components, plus Adobe AIR
The main Adobe Creative Cloud applications (Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, After Effects) have been native Apple silicon apps for several years. The legacy installer scaffolding around them has not kept pace.
Adobe Setup (com.adobe.Installers.Setup) is now reported on 586 Macs, the second-largest Intel-only footprint in the entire database after Epson Scanner. Adobe Uninstall Product, the Adobe IPC Broker, adobe_licensing_helper, and various uninstaller components also persist in significant numbers. These are background processes and installers rather than apps users open directly, but they are still Intel binaries that will fail on macOS 28.
The other Adobe story the data tells is Adobe AIR. Adobe AIR was deprecated by Adobe in 2019 and transferred to a third party (Harman), but the original Intel installers have an extraordinarily long tail: Adobe AIR Uninstaller is on 115 Macs and Adobe AIR Application Installer on 110, both still Intel. If you don't actively run any AIR apps, both of these can be removed from /Applications/Utilities with no consequence. Adobe Digital Editions, the Adobe e-book reader for library loans, sits on 92 Macs and likewise remains Intel.
If you have a current Creative Cloud subscription and have run the Creative Cloud desktop app recently, many of the modern Adobe helpers will have been replaced. Older installations that have been updated in place rather than cleanly reinstalled are the most exposed.
Google Earth Pro
The single biggest Intel-only consumer app surprise in this dataset is Google Earth Pro (com.Google.GoogleEarthPro), reported on 391 Macs with no confirmed native version. Google's current strategy for Earth is the web-based Google Earth at earth.google.com, which runs natively in any modern browser including Safari on Apple silicon. The desktop Pro client, which a lot of GIS professionals and educators still rely on for KML editing and high-resolution exports, has not been ported to Apple silicon and shows no signs of being.
The practical move is to migrate workflows to the web version where possible. For serious mapping work, switch to QGIS, a powerful open-source desktop GIS application that ships with a native Apple silicon build.
Amazon's Mac apps
Amazon's collective Mac footprint is another emerging theme in the data. Kindle Classic (com.amazon.Kindle) is on 200 Macs and remains Intel-only, six years after Apple silicon shipped. Amazon Photos (com.amazon.clouddrive.mac) is on 121 Macs, also Intel. Amazon Music is on 103 Macs, Intel. None of the three have a single confirmed native sighting.
For Kindle, the Mac App Store version (the iPad app running via Mac Catalyst) is a clean Apple silicon replacement. For Amazon Photos, the web client at amazon.com/photos covers most use cases. For Amazon Music, the web player or the Mac App Store version (also Catalyst-based) are the supported native paths.
Navigation and device sync software
Garmin Express (com.garmin.renu.client) remains Intel-only and is now seen on 282 Macs, up from just over 150 when this post first ran. Garmin has been notably slow to update desktop software for Apple silicon. If you use Garmin devices and rely on Express for map updates, this is one to watch closely. Garmin BaseCamp (com.garmin.BaseCamp) is on a further 79 Macs and similarly remains Intel.
TomTom MyDrive Connect (com.tomtom.mytomtomsa) is on 56 Macs. Interestingly, the community has now reported 13 native sightings of this app. TomTom appears to have begun shipping a Universal build for some users, though it has not yet supplanted the Intel installations in the dataset. If you use a TomTom device, check for an update.
Android File Transfer (com.google.android.mtpviewer) remains Intel-only and is on 148 Macs. Google has still not released a native version. OpenMTP, which is actively maintained and available as a Universal binary, is the recommended replacement.
Pro video, audio, and storage utilities
A new cluster worth flagging in this update: Blackmagic Design's DaVinci Resolve panel daemons. BMDPanelDaemon is on 178 Macs and DaVinci Panel Firmware Updater on 175, both Intel-only. Resolve itself is native, but the background daemon that supports Blackmagic's hardware control surfaces hasn't followed. Anyone using a DaVinci Mini/Micro/Speed Editor panel on Apple silicon should check whether Resolve's current installer brings a Universal daemon, and reinstall if not.
Western Digital's storage utilities remain a small but persistent Intel footprint: WD Discovery on 108 Macs, WD Drive Utilities on 92, and WD Security on 60. Western Digital has native versions of some utilities, but older installations linger on a non-trivial number of Macs.
Roxio / Corel's optical-disc burning suite is another category that has aged out without an Apple silicon update: Roxio Secure Burn sits on 102 Macs, Toast 20 Pro on 100, and Roxio's MultiCam Capture and Editing on 93. If you still rely on optical media workflows on a Mac, this is an area worth planning a migration for. The only native commercial alternative for full disc-mastering on Apple silicon is fairly thin.
Plug-ins, audio units, and other host-loaded components
The v2.0 Rosetta Check client (released this spring) doesn't just look at standalone apps. It also catalogues the plug-ins, helpers, and extensions that get loaded by host apps at runtime. That layer is where a lot of "my Mac wants Rosetta and I don't know why" stories actually live, because a single Intel-only Audio Unit can force an entire native DAW to spin up Rosetta on launch. For the full methodology, see how to find Intel plug-ins, drivers, and extensions on your Mac. The three pro-creative hosts users ask about most, Pro Tools, Logic, and Photoshop, each tell a different story in the data.
Pro Tools (AAX plug-ins). The database now contains 173 distinct Intel-only AAX plug-ins across 32 contributing Macs, totalling 226 device installs. Top vendors by Intel-only AAX footprint: iZotope (51 plug-ins, 61 installs; mostly the RX repair suite plus Trash, Iris and BreakTweaker), Avid's own factory plug-ins (28 plug-ins, 40 installs; ClickII, Invert-Duplicate, Reverse-DC Removal and friends), FabFilter (16 plug-ins, 27 installs; Pro-R, Pro-C 2 and Twin 2 all appearing), Native Instruments (10 plug-ins, 21 installs; Kontakt, Guitar Rig 5 and Super 8), and Waves (8 plug-ins via WaveShell1-AAX 13.5.125). Avid shipped native AAX support back in 2022, so the fix in nearly every case is to open the relevant vendor manager (iZotope Product Portal, Native Access, the FabFilter installer, Waves Central, or Avid Application Manager itself) and reinstall every plug-in flagged. The plug-ins that ship Intel and have zero native sightings (93 of the 173) are the ones to deal with first.
Logic Pro and other Audio Unit hosts. 169 distinct Intel-only Audio Units are spread across 97 Macs, totalling 318 device installs. The two largest by a wide margin are not what most Logic users would guess: Telestream Flip4Mac WMV Import on 42 Macs and the Shepmater A/52 / AC-3 codec on 33 Macs, both with zero native sightings. These are CoreAudio components from products that haven't shipped in nearly a decade. They still get loaded by every Audio Unit host (Logic, GarageBand, MainStage, QuickTime, even the system audio HAL) on launch. If your Mac fans up the moment you open a DAW, look in /Library/Audio/Plug-Ins/Components and /Library/QuickTime and drag these to the trash. They almost certainly aren't doing anything for you anymore. Below the zombies, the picture mirrors Pro Tools: iZotope dominates (81 distinct AUs, 129 installs), followed by Native Instruments, Korg, Arturia, Wavesaudio, and Focusrite. Same remediation: update each vendor's manager.
Photoshop and adjacent photo editors. The v2.0 client does not yet sweep Photoshop's plug-in folders (~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Plug-Ins and the per-version equivalents), so we can't yet publish vendor-level numbers for Photoshop panels, generators, and 8bf filters. That scanner is on the roadmap for a future client release. What the database can show is the host: 33 Macs are still running an Intel-architecture build of Photoshop 2024 itself, against 378 native sightings of Photoshop. About one Photoshop install in twelve in the dataset is on the old Intel binary, almost always a Creative Cloud subscription that has never been allowed to update. Adjacent to Photoshop, the client does see ON1 Photo RAW's plug-in bundles (49 distinct components, 198 installs) and the wider Adobe scaffolding catalogued in the Adobe section above. If your photo-editing rig is throwing Rosetta warnings, the first step is to open Creative Cloud, run "Update all", then individually update ON1, Topaz, DxO, Skylum, or whatever third-party plug-ins you use through their own installers.
Older versions of mainstream software
One of the strongest patterns in the database is mainstream software appearing as Intel-only because users are running old versions, not because the current version lacks a native build. The community-sourced native sighting counts make this very visible:
- Microsoft Word: 79 Intel reports vs 1,523 native sightings (95% native)
- Microsoft Excel: 77 vs 1,488
- Microsoft PowerPoint: 78 vs 1,381
- Microsoft Outlook: 53 vs 1,162
- Microsoft OneNote: 74 vs 1,119
- Zoom: 183 vs 910
- VLC: 253 vs 877
- Steam: 122 vs 228
For every one Mac in the database still running an Intel-architecture build of Word, there are roughly nineteen running native Word. The same shape holds for the other Microsoft apps, Zoom, VLC, and Steam. If your scan shows any of these flagged Intel, the first and almost always sufficient step is to update through the Mac App Store, Microsoft AutoUpdate, or each app's built-in updater. Individual games inside Steam are a separate matter: many older titles will never receive Apple silicon updates and will stop working on macOS 28 regardless of the client.
Long-tail and niche software
AusweisApp (com.governikus.ausweisapp2), the German government's electronic ID card software, is on 125 Macs and remains Intel-only, reflecting its continued use in German enterprise environments.
OpenOffice (org.openoffice.script) is on 103 Macs and remains Intel-only. OpenOffice development has slowed significantly in recent years. LibreOffice, the actively maintained fork, has a native Apple silicon build and is the recommended migration path.
Sonos (com.sonos.macController2) is on 90 Macs and remains Intel-only. The newer Sonos app has had a turbulent release history since its 2024 redesign, and the older Intel controller continues to be used in many homes where the new app dropped or broke functionality.
Logitech Unifying Software (com.logitech.unifying.assistant) is on 83 Macs. Logitech's newer Logi Options+ software is Universal, but users with older Unifying receivers may still be running the legacy Intel app.
ClipGrab (de.clipgrab.ClipGrab) is on 100 Macs and remains Intel-only as of 2026.
And one ironic entry: Apple's own iPhoto, discontinued by Apple in 2015 and superseded by Photos, is still on 100 Macs in the database, Intel-only. iPhoto can technically still be launched on recent Intel macOS via Rosetta, but on macOS 28 it will stop working entirely. If you have an iPhoto library that's never been migrated, the macOS Photos app can import it (Photos > File > Import > choose the iPhoto Library); do this before upgrading to macOS 28.
What to do if you have affected apps
Browse the Rosetta Check community database to search for any app by name or bundle ID. Each entry shows the device count, native version sightings spotted by the community, and replacement suggestions. Download the Rosetta Check app to scan your own Mac and see a personalised list with AI-generated migration recommendations.
For a wider perspective on what's coming, see what happens to your Intel apps in macOS 28 and why macOS 26.4 is showing Rosetta warnings. To go beyond apps and audit plug-ins, drivers, and embedded helpers, see how to find Intel plug-ins, drivers, and extensions on your Mac. Apple's official guidance is in the support article Using Intel-based apps on a Mac with Apple silicon.