The Rosetta 2 Retirement Timeline
By Neil Johnson · August 2026 · 7 min read · Updated as Apple's announcements land
There is a lot of confusion about when Rosetta 2 actually ends — partly because two separate countdowns are running at once (Intel Macs and Intel apps), and partly because some coverage has printed the wrong year. This page keeps the dates straight, with only what Apple has said or shipped, and it gets updated whenever that changes. Right now the community catalogue tracks 29,089 Intel-only apps and components across 6,873 Macs; 6,556 of them have a native build confirmed in the wild. Everything else is on this timeline.
The timeline
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November 2020
Apple Silicon ships; Rosetta 2 arrives
The first M1 Macs run Intel apps through translation. It works so well most people forget it exists — which is exactly how thousands of Intel binaries survive untouched into 2026.
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2023
Last Intel Macs leave sale
The hardware transition completes. The software transition quietly doesn't.
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June 2025 — WWDC
Apple announces the wind-down
Rosetta 2 will be maintained through macOS 27, then reduced to a narrow carve-out for older Intel games.
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March 2026 — macOS 26.4
The warnings begin
"Support Ending for Intel-based Apps" banners fire when Intel apps or background components launch — and again after every restart. For many people this is the first time they learn what's still Intel on their Mac.
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September 2026 — macOS 27 "Golden Gate"
The last macOS with full Rosetta 2
Golden Gate adds a built-in Intel-apps list (System Settings › General › About) and — per multiple outlets — removes the Rosetta runtime on upgrade, reinstalling it on demand the first time Intel code runs. It's also the final macOS release for the four remaining Intel Mac models.
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Autumn 2027 — macOS 28
Rosetta 2 ends
Intel apps, plug-ins, drivers and helpers stop launching, with one announced exception: "certain older, unmaintained games that rely on Intel-based frameworks." Staying on macOS 27 keeps Intel software running for as long as that release is supported — a legitimate holdout strategy, with the usual security-update clock attached.
The date people get wrong
You'll see "2028" in some articles. The arithmetic is simple: macOS 26 shipped in 2025, 27 ships in 2026, 28 ships in 2027. Rosetta 2's end arrives with macOS 28 in autumn 2027 — treat any 2028 claim as a slip. (heise's reporting has the dates right, if you want a second source.)
What to actually do, by date
Now — audit. Golden Gate's built-in list covers apps, but Apple's own release notes concede it misses plug-ins, drivers and embedded components — the majority of what our catalogue sees. Scan with the Rosetta Check app or look your mystery processes up in the directory.
Before installing macOS 27 (September 2026) — triage. Update what has a native build, note what doesn't, and decide whether anything abandoned is worth replacing this year. Printer and scanner software deserves its own pass — here's that guide.
Before macOS 28 (autumn 2027) — decide. Everything still Intel-only on your Mac at that point either gets replaced, gets retired, or keeps you on macOS 27. No fourth option arrives.
Corpus numbers on this page are live. How the data is collected: methodology.