You may have heard that Apple plans to stop support for 32-bit apps across iOS and macOS. While iOS 11 will remove them this fall, macOS will continue to support them until 2019. Nevertheless, it. We recommend running the following versions of macOS / OS X / Mac OS X as Virtual Machines for 32-bit app support: Mac OS X 10.6 Snow Leopard (Server)- costs money but you may already be running/want to run this to be able to use PowerPC/Rosettabased applications OS X 10.7- OS X 10.8 is better.

[ Updated June 16, 2019, with mac OS Catalina and a link to an article explaining which media won’t work in the next OS. ]

Apple has made no secret that it is moving away from 32-bit applications to the new world of 64-bit; starting with macOS Catalina. But, how can you tell which applications are in jeopardy?

It’s easy and here’s how.

NOTE: Here’s an article that describes which 32-bit media codecs are also in jeopardy with the new version of OS.

From the Apple logo, choose About This Mac.

Click the System Report button.

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In the sidebar on the left, scroll down until you see the Software category, then click Applications.

After several seconds, a list will appear on the right of all the applications installed on your system. There will be a LOT and many of them you may not have heard of because the software you use relies on a variety of helper applications which are not normally visible.

Click the name of an app, to learn more about it.

Click the 64-bit (Intel) column header at the top left of the window to sort all the 32-bit applications together.

Reviewing your list of software now will give you a better understanding of what will go away when Apple finally stops supporting 32-bit applications. More time to plan is always better.

SIDEBAR ON MEDIA

For media professionals, many of our older audio and video codecs are only 32-bit. I have not yet been able to get word from Apple on what happens to these when the transition to 64-bit is complete.

SUMMARY

For now, there’s nothing you need to do. Sierra and High Sierra still support most 32-bit applications. However, future versions of the macOS won’t. So, consider this a heads-up that allows you to better plan for the future.

Apple was phasing out the use of 32-bits applications on macOS for quite some time. Now the finishing time has come that the version 10.15 or macOS Catalina will no more support 32-bit applications. If you are still running old and unsupported applications in macOS Mojave or earlier versions then you need be cautious before upgrading to macOS Catalina. In this article, we will explain how to check 32-bit and 64-bit apps in macOS.

What Happens When You Open 32-bit Apps?

As of macOS Mojave, Apple will show a warning message whenever you open 32-bit apps. The best example of 32-bit app on macOS is Microsoft Office 2011. Whenever you open the app, macOS will show you a message like below indicating that the app is outdated and not optimized for your Mac.

However, you can still click on the “OK” button to continue using the app. Unfortunately, this is no more possible with macOS Catalina. When the 32-bit app is on the dock, you will see a white cross mark on the app indicating it will not work any more.

Trying to open the 32-bit with macOS Catalina will show a messages like below depending on the app:

Word 2011:

Kaspersky Antivirus Pro:

iPhoto:

Basically you have the following three options:

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• Go to the App Store and find the replacement or upgraded app.
• Click on “Learn More…” button to go to Apple’s page explaining about 32-bit apps.
• Choose “Not Now” button to close the app.

If there are no upgrade or alternate options then you can’t use 32-bit apps with macOS Catalina.

Related:How to fox slow performance and speedup your Mac?

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How to Check 32-bit and 64-bit Apps in macOS?

If you wanted to check how many apps on your Mac are running with 32-bit then follow the below instructions.

• Click on the Apple menu icon on top left corner of the Mac and choose “About This Mac” option.
• Under the “Overview” tab, click on “System Report…” button.

• You will see a system information dialog like below. Click on the “Applications” option available under “Software” section. It may take sometime to load the list depending upon the number of apps on your Mac.

• Select any application to view the details on the below pane. You can check against the “Kind” option whether it shows 32-bit or 64-bit apps.
• Generally, all Apple apps should be of 64-bit. Therefore, you can click on the “Obtained from” column to sort the list based on the developer.
• Check the apps downloaded from Mac App Store, Identified Developer or Unknown categories to easily find the 32-bit apps.
• You can clearly see the Kind will show as “32-bit (Unsupported) indicating the app will no more work on your Mac.

Taking Action

Unfortunately, you have no option to modified any parameter on the apps. If you have premium apps purchased from App Store or directly from third-party websites, contact the developer and inform them to upgrade a 64-bit version. For the free apps, you need to find alternatives from App Store from other developers.

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If you have no other option to use the app then delay upgrading to macOS Catalina till the time you find alternative solution.