macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta 4: Rosetta deprecation warning not shown — bug or intended behavior?

App & System Services Core OS
shara7 OP
Created 3d
Replies 5
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Participants 3

According to the release notes for macOS Tahoe 26.4 beta, a warning dialog should appear when launching apps that require Rosetta 2, informing users that these apps will stop working in a future macOS release.

However, on my MacBook Air M1 running Tahoe 26.4 Beta 4 (25E5233c), no such warning appears when launching Intel (x86_64) apps.

Test case: VLC media player

  • Downloaded from the official VLC website: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
  • Selected the Intel 64-bit version (vlc-3.0.21-intel64.dmg)
  • Copied VLC.app to /Applications
  • Code signature verified:
    • Identifier: org.videolan.vlc
    • Format: Mach-O thin (x86_64)
    • Team ID: 75GAHG3SZQ
    • Timestamp: June 2024
    • Flags: hardened runtime
  • Notarization: accepted (Notarized Developer ID) spctl --assess --verbose /Applications/VLC.app → accepted, source=Notarized Developer ID
  • Launched VLC.app — no Rosetta deprecation warning appeared

System log findings: The following entry was repeated many times in the system log: Sandbox: oahd-helper deny(1) file-read-data /usr/libexec/rosetta/oahd-helper

This suggests that oahd-helper is being blocked by the Sandbox from reading its own binary, which may be preventing the warning dialog from appearing.

My questions:

  1. Is this a known bug in Beta 4?
  2. Does the absence of a warning mean the app will continue to work in macOS 28 and beyond?
  3. Should I file a Feedback report for this?

Any insights would be appreciated. Thank you.

Environment:

  • Device: MacBook Air 2020 M1
  • OS: macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta 4 (25E5233c)
  • Test app: VLC 3.0.21 Intel 64-bit (org.videolan.vlc, Team ID: 75GAHG3SZQ)
  • Source: https://www.videolan.org/vlc/
Answered by DTS Engineer in 880073022

I like galad87’s take on this. Rather than worrying about other folks’ apps, I suggest that you on your own products. And in that case the messaging is super clear: If your build system or final software depends on Rosetta, you should be working to break that dependency as a matter of priority.

And if you have technical questions about how to do that, please post them here on the forums. We’re hear to help.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

Replies  5
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Participants  3
shara7 OP
3d

I have some additional questions:

  1. How can I check which apps that use Rosetta 2 will continue to work on macOS 28 and later?

  2. If the Rosetta deprecation warning does not appear when launching an app, can that be considered as confirmation that the app will continue to work on macOS 28 and later? In other words, can the absence of the warning be used as a reliable check for future compatibility?

0
galad87 OP
3d

I can't speak for Apple, but they seldom give any official reassurance. If they wrote that Rosetta 2 will be around for virtualization and for some older games, that's all it will work for. If your app is not a game, it's time to make a native version, everything else is just delaying the inevitable.

1
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
2d
Recommended

I like galad87’s take on this. Rather than worrying about other folks’ apps, I suggest that you on your own products. And in that case the messaging is super clear: If your build system or final software depends on Rosetta, you should be working to break that dependency as a matter of priority.

And if you have technical questions about how to do that, please post them here on the forums. We’re hear to help.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

0
shara7 OP
1d

Thank you for your responses.

I understand your point, but my situation is a bit different. I am using a third-party app that relies on Rosetta 2. The company that developed it has discontinued development and has no intention of rebuilding it for Apple Silicon.

After reading the macOS Tahoe 26.4 beta release notes, I expected a deprecation warning to appear, which would have confirmed that the app would no longer be usable in the future.

However, no warning appeared in any of the macOS Tahoe 26.4 beta releases, which made me wonder whether this is a bug or intended behavior.

0
DTS Engineer OP
Apple
7h

Thanks for the backstory.

which made me wonder whether this is a bug or intended behavior.

Well, it’s an an either or situation. Note this comment from the release notes:

During the beta period, the cadence of notifications will be accelerated, enabling Apple and developers to address any issues that might occur.

Honestly, I’m not sure whether this is what’s happening in your case or not.

You might be able to learn more as to what’s actually going on by monitoring the system log entries from the ecosystemagent process. Many of these are at the debug level, so you’ll need to opt in to that. See Your Friend the System Log for hints and tips on using the system log effectively.

Share and Enjoy
—
Quinn “The Eskimo!” @ Developer Technical Support @ Apple
let myEmail = "eskimo" + "1" + "@" + "apple.com"

0
macOS Tahoe 26.4 Beta 4: Rosetta deprecation warning not shown — bug or intended behavior?
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