Apple began transitioning to 64-bit hardware and software technology for Mac over a decade ago, and all modern Macs now include powerful 64-bit processors that can run advanced 64-bit apps. These apps can access dramatically more memory, enable faster system performance, and take advantage of technologies that define today's Mac experience.
Apple has been working with developers to transition their apps, and in 2018 Apple informed them that macOS Mojave would be the last version of macOS to run 32-bit apps. Starting with macOS Catalina, 32-bit apps are no longer compatible with macOS.
If your Mac isn't compatible with the latest macOS, you might still be able to upgrade to an earlier macOS, such as macOS Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra, or El Capitan. To get the latest features and maintain the security, stability, compatibility, and performance of your Mac, it's important to keep your software up to date. MacOS Sierra (version 10.12) is the thirteenth major release of macOS (previously known as OS X and Mac OS X), Apple Inc.' S desktop and server operating system for Macintosh computers. The name 'macOS' stems from the intention to uniform the operating system's name with that of iOS, watchOS and tvOS.
If you get an alert about a 32-bit app
- MacOS Sierra: Clean vs. Upgrade Install. The upgrade install is the easiest way to upgrade your Mac to macOS Sierra. This method preserves all of your current user data, documents, and apps while upgrading the existing operating system on your Mac's startup drive to macOS Sierra.
- MacOS Downloads publicrelease, and then the folder of the OSX Version that you downloaded. Inside the macOS version folder that you downloaded from gibMacOS, we will turn the.dmg into.img Make sure you have enough disk space here! Find BaseSystem.dmg inside the gibMacOS downloaded folder. It should be around 500mb. Convert it to.img.
- If you want to roll back to a version of macOS newer than the one your Mac shipped with but older than Mojave, you can download Sierra and earlier versions from the Mac App Store. Then follow from Step 3 in ‘Create a bootable installer of Mojave’.
You will see one of these alerts when attempting to open a 32-bit app:
[app name] needs to be updated.
The developer of this app needs to update it to work with this version of macOS. Contact the developer for more information.
Macos Sierra Launch Date
[app name] is not optimized for your Mac and needs to be updated.
This app will not work with future versions of macOS and needs to be updated to improve compatibility. Contact the developer for more information.
Macos Sierra Launch Date 2020
When installing macOS, you may see a list of recently used apps that are 32-bit. You can review this list before deciding to continue installation. You may also see a prohibitory symbol over the icon of each 32-bit app in the Finder, letting you know that the app will not open.
Macos Sierra Launch Date Update
For all 32-bit apps, please contact the developer of the app to learn whether an updated version of their software is available or planned.