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Does your Mac have Apple silicon or Intel? How to check

Short answer: Choose Apple menu › About This Mac. If you see “Chip” followed by Apple M1, M2, M3, M4 or later, your Mac has Apple silicon. If you see “Processor” with an Intel name, it’s an Intel Mac. The end of Rosetta affects Apple silicon Macs: Intel Macs run Intel apps natively but can’t install macOS 27.

Last checked October 5, 2026

Check in About This Mac

  1. Choose Apple menu › About This Mac.
  2. Look at the first lines of the window:
    • Chip: Apple M1 (or M2, M3, M4 and later, including Pro, Max and Ultra models) — your Mac has Apple silicon.
    • Processor: followed by an Intel processor name (for example “Intel Core i5”) — it’s an Intel Mac.

Check in Terminal

Open Terminal (in Applications › Utilities) and type uname -m, then press Return.

  • arm64 — Apple silicon.
  • x86_64 — Intel. One exception: if Terminal itself was set to open using Rosetta, an Apple silicon Mac also shows x86_64. About This Mac is the reliable check.

What the end of Rosetta means for your Mac

Apple silicon Mac

Apple has announced that macOS 27 is the last version that supports Rosetta for apps. On macOS 28, apps built only for Intel no longer open on Apple silicon Macs, apart from some older games Apple keeps supporting. Apps built for Apple silicon and Universal apps are not affected.

What to do: find your Intel-only apps now, while they still run. Our guide How to find Intel-only apps on your Mac shows how, and Before macOS 28: a checklist for your Intel-only apps lists the next steps.

Intel Mac

An Intel Mac runs Intel apps natively, without Rosetta, so the change doesn’t affect it directly. But Apple has said that macOS 27 runs only on Macs with Apple silicon, so an Intel Mac stays on macOS 26 or earlier.

The change matters when you replace it: every Mac Apple sells today has Apple silicon, and a new Mac released after macOS 28 will come with macOS 28 or later. Apps that are Intel-only won’t open on it. If you plan to move to a new Mac, check your apps first.

Keep86 and your Mac

Keep86 needs a Mac with Apple silicon: it uses Apple’s virtualization framework to run macOS 27 in a hidden virtual Mac, and that is only possible on Apple silicon. On an Intel Mac, your Intel apps already run natively, so Keep86 isn’t needed there.

Common questions

How do I know if my Mac has Apple silicon? Choose Apple menu › About This Mac. A line called “Chip” (for example Apple M1) means Apple silicon; “Processor” with an Intel name means an Intel Mac.

Does an Intel Mac need Rosetta? No. Intel Macs run Intel apps directly. Rosetta exists only for Macs with Apple silicon.

Can my Intel Mac run macOS 27? No. macOS 27 Golden Gate runs only on Macs with Apple silicon; macOS 26 Tahoe is the last version for Intel Macs.

Sources

More guides

  • macOS 27 Golden Gate: the last macOS for Intel apps

    macOS 27 Golden Gate came out on 14 September 2026. It runs only on Apple silicon and is the last macOS that runs Intel-only apps through Rosetta.

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  • macOS 28 and Rosetta: what stops working

    Apple ends Rosetta for apps after macOS 27. What stops working on Apple silicon Macs with macOS 28, what keeps working and what to do now — with sources.

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  • How to find Intel-only apps on your Mac

    Four ways to see which of your Mac apps are Intel-only and will stop working in macOS 28 — Finder, System Information, Activity Monitor and Terminal.

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  • How to run Intel apps on Apple silicon after macOS 28

    Your options once Rosetta is gone: a native version, an alternative, staying on macOS 27, or a VM — UTM, VirtualBuddy, Parallels and Keep86 compared.

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