How Keep86 works
Short answer: Keep86 runs a hidden macOS 27 virtual machine on your Apple silicon Mac, with Rosetta turned on inside it. Your Intel-only apps are installed there, and Keep86 shows each app’s windows on your normal desktop. You open and use them like any other app, without a second desktop to manage.
Keep86 is in public beta. This page describes how it is built; results for individual apps appear in the compatibility database only after we have tested them.
One question is still open: Apple hasn’t said whether macOS 28 will continue to run Rosetta inside a macOS 27 virtual machine. Keep86 depends on the answer. We will test this on the first macOS 28 betas (expected in June 2027) and publish the result on this page.
How the parts fit together
One-time setup
Scan
Keep86 lists the Intel-only apps on your Mac and points out those that have a native version you can download instead.
Download macOS 27 from Apple
Keep86 downloads the official macOS 27 restore image directly from Apple’s servers. We never host or redistribute macOS.
Create the virtual Mac
Keep86 creates the virtual Mac and asks how much memory it may use while it runs.
Complete macOS setup
You go through the standard macOS setup screens once and create a local user account. You don’t need an Apple Account.
Keep your apps
Choose the apps you want to keep. Keep86 copies them into the virtual Mac and adds a launcher with each app’s own icon to your Mac.
Everyday use
Open apps as before
Click the app in the Dock, Launchpad or Finder. If the virtual Mac is asleep, it wakes up and the app opens.
Windows on your desktop
The windows, menus and dialogs of each kept app appear next to your other apps — not inside a second desktop.
Your documents
Kept apps open and save files through a shared folder on your Mac, so your documents stay where you can find them.
Sleep when idle
When you close your kept apps, the virtual Mac goes to sleep after a while and returns its memory to the rest of your Mac.
What you see — and what stays hidden
What you see
- The app’s own windows and dialogs
- Its menus and keyboard shortcuts
- A Dock icon with the app’s icon
- A small Keep86 menu in the menu bar
What stays hidden
- The virtual Mac’s desktop and Finder
- Its login window and system updates
- The Rosetta setup inside it
- Anything you don’t need to manage
What your Mac needs
- An Apple silicon Mac (M1 or newer) with macOS 27 or later. Intel Macs don’t need Keep86, because they run Intel apps natively.
- About 65 GB of free disk space during setup and about 40 GB afterwards, plus space for the apps you keep.
- 16 GB of memory recommended (8 GB is enough for light apps). The virtual Mac reserves the memory you assign to it until it goes to sleep.
- An internet connection for the one-time macOS download and for licence refreshes every week or two. Offline, Keep86 keeps working until the current licence token expires.
Known limits
- OpenGL and OpenCL: the virtual Mac’s graphics don’t support them, so some 3D apps and games won’t display correctly.
- Mac App Store sign-in isn’t possible inside the virtual Mac, so App Store purchases can’t be downloaded again there.
- 32-bit apps: macOS stopped supporting them with Catalina in 2019; Rosetta never ran them.
- Drivers and kernel extensions for scanners, printers, audio interfaces and similar hardware.
- Business use: Apple’s macOS licence allows macOS virtual machines only for personal, non-commercial use, with at most two per Mac.