Can new MacBook use old software? Probably the most detailed compatibility test)
What is the compatibility of the new M1 MacBook? Apple’s MacBook using M1 chip has gradually begun to ship. We know that M1 chip is based on the ARM architecture, which is very different from the previous Intel chip based on the X86 architecture. Therefore, can the new M1 version of MacBook run the previous development based on the Intel version of macOS Software has become a concern of many friends.
▲ Switch to ARM chip for Apple MacBook
Apple has taken many measures to solve the compatibility problem of the M1 version of MacBook.
First of all, for the existing X86 software, Apple launched the X86-ARM instruction translation program “Rosetta 2”, which allows macOS on the ARM platform to directly run most of the X86 software.
According to Apple’s introduction, Rosetta 2 does not translate instructions when the software is running, but does the conversion when the software is installed, so its performance is quite good.
▲ MacBook migrated from X86 to ARM, using Rosetta 2 to achieve compatibility with the old X86 software, but not perfect
However, Rosetta 2 is not perfect. According to Apple’s official news, it cannot translate X86 instructions in the following three situations.
1. Kernel extension, that is, instructions related to operating system kernel modules cannot be translated;
2. Virtualize the virtual machine of the X86_64 platform, and there is no corresponding virtualization instruction on the current M1;
3. For instructions involving AVX, AVX2, and AVX512, there is no corresponding instruction set on ARM, so X86 software using the relevant instruction set cannot be translated.
▲ M1 version of MacBook is not compatible with all X86 software
Most of the X86 software does not involve the above content, only the ordinary SSE series instruction set. However, some development tools will involve the kernel, and some high-performance computing tools will use the AVX system instruction set. Therefore, if you want to use the M1 version of MacBook as a productivity tool, compatibility issues still need to be carefully considered.
In addition to using Rosetta 2 instruction set translation, the most native compatible method of M1 version of MacBook is of course the software developed and compiled based on ARM. Many well-known software developers, such as Adobe, have announced that their products will add ARM-compiled versions across the board, which is the most compatible with M1 MacBook.
So what software is compatible with and incompatible with the M1 MacBook? The amount of software testing is very large, and the software is constantly being updated. Today, I will introduce you to a good way to check the compatibility of the M1 version of MacBook. This may be the most detailed compatibility test.
DoseitARM: https://github.com/ThatGuySam/doesitarm
Currently, there is a compatibility test project “DoseitARM” for M1 MacBook on GitHub. In this project, you can see the compatibility tests of various productivity software such as development tools, audio-visual tools, graphics and image tools, and editing tools. Among them, the compatibility of various types of software is divided into several different situations, as follows:
· Compatible, natively compatible with Apple Silicon
· Compatible, run through Rosetta 2
· Incompatible, unable to run but supported in subsequent development (a compatible unofficial version already exists)
· Not compatible, can only run on Intel version Mac (there is no compatible version, subsequent development may be compatible)
▲ Different compatibility of X86 software
Since this is an open source project on GitHub, these compatibility test results will continue to be updated. If you want to know whether a certain software you are concerned about can run on the M1 MacBook, just search for the compatibility of this software in the list.
▲ In the list, you can find the compatibility and progress of a certain X86 software on the new MacBook
It can be seen that the compatibility of various software of the M1 version of MacBook is still relatively optimistic. For some software that is not yet compatible, there is official news that a compatible version is being developed. In the “DoseitARM” project, you can also check the official news and progress of these software on compatible M1 chips, which is quite good .
In general, if you want to know whether a certain software is compatible with the M1 version of MacBook, you might as well take a look at this GitHub project. This may be the most comprehensive M1 version of MacBook compatibility test currently available.
Apple will use ARM chips in more Mac computers in the future. With reference to the previous Mac migration speed from PowerPC to Intel, ARM’s Mac compatibility should be resolved soon. I look forward to more outstanding ARM Mac products.
For more such interesting article like this, app/softwares, games, Gadget Reviews, comparisons, troubleshooting guides, listicles, and tips & tricks related to Windows, Android, iOS, and macOS, follow us on Google News, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Pinterest.