Alongside macOS Tahoe being the last macOS version to support Macs with Intel processors, Apple has announced a transition timeline for macOS’s Rosetta 2 translation environment.

Apple first announced Rosetta 2 as being available for macOS Big Sur in 2020. It is an optionally installed binary translator for macOS, which allows applications written only for Macs with Intel processors to also run on Macs with Apple Silicon processors. As with the previous Rosetta, where the goal was to smooth the transition from Power PC processors to Intel processors, Rosetta 2’s goal was to likewise smooth the transition from Intel processors to Apple Silicon processors by enabling Intel-only applications to run on Apple Silicon Macs. With Intel support in macOS now having an official retirement version with macOS Tahoe, Rosetta 2 is likewise transitioning over time.

Apple has committed to making Rosetta 2 in its current form available for the next two OS releases, with macOS 26 being the first OS release and macOS 27 being the second OS release. Apple has not described what will happen with Rosetta 2 beyond macOS 27, beyond stating that they will be keeping a subset of Rosetta functionality available to support certain Intel-based frameworks. The goal of the support for these not-yet specified Intel-based frameworks is to allow older unmaintained gaming titles to run on macOS past macOS 27.