[GNC] GnuCash for Apple Silicon Macs

[David Reiser]

> On Jul 2, 2024, at 14:27, R Losey <rlosey at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> On Tue, Jul 2, 2024 at 12:55 PM Robert Zuccherato <
> robert.zuccherato at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Hello,
>> 
>> I am sending this email because I am wondering about the status of
>> GnuCash compiled for Apple silicon Macs.  Currently, we just have
>> available for download binaries for Intel Macs.  They run fine on Apple
>> silicon Macs under Rosetta 2.  However, Apple is not going to support
>> Rosetta 2 forever.  At some point in the future, they will remove it in
>> an update to MacOS.  I understand that the reason binaries are not
>> available is that WebKitGtk crashes when built for Apple silicon.  It
>> appears that no progress has been made in fixing the WebKitGtk bug that
>> causes the crash.  Thus, what are the future plans for GnuCash on MacOS?
>>  When Apple removes Rosetta 2 will Mac users be left out in the cold?
>> 
>> Thanks,
>> 
>>        Robert Zuccherato.
>> 
> 
> I am also interested, as my M1 iMac is my main computer, and I do about 60%
> of my GnuCash data entry on it.
> 
> Has Apple given a date when they won't support Rosetta 2?
> 
No. And it would be somewhere between unusual and unheard of for Apple to comment this soon about it.

Rosetta 1 was around for 5 years. So maybe 2026 will be the end of Rosetta 2. We might not hear of its demise until WWDC 26, with the axe falling in September.

If the discontinuation is strictly a commercial decision, maybe it stays around longer. If something technical arises in some intervening system update, Rosetta could disappear earlier and very suddenly.

I doubt Apple themselves knows for sure, so I don’t expect any announcement soon.
--
Dave Reiser
dbreiser at icloud.com