How to check what macOS apps will go obsolete soon

NEW DELHI: Apple is planning to move away from 32-bit apps completely this time. The firm last year ditched 32-bit apps in favour of 64-bit apps on iOS and this time it is the macOS. According to a report by Ars Technica, macOS users will start (some have already started) seeing notifications while opening 32-bit apps, suggesting that these won’t be supported in future versions.

Although it’s up to the developers when or if they choose to upgrade their apps, what you can do for now is to check what all apps on your MacBook laptop or iMac desktops. Of course, you will see the notification pop up when the app is opened, there is a way to see all the 32-bit apps at once in a list. Here’s what you need to do.



Step 1: In your macOS-running device, click on the Apple logo on the top-left corner.

Step 2: In the drop-down, click on the ‘About this Mac’ option.

Step 3: Clicking on it will open a new window revealing details about the device, its memory, disk space and more. In the particular window, click on the ‘System Report’ option at the bottom.

Step 4: In the next window that opens, navigate to Software/Applications options on the left sidebar and sort all the apps by ’64-bit (Intel)’.

Step 5: All those apps that say ‘No’ means they are 32-bit apps and need to get updated to 64-bit. Ones showing ‘Yes’ means they are 64-bit apps and will work seamlessly in the next macOS version.

There is no final date as to when 32-bit apps will stop working completely on macOS devices. However, Apple’s push towards the 64-bit platform is evident. The company did alert developers last year for this as well.

“At our Worldwide Developers Conference in 2017, Apple informed developers that macOS High Sierra would be the last version of macOS to run 32-bit apps without compromise,” says a statement in Apple’s support page. We are likely to hear more about this transition at the upcoming WWDC 2018 conference.