One of the benefits of Apple Silicon – Apple’s ARM-based processor found in the new M1 MacBooks and M1 Mac mini – is that it can run applications intended for iOS devices. The downside of this, of course, is that software originally designed for Macs with Intel processors would not necessarily play well.
Perhaps to compensate for this early shortage of software, Apple initially allowed any iPhone application to run on Apple Silicon Macs, allowing users to download apps using software such as iMazing. But according to a new report from 9to5Mac, Apple has now closed this gap and brought the new Macs into line with the ‘walled garden’ approach of iOS, where unauthorized applications can only be installed via a risky jailbreak.
Although it affects both the current MacOS Big Sur 11.1 and the developer version of Big Sur 11.2, the message for the latter is more specific: “This application could not be installed because the developer did not intend to run it on this platform not.” Software previously loaded on its part continues to work for now, as it only affects application installations – just make sure you do not uninstall it as you will not be able to use it again.
To be clear, this is not going to affect developers who want their iOS software running on Apple Silicon Macs. Developers who are not comfortable with their software running on Macs can simply log it out and remove their app from the Mac App Store. This is understandable why they can do it: the new MacBooks do not have touch screens, so the experience will always be different – something users may not understand before pressing the one-star review button, which damages their reputation elsewhere.
But that means, at least for now, there are no M1 Mac apps for big hits like Netflix, Instagram and Facebook, which could once have been neatly loaded onto the PC.
It’s a shame, but otherwise the launch of the first Apple Silicon Macs was a triumph. As we said in our Apple Mac mini review: “For most uses, the Apple M1 chip can take on Core i3 and Core i5 processors and win.” It is according to this kind of impressive achievement that Apple feels confident in the near future to release iMac and Mac Pro computers on their own chips.