MacVoices #26088: Live! - The End of Rosetta, App Store Pressure Increasing

This MacVoices Live! discussion centers on Apple's planned removal of Rosetta support in macOS 26.4 and the implications for Intel-based applications still running under Apple Silicon. Chuck Joiner, David Ginsburg, Marty Jencius, Web Bixby, Jim Rea, Eric Bolden, and Jeff Gamet explore how many apps may still quietly depend on Rosetta, tools for identifying them, and why Apple is phasing out x86 components. The conversation shifts to legal questions surrounding pressure on Apple to remove an ICE-monitoring app from the App Store from a surprising source.

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Show Notes:

Chapters:

00:00 Rosetta Deprecation Announcement 00:27 Why Rosetta Is Going Away 01:20 Preparing for Legacy App Loss 05:04 Steam and Gaming Concerns 06:24 Checking Apps for Intel Dependencies 11:03 Utilities and Migration Surprises 13:25 Tools to Identify Rosetta Apps 15:11 Government Pressure on App Store Decisions 16:38 Legal and Free Speech Implications 20:59 App Store Policy Double Standards

Links:

macOS Tahoe 26.4 Displays Warnings for Apps That Won't Work After Rosetta 2 Support Ends https://www.macrumors.com/2026/02/16/macos-tahoe-26-4-rosetta-2-warnings/

Trump officials sued for pressuring Apple to remove an ICE monitoring app from the App Store https://appleworld.today/2026/02/trump-officials-sued-for-pressuring-apple-to-remove-an-ice-monitoring-app-from-the-app-store/

Guests:

Web Bixby has been in the insurance business for 40 years and has been an Apple user for longer than that.You can catch up with him on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but prefers Bluesky.

Eric Bolden is into macOS, plants, sci-fi, food, and is a rural internet supporter. You can connect with him on Twitter, by email at embolden@mac.com, on Mastodon at @eabolden@techhub.social, on his blog, Trending At Work, and as co-host on The Vision ProFiles podcast.

Jeff Gamet is a technology blogger, podcaster, author, and public speaker. Previously, he was The Mac Observer's Managing Editor, and the TextExpander Evangelist for Smile. He has presented at Macworld Expo, RSA Conference, several WordCamp events, along with many other conferences. You can find him on several podcasts such as The Mac Show, The Big Show, MacVoices, Mac OS Ken, This Week in iOS, and more. Jeff is easy to find on social media as @jgamet on Twitter and Instagram, jeffgamet on LinkedIn., @jgamet@mastodon.social on Mastodon, and on his YouTube Channel at YouTube.com/jgamet.

David Ginsburg is the host of the weekly podcast In Touch With iOS where he discusses all things iOS, iPhone, iPad, Apple TV, Apple Watch, and related technologies. He is an IT professional supporting Mac, iOS and Windows users. Visit his YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/daveg65 and find and follow him on Twitter @daveg65 and on Mastodon at @daveg65@mastodon.cloud.

Dr. Marty Jencius has been an Associate Professor of Counseling at Kent State University since 2000. He has over 120 publications in books, chapters, journal articles, and others, along with 200 podcasts related to counseling, counselor education, and faculty life. His technology interest led him to develop the counseling profession 'firsts,' including listservs, a web-based peer-reviewed journal, The Journal of Technology in Counseling, teaching and conferencing in virtual worlds as the founder of Counselor Education in Second Life, and podcast founder/producer of CounselorAudioSource.net and ThePodTalk.net. Currently, he produces a podcast about counseling and life questions, the Circular Firing Squad, and digital video interviews with legacies capturing the history of the counseling field. This is also co-host of The Vision ProFiles podcast. Generally, Marty is chasing the newest tech trends, which explains his interest in A.I. for teaching, research, and productivity. Marty is an active presenter and past president of the NorthEast Ohio Apple Corp (NEOAC).

Jim Rea built his own computer from scratch in 1975, started programming in 1977, and has been an independent Mac developer continuously since 1984. He is the founder of ProVUE Development, and the author of Panorama X, ProVUE's ultra fast RAM based database software for the macOS platform. He's been a speaker at MacTech, MacWorld Expo and other industry conferences. Follow Jim at provue.com and via @provuejim@techhub.social on Mastodon.

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