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Support Tip: Install Rosetta 2 on new Apple Silicon (M1) Macs to run apps built for Intel Macs

This post has been republished via RSS; it originally appeared at: Intune Customer Success articles.

3/30 Update: In the March (2103) service release, when you deploy shell scripts or custom attributes for macOS devices from Microsoft Endpoint Manager, it will deploy the new universal version of the Intune management agent app that runs natively on Apple Silicon Mac machines. To learn more see: Intune management agent for macOS devices is now a universal app.

 

Apple recently announced Apple Silicon Macs. These devices run on 64-bit ARM (RISC) CPUs relative to the previous generation of Macs that ran on Intel CPUs. Apple also announced a translation layer called Rosetta 2 that allows apps built for Intel Macs to run on the new Apple Silicon Macs.

 

Intune apps on macOS such as Intune Company Portal and the Intune MDM agent depend on the Rosetta 2 translation layer for managing Apple Silicon Macs. If you purchase a new Apple Silicon Mac running macOS 11.x (Big Sur), Rosetta 2 does not come pre-installed and the end-user is prompted by macOS to install it on first launch of an Intel-based application.

 

macOS installation prompt for Rosetta

 

If you are upgrading to macOS 11 on Intel Macs, this is not an issue.

 

Additional scenario to consider - Apple Silicon (M1) Macs fail to run shell scripts when enrolled via Apple Automated Device Enrollment (ADE)

In this scenario, the device gets enrolled into Intune using macOS Setup Assistant. If you have configured shell scripts for these Macs, the Intune MDM agent is automatically installed on the Mac. However, the Intune MDM agent cannot start because Rosetta 2 is not installed. macOS 11 does not prompt the end user to install Rosetta 2 in this case.

 

If you are enrolling your Apple Silicon Macs using Company Portal, you will be prompted to install Rosetta 2 on first launch of Company Portal.

 

Recommendation

Install Rosetta 2 on Apple Silicon Macs to ensure app compatibility with Intel-based apps using one of the following steps:

 

Let us know if you have any additional questions on this by replying back to this post or tagging @IntuneSuppTeam out on Twitter.

 

Blog post updates:

3/3: We appreciate all the customer feedback and are excited to announce that the Intune management agent for macOS devices will be a universal app.

3/30: With the March (2103) service release - The Intune management agent for macOS devices is now a universal app.

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