What’s Apple Silicon?
In late 2020, Apple began releasing computers that were built on their own proprietary System on a Chip (SoC), which is commonly referred to as Apple Silicon. The chips are referred to as the M-Series, beginning with the M1 and, as of 2026, extending to M5 variants. Apple silicon is an ARM-based architecture, which is different than Intel chip-based Macs that were manufactured prior to 2020. Because the chip architecture is different, software developers had to write different versions of their software for each type of silicon. You may have noticed an example of this if you visited our VS Pro start web page.
What’s Rosetta?
When Apple first released their operating systems that were designed to work with their new chip architecture, they were still using older chunks of code that were written for Intel chips. To compensate for this, Apple created a translation tool called Rosetta. This tool was part of the newly-designed MacOS releases and allowed users to keep using Intel-based applications without noticing. As Apple has moved all Intel-based processes to Apple Silicon-native and developers have re-written Intel-based applications to run natively on Apple Silicon, using Rosetta has become less and less necessary.
With the recent release of MacOS 27, Apple is making its last use of Rosetta. Where previous MacOS releases still had Rosetta installed by default, Golden Gate (MacOS 27) does not have it installed by default. Users who want to continue using Rosetta must reinstall it. Starting with MacOS 28, Rosetta will no longer work at all, effectively bringing an end to Intel-based applications on Mac hardware.
Intel-Based VolleyStation Pro
Because of how a Mac’s OS functions, it’s important to use the correct version of VolleyStation Pro for the architecture it’s running on. If you have a Mac, you can check “About This Mac” in the Apple menu for information about the chip.
If the chip listed is something other than “Apple M#” (like Core i7, etc.), you should be using the Intel version of VS Pro. If the chip listed is part of the M Series, you should be using the ARM version of VS Pro.
Checking Your VolleyStation Pro Version
To find the installed version of VS Pro, first open the Applications folder in the Finder. There are two ways to do this.
- Click the Applications item in the sidebar of any Finder window, or
- In the Finder’s Go menu, click Applications
In the Applications window, find VolleyStation Pro and right-click on it, then choose “Get Info”
In the window that opens, locate the Kind information near the top
If the Kind does not match the computer’s chip, you should delete the application and install the appropriate version. Any saved information will remain when you change application version. If you are concerned about losing data, you can always copy your database before re-installing.
While the Intel-based version of VS Pro can work on a Rosetta-enabled Apple Silicon Mac, it will tend to run very slowly and erratically. We recommend installing the appropriate version, especially considering the eventual obsolescence of all Intel-based applications.
Installing Rosetta
If you purchase a new Mac or update an existing Mac to MacOS 27, it is likely that Rosetta will not be installed. The most likely behavior of VS Pro on an Apple Silicon Mac that does not have Rosetta installed is for the application to open a window that will remain completely white. To fix this, install Rosetta.
- Open Mac’s Terminal application
- You can find Terminal by opening the Finder’s Applications folder (as detailed above), then double-clicking the application.
- You can also open Terminal by using the Finder’s Spotlight Search. Open Spotlight Search by typing CMD + space and then typing “terminal” and selecting the item when it appears in the search results.
- In the Terminal window type the text below, then press Enter.
softwareupdate --install-rosetta
- (You can copy and paste the text above and paste it into the terminal window too.) You will be prompted to confirm the installation.
- Open VS Pro
About Intel-Based Application Support
When a Mac opens an application that contains Intel-based code, the computer will occasionally display a warning about Intel support ending soon.
While the Apple Silicon version of VS Pro is almost entirely Apple Silicon-native, there are still parts of the application that rely on Intel-based code. VolleyStation developers will have the application updated to be completely Apple Silicon-native prior to Apple’s deadline, which is some time in late 2027 or early 2028. In the meantime, you can dismiss this warning if you see it. You don’t need to do anything else. Your version of the application will be updated in the future when you use the update feature in VS Pro.
About VolleyStation Streamer and Apple Silicon
VolleyStation Streamer is currently an Intel-based application so you may see the same “support ending” warning when opening VS Streamer as well. There is not yet an Apple Silicon-native version of the application but that will be addressed prior to Apple’s deadline for Intel-based applications. There will be an update for the application in the future.
Since VS Streamer is Intel-based, you will need to install Rosetta before using it on new Macs or Macs updated to MacOS 27, as indicated above for VS Pro.
Do You Have More Questions?
Please contact Eduardo Fiallos, VolleyStation’s Coordinator of Client Education.
eduardo.fiallos@volleystation.com