SQLEditor and Apple Silicon (ARM) Macs
In 2020, Apple announced that they would be introducing a new series of Mac computers that used a different processor to those previously sold.
Previously the main processor in Mac computers had been made by Intel and implemented the Intel X86-64 instruction set.
The new Macs will use processors made by Apple themselves that implement the ARM instruction set.
ARM based chips have previously been used in both iPads and iPhones as well as various other computer systems.
Are ARM and X86-64 chips compatible?
No. They are totally different and software written for one cannot be run directly on the other without modification.
However Apple has announced that these new Macs will have an emulation system that allows software written for Intel chips to work on the ARM chips.
Does SQLEditor work on an ARM Mac?
SQLEditor might work, but we don’t guarantee it
We don’t currently support SQLEditor on ARM macs
- Currently SQLEditor is 64Bit Intel x86-64 only (Emulation only)
- We haven’t yet released a build with native ARM code.
- Java features may not work due the JVM possibly not excuting correctly.
We’re currently studying the situation and hope to have further information soon.
What should I do?
If you do not already own a copy of SQLEditor and ARM support is important to you, please wait before buying SQLEditor.
If you already have a copy of SQLEditor, feel free to try it on your ARM mac and see how it works. It may be worth limiting your use in anything especially important though.
Any feedback that you send will be most gratefully received.
Join our test program!
If you have access to an ARM based Mac and would be interested in testing beta versions please email at support@malcolmhardie.com.
Extra testers would be much appreciated.