Apple Silicon Support in TT 2024

[JackOfToadHall]

Last I heard, TurboTax does *not* natively support Apple Silicon Macs, the *only* kind they now sell.   No, I don't want to download Rosetta.   I remember seeing a System Requirements page that listed Intel Mac as a requirement, but don't see that here:  https://turbotax.intuit.com/personal-taxes/cd-download/tta-system-requirements.   Does anyone know if they've addressed the issue for new Macs?

A sure-fire way to see if they support the Apple Silicon architecture is to find the Turbotax app and executable, and in a Terminal window run the 'file' utility on it, looking to see if it supports the 'arm64' architecture.  For instance, this command demonstrates that Quicken supports both 'arm64' and 'x86_64' (Intel 64 bit chips):

> file /Applications/Quicken.app/Contents/MacOS/Quicken
/Applications/Quicken.app/Contents/MacOS/Quicken: Mach-O universal binary with 2 architectures: [x86_64:Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64] [arm64:Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64]
/Applications/Quicken.app/Contents/MacOS/Quicken (for architecture x86_64): Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64
/Applications/Quicken.app/Contents/MacOS/Quicken (for architecture arm64:( Mach-O 64-bit executable arm64

I'm thinking if the Quicken folks can figure it out the TurboTax developers should be able to do it, but the System Requirements statement isn't explicit about that.

[baldietax]

I am running TT 2024 on Mac Mini M4 with Mac OS 15, seems fine.  Note Mac OS 12 and below no longer supported that's probably a bigger issue for aging Intel Macs that stop at older OS levels.

[JackOfToadHall]

Thanks for the reply, but did you ever install Rosetta?  (Desired answer: "no".)

Did you try the Terminal command 'file' I mentioned?

I bought the Desktop product a couple of years ago and found it unusable and not returnable.   Trying to avoid that situation again.

[baldietax]

No Rosetta.  Hard to know what issue you had previously, but I jumped from 2015 Intel iMac/Macbook on MacOS 11/12, to Mac Mini M4 for 2024 so I don't have extensive experience running TT on Apple silicon in prior years.  Here's the output of file command:

/Applications/TurboTax 2024.app/Contents/MacOS/TurboTax 2024: Mach-O 64-bit executable x86_64

Probably the bigger issue for folks is going to be MacOS version compatibility, TT 2024 is only supported on MacOS v13 onwards and a lot of older Macs from 2015/6 or so will be starting to age out of OS upgrades needed to run TT.

If you've not purchased it yet check prices on Amazon it's nicely discounted there at the moment.

[JackOfToadHall]

Hmm.  The 'x86_64' output says it will run on 64-bit Intel processors.    If there were another line containing 'arm' then we'd know that it can also run natively on Apple Silicon.  (A brilliant bit of engineering that allows different CPU's to be supported by the same binary file.).  So I'm inferring that you have Rosetta on your M4, which is something I want to avoid.  Thanks for clarifying.

(The knocks on Rosetta are (a) poor performance and (b) excessive number of SSD writes, which cuts into the lifetime of the hard-wired SSD drive. https://redd.it/luyim1)

[baldietax]

ok but now I'm interested in how this is working if you're saying this binary shouldn't run on Apple Silicon without some sort of emulator.  It's a brand new M4, I did not use MA or TM to migrate stuff from my old iMac.  The only things I've installed on it (to my knowledge) are Adobe Creative Cloud/Lightroom/Photoshop, Audacity, TurboTax 2023, TurboTax 2024, BackBlaze, GoodSync, Microsoft 365.  Did one of these install something to enable TT?  I don't see any "rosetta" processes running in Activity Monitor.

[baldietax]

correction, there is this process

  441   798     1   0 29Dec24 ??         0:00.13 /usr/libexec/rosetta/oahd

installed 11/15 so presumably comes with the OS

[JackOfToadHall]

Yes, curious. In Activity Monitor, look for something besides 'Apple' in the 'kind' column.    Easiest way might be to sort on the 'kind' column  and look at the top and bottom of the process list.  I don't know what Rosetta looks like in Activity Monitor, but the 'kind' column would be another way of identifying non-native apps.

Edit: you've identified the Rosetta process.

[carltonroe · Accepted solution]

Looks to me like still not Apple Silicon, since in the System Report / Applications, it shows "Intel". Just unacceptable after all these years.  You can really the effects in the sluggish performance of the program.

TurboTax 2024:

  Version: 2024.r17.020

  Obtained from: Identified Developer

  Last Modified: 2/6/25, 04:55

  Kind: Intel

  Signed by: Developer ID Application: Intuit Inc. (G4SSPX3CBL), Developer ID Certification Authority, Apple Root CA

  Location: /Applications/TurboTax 2024.app

[TAXHELLAGAIN]

Rosetta 2 is automatically installed. No current Apple Silicon machine is without it.

[TAXHELLAGAIN]

---

@JackOfToadHall wrote:

Hmm.  The 'x86_64' output says it will run on 64-bit Intel processors.    If there were another line containing 'arm' then we'd know that it can also run natively on Apple Silicon.  (A brilliant bit of engineering that allows different CPU's to be supported by the same binary file.).  So I'm inferring that you have Rosetta on your M4, which is something I want to avoid.  Thanks for clarifying.

(The knocks on Rosetta are (a) poor performance and (b) excessive number of SSD writes, which cuts into the lifetime of the hard-wired SSD drive. https://redd.it/luyim1)

---

TurboTax does not require a lot CPU time. Tax math is very simple. That said, it probably doesn't work as fast, but still, the difference is negligible.  Some apps actually perform faster with Rosetta 2 than the same app ran natively on an Intel App. The real problem is in September 2027 when support for Rosetta 2 will be discontinued when you install macOS '28. Only Intuit is not up to date.

For instance, Quicken Inc.,  (NO LONGER PART OF INTUIT), released their "Quicken for Mac" Apple Silicon Binary nearly 5 years ago in November 2020.  

[TAXHELLAGAIN]

Rosetta 2 is currently automatically installed whether you like it or not on every Apple Silicon Mac. It will be discontinued with macOS version 28. Therefore macOS 27 will be the last macOS that supports any Intel Binaries. 

The process for Rosetta on an Apple Silicon Mac is called "oahd," which manages the translation of Intel-based applications to run on Apple Silicon. This process operates automatically in the background when you launch an app that requires Rosetta. Launch an Intel app such as TurboTax '24 and open "Activity Monitor" enter "oahd" into the search field on the top right, set view to all processes. Voila!  

It is simply not possible to be running macOS up through macOS 27 on an M1,M2,M3,M4, M5, etc. Mac while using an Intel app and not have "oahd", the Rosetta 2 daemon, running. Executable path: {/usr/libexec/rosetta/oahd} And when macOS 28 is released in September of 2027, or whenever Apple decides to stop supporting Intel Binaries, it will not be possible to run an Intel App. 

[ukhbdf0nRKxXukhbdf0nRKxXukhbdf0n]

At this point we should be submitting feedback to: https://investors.intuit.com/corporate-governance/conduct-and-guidelines/contact-the-board/default.a.... This is embarrassing product quality and flat out refusal to change. 

STILL Intel only...

Intuit and their software developers should feel shameful for releasing this.

TurboTax 2025 on macOS is still Intel-only, pushing Apple Silicon users onto Rosetta. Apple’s one‑page playbook for Universal binaries has existed since 2020. This results in slower launches, higher memory usage, and avoidable issues on modern Macs. 

Xcode 12.2+ includes arm64 in Standard Architectures and will output a Universal app for release builds. Intuit, please ship a Universal build and publish a timeline.

Apple has documentation for Universal binary, it is straightforward and easy to follow.... 

Apple’s official guidance explains how to build a Universal macOS binary that runs natively on both Apple Silicon (arm64) and Intel (x86_64). In Xcode 12.2 and later, Standard Architectures already include arm64, and release builds produce Universal binaries when projects use standard settings. Apple also states you can build Universal on either an Intel or Apple Silicon Mac.

Apple’s companion ‘Porting your macOS apps to Apple silicon’ document notes that opening your project in Xcode 12+ and doing a clean build will create a Universal binary automatically if you haven’t overridden architectures. If you use custom build systems, add arm64 and verify. This is a routine workflow, not an R&D project.

For non‑Xcode workflows, developers can build arm64 and x86_64 artifacts separately and combine them with the lipo tool into a single Universal binary—widely documented and used across the macOS ecosystem.

Sources!

Building a universal macOS binary — Apple Developer Documentation

Porting your macOS apps to Apple silicon — Apple Developer Documentation

https://amazingalgorithms.com/commands/lipo-macos/