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kmpeterson
Known Participant
Sep 29, 2026 2:51 PM UTC
Answered

Distiller requires Rosetta? (macOS 27)

I see that people have had issues with Acrobat in macOS 27 (“Golden Gate”).  I’ve been lucky not to have had any specific problems so far.

However, Apple is working to discontinue Rosetta (the application that provides a virtual shim for Intel apps, allowing them run on Apple Silicon) in the next year.  Because I use many diverse apps for my work, I don’t have - or want to have - Rosetta installed in macOS 27 so as not to get caught off guard.  All of the apps that I use are now compatible - or I’ve heeded warnings in macOS 26 and migrated to new apps that will run in Apple Silicon (ARM).  Except one. 

The Technical Requirements page for Acrobat claims that the requirement for Acrobat includes the Apple M1-M4 processors; this implies that there is an “ARM64-native” version for macOS.  There’s no mention of a requirement for Rosetta.  If there is a native version of Distiller, how can I acquire it?  (It’s an isolated part of some of my workflows, so I’d be open to testing a beta version if that’s available).  I am running Acrobat 2026.002.21931 - the Acrobat binary is itself listed as ARM64.  

If not, can I suggest that Adobe update the requirements page to include Rosetta as a prerequisite - and indicate when an updated version will be available?

AuroraPenticton
AuroraPentictonCorrect answer
Inspiring
Oct 21, 2026 9:12 PM UTC

You can find the Intel apps on your Mac this way:

Use System Settings

  1. Make sure that you’re using macOS 27 Golden Gate or later.

  2. From the Apple menu , choose System Settings.

  3. Click General in the sidebar, then click About on the right.

  4. In the macOS section, click the Details button next to Intel-based Apps.

4 replies

Dave Creamer of IDEAS
Community Expert
Community Expert
Sep 29, 2026 3:00 PM UTC

Rosetta will install when one opens an app that requires it. 
BTW, 27.0.1 was released yesterday (Sept. 28, 2026).

Hopefully, Adobe is working on a native copy. 

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David Creamer: Community Expert (ACI and ACE 1995-2023)
kmpeterson
Known Participant
Sep 29, 2026 4:14 PM UTC

And… I screwed up; it appears that I was looking at the wrong line of my report, and mis-read `arch_arm_i64` for `arch_i64` (different app).  

I do have a ARM64 version of Distiller.  

But it’s not opening :-( - I’ll try 27.0.1 next.  (I clearly jumped to the wrong conclusion here, apologies.  I wish I’d come up with a more straightforward way to get a list of Intel apps...)

 

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AuroraPenticton
AuroraPentictonCorrect answer
Inspiring
Oct 21, 2026 9:12 PM UTC

You can find the Intel apps on your Mac this way:

Use System Settings

  1. Make sure that you’re using macOS 27 Golden Gate or later.

  2. From the Apple menu , choose System Settings.

  3. Click General in the sidebar, then click About on the right.

  4. In the macOS section, click the Details button next to Intel-based Apps.

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