The End of Rosetta 2 Support: What is the Future for macOS Players?
Delacriss994
Soul Shriven
Hi everyone and @ZOS_Team,
I am writing this post to bring attention to a critical issue regarding the future of The Elder Scrolls Online on the macOS platform.
As most Mac players know, ESO currently runs on Apple Silicon (M-series chips) through Rosetta 2, Apple's translation layer for Intel-based software. However, we have reached a turning point:
The Situation: Apple has officially confirmed that macOS 27 is the final version to fully support Rosetta 2. Starting with macOS 28 (expected in 2027), Rosetta 2 will be discontinued for general applications.
The Problem: Since ESO is still a 100% Intel-based (x86_64) application, it will effectively become unplayable on up-to-date Macs once Rosetta is removed. Even now, players experience sub-optimal performance, high temperatures, and occasional stutters because the game cannot utilize the full power of the Apple Silicon architecture and Metal API natively.
The Request: Years ago, it was mentioned that a native ARM port was not planned due to the complexity of the task. However, the landscape has changed. Apple Silicon is no longer a "new" transition—it is the standard.
We love this game and have invested years into our characters. As the "grace period" for Intel apps is officially ending, we need to know:
Is ZeniMax currently working on a native Apple Silicon (ARM64) client?
If not, what is the official plan for Mac players once macOS 28 releases and Rosetta 2 is gone?
The Mac community might be smaller than PC or Console, but we are dedicated and loyal. We would love to hear an update so we can plan our future in Tamriel.
Thank you.
Edited by Delacriss994 on May 6, 2026 8:36AM I am writing this post to bring attention to a critical issue regarding the future of The Elder Scrolls Online on the macOS platform.
As most Mac players know, ESO currently runs on Apple Silicon (M-series chips) through Rosetta 2, Apple's translation layer for Intel-based software. However, we have reached a turning point:
The Situation: Apple has officially confirmed that macOS 27 is the final version to fully support Rosetta 2. Starting with macOS 28 (expected in 2027), Rosetta 2 will be discontinued for general applications.
The Problem: Since ESO is still a 100% Intel-based (x86_64) application, it will effectively become unplayable on up-to-date Macs once Rosetta is removed. Even now, players experience sub-optimal performance, high temperatures, and occasional stutters because the game cannot utilize the full power of the Apple Silicon architecture and Metal API natively.
The Request: Years ago, it was mentioned that a native ARM port was not planned due to the complexity of the task. However, the landscape has changed. Apple Silicon is no longer a "new" transition—it is the standard.
We love this game and have invested years into our characters. As the "grace period" for Intel apps is officially ending, we need to know:
Is ZeniMax currently working on a native Apple Silicon (ARM64) client?
If not, what is the official plan for Mac players once macOS 28 releases and Rosetta 2 is gone?
The Mac community might be smaller than PC or Console, but we are dedicated and loyal. We would love to hear an update so we can plan our future in Tamriel.
Thank you.
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moesmaker✭✭✭I second your post wholeheartedly! Nothing to add. Please let us continue playing this wonderful game!2 -
raffaeleg✭✭✭I can only second you! I was glad to be one the firsts beta tester on the Mac, back in early 2014. I have a Mac Studio and now ESO is playing very smoothly and much faster than my PC laptop. I just can hope there will be an expedient to continue playing ESO on the Mac after macOS 27.2
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keto3000✭✭✭I can only second you! I was glad to be one the firsts beta tester on the Mac, back in early 2014. I have a Mac Studio and now ESO is playing very smoothly and much faster than my PC laptop. I just can hope there will be an expedient to continue playing ESO on the Mac after macOS 27.
Ditto for me! Longtime continous player since beta 2014. Played on an intel imac for years, switched to an M1 mac mini and the game runs smoothly. Many big title MMOs have found a way to support native Apple Silicon. Hoping for @ZOS_Team to reevaluate and continue support for us.“The point of power is always in the present moment.”
― Louise L. Hay1 -
DeCaMilSoul ShrivenI agree, but.the March release changed something and seriously destabilized things. On my M4 Max it would crash in 30s after I loaded a character. I fiddled for weeks, turning off add-ons, minimal graphics settings, different resolutions. Nada.
Then I tried CrossOver. Wow. Ultra graphics, full resolution, and 60+ fps!
The windows exe under CrossOver out performs the Mac Intel binary on Rosetta. It leaves me thinking Apple wants to kill Rosetta because they know it's a sloppy hack. There's also the possibility that there is a serious issue in Bethesda's Mac implementation.0 -
The windows exe under CrossOver out performs the Mac Intel binary on Rosetta. It leaves me thinking Apple wants to kill Rosetta because they know it's a sloppy hack. There's also the possibility that there is a serious issue in Bethesda's Mac implementation.
Crossover is using Rosetta to translate the windows x86 binaries to arm64 also. It is actually one of the most capable binary translators anyone has ever made, often reaching close to 80 percent of native performance. FEX and Prism on Linux/Windows are not quite as good.
The native mac client uses MacOS API calls for non-graphics functions, but it uses a translation layer called MoltenVK to translate Vulkan calls to Metal. It used to use OpenGL natively but OpenGL is deprecated now.
Crossover translates all system calls from windows to MacOS, but uses one of several DirectX to Metal translation you choose when configuring the bottle (DXMT or D3DMetal). The Mac Client from a game engine standpoint has basically been frozen in time since about 2020, in particular it doesn't support the multithreaded renderer option which made a huge difference on the Windows client. Running the Windows client in Crossover allows us to use all of the latest game engine improvements, plus the ability to use FSR or DLSS (which is translated to MetalFX by the latest translation layers). It also supports HDR, although I think the HDR implementation is wonky, especially on external non-Apple displays.
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