Too good to be true? Plenty of software not compatible with Apple M1 laptops

It is a little known fact that when Apple demonstrated the first iPhone, the handset’s software was held together largely by smoke and mirrors. AppleInsider for example writes:

 It would play a section of a song or video, but would crash if a user tried to play the full clip. The apps that were demonstrated were incomplete, with no guarantee that they would not crash mid-demonstration. The team eventually decided on a “golden path” of specific tasks that Jobs could perform with little chance that the device would crash in the actual keynote.

With the release of the Apple M1 powered laptops Apple appeared to pull off another magical feat – an ARM-powered laptop which ran legacy x86 software better than an Intel processor.

All may not be what it seems, however. Twitter is currently full of people complaining about incompatible software, including reputable people such as analyst Patrick Moorhead.

Up and running again. Clicked on Edge and asking me to install Rosetta again. I already installed it. Maybe Big Sur update uninstalled it? Reinstalled Rosetta. Edge keeps crashing. Ok time to move to my favorite local Office package. Hoping this goes better. #MacBookProM1 pic.twitter.com/wFkHoNEd2g

— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) November 20, 2020

It’s not just Microsoft’s software which does not play well with Big Sur on the new Macbook Pro.

Acrobat DC will not install either. "Acrobat DC not yet available for devices with Apple silicon. (Error code: 405)" #MacBookProM1 pic.twitter.com/n39tzxJhAc

— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) November 22, 2020

Let's add some peripherals. Logitech C922 with Camera Control app. Worked well for a few minutes (was impressed) then crashed. I'll use it on some Teams, Zoom, WebEx, 8×8, Meet calls tomorrow. #MacBookProM1 pic.twitter.com/G3YYHEFtCt

— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) November 20, 2020

Hardware- related software seems to have particular issues.

The Mac backup software for my Samsung Portable SSD T5 failed installation on the #MacBookProM1. pic.twitter.com/mhLk66MVNI

— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) November 21, 2020

WinZip 8 installed but will not run on the #MacBookProM1 https://t.co/bNIXQKvVA4

— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) November 22, 2020

Lest you think only Moorhead was having issues.

"At the moment Thunderbolt devices are working well with Apple M1 Macs. Due to no ARM drivers, Radeon graphics cards do not work and therefore eGPU is a no-go."

But with (non-kernel extension user space) AMD drivers compiled for Apple Silicon the eGPU might be back?

— Dr Kevin Purcell ?????? (@kevinpurcell) November 19, 2020

Guessing im not going an m1 anytime soon. Xcode might work amazing but @androidstudio and @MacHomebrew needs to be working before Apple takes my money. #AndroidDev #iosdev https://t.co/NZfnCa65aJ

— Peter-John (@pjapplez) November 20, 2020

Hi, Live is not yet supported on Apple's M1 chip, however, we are working on compatibility solutions. Once we know more, we will update our Mac compatibility article: https://t.co/BTUviZ00Jl Cheers!

— Ableton (@Ableton) November 19, 2020

Users of Apple's new Arm-based M1 CPU have been concerned about whether #Docker will work and whether or not it needs Rosetta 2's x86 translation. Here's Docker's update on the matter: They're working on it.https://t.co/mGTbW6ByDp#DevOps

— Nadeem Shabir ? (@kiyanwang) November 18, 2020

In fact, a web service has opened tracking the compatibility of important Mac software and found around 40% had compatibility issues.

About 60% of apps we're watching are fully Apple silicon M1 compatible ? #AppleM1 #AppleSilicon https://t.co/4yYS3fELoy

— Is M1 Ready ? (@ism1ready) November 21, 2020

Also interestingly, in real life the Macbook’s are not living up to their 20-hour battery life claims

My battery life is improving on the #MacBookProM1. I got an extra 30 minutes to about 5+ hours to 10%. pic.twitter.com/s8tPo5yReE

— Patrick Moorhead (@PatrickMoorhead) November 21, 2020

Of course, Apple is pretty famous for their ‘Fake it until you make it‘ confidence trick, and companies are falling over themselves to adapt their software to the new Apple Mi chip.

Unfortunately, by hiding the compatibility issues it will be the general public, rather than early adopters who will be taking the arrows normally reserved for brave pioneers.