Detecting if a Mac is using Apple Silicon

Targets macOS
1

I need to write some if/then logic that requires knowing which CPU is being used, Intel or Apple Silicon. Is there a method or property, either native Xojo or MBS, that will tell me this?

2

See IsTranslated function in SystemInformationMBS class to detect emulation.

3

You could wrap some code in

#if TargetARM

#EndIf

That is assuming you are building as Universal.

4

Thank you both. Yes, itā€™s a Universal build. It seems that the isTranslated method has the advantage that if the user has forced the app to run in Rosetta 2 it will be seen as running in Intel (note, thatā€™s my interpretation of the docs, I havenā€™t tested it yet).

5

#if is for deciding at compile time, what goes into Intel vs. ARM app.

IsTranslated lets you decide at runtime to whether your Intel app runs in emulation or natively.

Two different things.

6

I created this method based on a Shell. It works whether the app itself is translated or not.

Function IsAppleARM() As Boolean
  #if not TargetMacOS then
  
    return false
  
  #else
  
    dim sh as new Shell
    sh.Execute "/usr/sbin/sysctl -a | grep 'brand_string'"
  
    if sh.ErrorCode <> 0 then
      dim err as new RuntimeException
      err.Message = "Could not run sysctl"
      err.ErrorNumber = sh.ErrorCode
      raise err
    end if
  
    dim result as string = sh.Result.DefineEncoding( Encodings.UTF8 )
    return result.InStr( "Apple" ) <> 0
  
  #endif
End Function

(Note: This intentionally uses API 1 calls as it is in freeware meant to work in older versions too.)

Edit: Removed ā€œM1ā€ from the search string based on Christianā€™s suggestion below.

4 Likes
7

Youā€™d better not check for a particular text string there.
Next processor will be named differently.

2 Likes
8

Good point. Looking for ā€œAppleā€ will be sufficient.

1 Like
9

I wrote an article on this back in August 2020.

2 Likes
10

The docs for IsARM need to be updated:

If we someday produce ARM plugins for Mac, this may also return true.

Stupid question: should IsARM be true on my MacBookAir M1? Using Xojo 2020r2 and MBS from November 2020.

11

@Sam Rowlands: The code for Gestalt is missing something.

Thomas code is missing the declaration of sizeInfo. What does CPU_ARCH_ABI64 tell me?

Onwards to Kem.

12

Iā€™ll update it.
For Apple Silicon, it returns true.

13

I just tested and isARM doesnā€™t return true on AS. Thatā€™s why I had to fiddle around with the other methods.

14

IsARM doesnā€™t return true if you run in an Intel app.

15

Then itā€™s not the droid Iā€™m looking for because I needed to check if the computer was ARM or not. Anyways, Iā€™ve got a solution.

16

If your app runs in Rosetta, it will return true for isTranslated.

17

Like this:

If TargetMacOS Then
  If SystemInformationMBS.isARM Then
    MsgBox "Running ARM version on ARM CPU."
  Elseif SystemInformationMBS.IsTranslated Then
    MsgBox "Running Intel version on ARM CPU."
  Else
    MsgBox "Running Intel version on Intel CPU."
  End If
End If
4 Likes
18

ā† Suddenly recalls the feeling of sitting outside the principalā€™s officeā€¦

19

Well, your code worked fine. :rofl:

1 Like
20

My apologies.

Iā€™ve now posted a sample project to that page which you can just run.

https://www.ohanaware.com/blog/202032/ARM_tester.zip

Oopsā€¦ Iā€™ve added it now.

Double Oopsā€¦ Iā€™ve also added that too.

If the processor is 64-Bit or not.