# Has someone got the ICU extension (dylib) for ARM64 / Apple Silicon?

**URL:** <https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-someone-got-the-icu-extension-dylib-for-arm64-apple-silicon/88727>\
**Category:** Databases\
**Created:** [August 7, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-someone-got-the-icu-extension-dylib-for-arm64-apple-silicon/88727 "2026-08-07T12:28:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Thomas\_Tempelmann](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/thomas_tempelmann/32/315_2.png) [@Thomas\_Tempelmann](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Thomas_Tempelmann)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 12:28pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-someone-got-the-icu-extension-dylib-for-arm64-apple-silicon/88727/1 "2026-08-07T12:28:24Z")

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Over a decade ago I figured out how to add Unicode support to Xojo’s built-in sqlite database:

[https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-anyone-built-the-sqlite-icu-extension/20207/14](https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-anyone-built-the-sqlite-icu-extension/20207/14)

And [Views of a Coder: Xojo SQLite databases: Enabling ICU for full Unicode support and adding custom functions](https://blog.tempel.org/2015/09/xojosqliteextensions.html)

Now, I need that dylib to also work on arm64 for Apple Silicon Macs, but I can’t figure out how to build it on newer Macs that can build arm64 code. When I build the code on my High Sierra system (which can only build for Intel), the resulting dylib’s x64 code works fine. But if I build the same code on a newer macOS, e.g. Monterey, even if I just build the same x64 without arm64, the dylib does not work when I load it with `SELECT load_extension`. And I can’t figure out why. I even had the AI investigate and it can’t find out what’s wrong.

Has anyone been able to make this work for modern ARM apps on macOS?

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**Author:** ![Beatrix\_Willius](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/beatrix_willius/32/282_2.png) [@Beatrix\_Willius](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Beatrix_Willius)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 12:37pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-someone-got-the-icu-extension-dylib-for-arm64-apple-silicon/88727/2 "2026-08-07T12:37:19Z")

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I have been using the MBS plugin for a longer time:

`IsICULoaded = InternalSQLiteLibraryMBS.LoadICU`

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**Author:** ![Thomas\_Tempelmann](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/thomas_tempelmann/32/315_2.png) [@Thomas\_Tempelmann](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Thomas_Tempelmann)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:00pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-someone-got-the-icu-extension-dylib-for-arm64-apple-silicon/88727/3 "2026-08-07T15:00:47Z")

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I know, but that wasn’t what I asked.

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**Author:** ![Thomas\_Tempelmann](https://forum.xojo.com/user_avatar/forum.xojo.com/thomas_tempelmann/32/315_2.png) [@Thomas\_Tempelmann](https://forum.xojo.com/u/Thomas_Tempelmann)\
**Post date:** [August 7, 2026, 3:04pm UTC](https://forum.xojo.com/t/has-someone-got-the-icu-extension-dylib-for-arm64-apple-silicon/88727/4 "2026-08-07T15:04:29Z")

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So I finally found the issue when the build on Monterey produced a non-functional sqlite extension: Apple took the liberty to put a define directly into the sqliteext.h file that’s supposed to be passed as an argument to the compiler - and that define disabled the feature I need. My solution is to use a local copy of the file and undo Apple’s unexpected change.

A new version of the dylib with ARM support is now available in the download that’s on my blog post.