Question :

I have just upgraded to macOS 10.15 Catalina, but I just found out that I still have an old iPhoto database somewhere that I want to integrate with Photos.app using the official Apple iPhoto Updater application. But that’s 32-bit software, so it won’t run in macOS 10.15 Catalina…

Apple 32 Bit Apps Catalina

A few years ago, 'Sandvox' died. But I could continue to access my website as I still had the application. However, since the application is old, it is 32bit. And Catalina is for 64bit applications. Still, I am reading all over the Internet that it is possible to run a 32bit application on Catalina after all. 32-bit apps in macOS Catalina. If you want to continue using 32 bit apps in macOS Catalina, you can do this by running macOS Mojave on your Mac in addition to macOS Catalina. Here you create an APFS volume with the old operating system (the modern and easier equivalent of a partition). APFS is Apple’s new file system. Apple’s latest Mac update, macOS Catalina, was released earlier this week, and with it came a flurry of complications both minor and major. For one, this update is the first for Apple to drop 32.

What can I do ?

The 32-bit app app will appear in its own windows on your Mac desktop, and a second top row menu (the virtual Mac menu) appears below the top menu of your MacOS main installation. As you can see in this window, my Mac is running Catalina, but a 32-bit app The virtual machine's docking station is visible at the foot of the screen, but it's easy. MacOS Catalina will not run 32-bit apps at all, so the first thing to do is to check whether any of the apps you are currently using on your Mac are 32-bit and make plans to stop relying on them.

Answer :

The newly released version of macOS 10.15 Catalina has stopped supporting 32-bit apps completely. Well, this is nothing new for the company. The Apple website clearly states the 32-bit apps don't provide good experience as they slow down the Mac. Whereas the 64-bit apps are capable of accessing more memory, resulting in a faster response time. This enables you to open applications in 32 bit mode on a Mac. There are various virtual environments you can use for this but not all of them work on macOS Catalina because some of them, like Wine, are 32 bit applications themselves and don’t work on Catalina. The best way to run 32 bit apps on a Mac is by using Parallels.

The easiest option is to find a Mac that still runs one of the latest versions of the 32-bit supporting versions of macOS like 10.13 High_Sierra or 10.14 Mojave.

In any version of macOS before 10.15 Catalina, the easiest alternative would probably have been to create a bootable external USB drive running an older version of macOS (like 10.14 Mojave), but by installing 10.15 Catalina you have also installed some drastic security which prevents your Mac from booting from an external drive easily…

So your best option at this moment is to create a virtual machine on your Mac (hoping you have enough internal disk space available – even though you might be able to pull the trick with 16GB free memory, you should be better off with at least 32GB of free memory before you try this).

First, get yourself an official copy of the macOS 10.14 Mojave installer :

• search online for the official macOS 10.14 Mojave installer on iTunes / the App Store, or use this link to download : https://apps.apple.com/sk/app/macos-mojave/id1398502828?mt=12
• the AppStore.app will now automatically open on your Mac on the right page
• click the GET button
• now System Preference’s Software Update window will open with a pulldown window asking you if you are sure you want to download macOS Mojave (since you are running from macOS Catalina even macOS knows that normally doesn’t make sense) click the Download button
• when the installer has been downloaded completely, it will automatically run – however, since your Mac is already running a newer version of macOS (you are running macOS 10.15 Catalina) you will get an error window saying ‘this copy of the “Install macOS” application is too old to be opened on this version of macOS’ so you will only be able to click the Quit button
• then open a Finder window to check where the Install macOS Mojave application is located (it should be located in the Applications folder)

Secondly, get yourself a Virtual Machine application. I would suggest to use Oracle’s VirtualBox, as it’s FREE and the features are nearly identical to commercial Virtual Machine applications like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion :

• go to https://www.virtualbox.org and download VirtualBox
• since you are ultimately trying to run 32-bit software, you might be tempted to download VirtualBox 5.2 which is the last version to run on 32-bit hosts ; there is nothing against doing so, but VirtualBox 6 should do great as well, since your Mac is capable of running macOS 10.15 Catalina ; it’s just the VM you’re trying to install (Mojave) that needs to be 32-bit capable, not the host (your Mac running Catalina)
• install VirtualBox
• run Virtual Box

Then, install macOS 10.14 Mojave within VirtualBox. There are various guides available on doing so, but the best way is using the guide created by TobiWasHere! on installing a macOS 10.13 High_Sierra VM, which is (nearly) identical :

When done, run the macOS 10.15 Mojave VM. Then import the 32-bit application into it and run it.

As mentioned before, it’s far faster and easier to borrow a Mac that hasn’t been upgraded to macOS 10.15 Catalina if you incidentally need to run 32-bit software. And if you need to run a 32-bit application for daily use a Virtual Machine is not recommended (even though it can be done), in that case it is probably best to either use a ‘two Mac strategy’ with one running macOS 10.14 Mojave and one running macOS 10.15 Catalina, or – if you insist on using one Mac only – to run macOS 10.14 Mojave only until all applications you need have been upgraded to (or replaced by) 64-bit versions.

Mac Catalina 32 Bit Apps

Good Luck ! Mac mini app development.

Run 32 Bit App On Mac Catalina

enjoy 😉