Apple's New M1 Macs began arriving to customers earlier this week, and since the M1 Apple Silicon is an entirely new chip architecture that's a major departure from the Intel chips that Apple has used for years, there's a lot to learn about the new machines.
We've rounded up some useful Apple M1 tidbits below, which apply to the new Mac mini, MacBook Air, and MacBook Pro and will be useful for new Mac owners.
Running x86 Apps Homebrew Apps
The developers behind the Notion app for Macs shared a blog post on getting homebrew or other terminal apps that don't have Arm support to run on an Apple Silicon Mac. The steps are as follows:
- Create a duplicate of the Terminal app in the Utilities folder.
- Right click on the app and choose Get Info.
- Rename the other version of the app into something recognizable.
- Check off the "open using Rosetta" option.
That's all there is to it. Once Open using Rosetta is selected, homebrew apps can be run in the Terminal on Apple Silicon Macs.
Running iOS Apps Using .ipa Files
MacRumors reader Amy tells us that she's able to run iOS apps that are not available on the Mac App Store on Apple Silicon apps using .ipa files.
Legitimate .ipa files that are downloaded from iTunes or something like an iMazing backup can be double-clicked and installed on an Apple Silicon Mac and they run as if they're on an iOS device. Amy says that she's used this method to install Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, Spotify, and more, even though those apps are not available through the Mac App Store.
Universal and Native Apple Silicon Apps
Looking for apps that are able to run natively on Apple Silicon Macs without the need for Rosetta 2? Our forums has an extensive list of all of the apps that have been updated for the Apple M1 chip, and it's worth checking out if you're looking for software that's going to have the best performance.
Apps updated with support include Affinity Photo and Designer, Aviary, HandBrake, coconutBattery, iStat Menus, OmniFocus, Pixelmator Pro, and tons more.
Gaming on Apple Silicon
Wondering how games run on an Apple Silicon Mac? A reddit user took the time to benchmark and test a long list of popular games to see how they run on an M1 Mac mini with 8GB RAM. Test games include League of Legends, Cities: Skylines, Starcraft 2, World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, and more.
How to Get to macOS Recovery
On Intel Macs, you hold Command R when turning on the Mac to get to macOS Recovery for reinstalling macOS, accessing Disk Utility, or restoring from a Time Machine backup.
On an Apple Silicon Mac, you can still get to macOS Recovery, but the key presses are different. Turn on the Mac, press and hold the power button until the startup options window comes up, and then click on the gear icon that's labeled "Options."
More Tips
Know of a useful M1 Mac tip that we've left out? Let us know in the comments and we'll add it to the list.
