Apple could remove Rosetta 2 from M1 Macs with the upcoming macOS Big Sur 11.3 update in certain regions. New code strings found in macOS Big Sur 11.3 beta 3, which was released by Apple yesterday, reveals that “Rosetta will be removed upon installing this update.”

The code strings do not mention the regions from where Apple will remove Rosetta 2, though this is something that should be known soon after the update is out publicly.

Rosetta 2 is a translation layer that allows M1 Macs to run x86 Mac apps written for Intel-based Macs. Rosetta 2 is important as a majority of Mac apps have still not been natively written for M1 Macs. Rosetta 2 automatically translates the code for x86 Mac apps at the first launch.

Apple is removing Rosetta from Macs during updates in certain countries in Mac 11.3 beta 3. Maybe this is due to legal issues? “Rosetta will be removed upon installing this update” “Rosetta is no longer available in your region. Applications requiring Rosetta will no longer urn” pic.twitter.com/NmsjXOwPvP

— Steve Moser (@SteveMoser) March 3, 2021

Without Rosetta 2, a number of Mac apps written for Intel-based Macs will simply stop working on M1 Macs. It is unclear why Apple is removing Rosetta 2 from certain regions and what alternatives it would offer to end-users in such a scenario. It is possible that there are some licensing issues due to which Apple will have to remove Rosetta 2 from certain regions in macOS Big Sur. It is also unclear what M1 Mac users in such regions will do and how they will run Intel-based apps going forward.

Apple is also working on adding the ability to map controller buttons to keyboard layouts in macOS Big Sur 11.3. This will provide for a better gaming experience, especially since now it is possible to play iOS games on M1 Macs.

Apple also released the third beta of iOS 14.5 and iPadOS 14.5 to developers alongside macOS Big Sur 11.3 beta 3. The beta packs a number of changes and improvements, including adding an Items tab to the Find My app to track non-Apple items.