I am not able find information about a native version of Roon server running on MAC Silicon. Roon always and only mention Intel i3. Well …. that is very very old information, when talking about MAC, Intel has been out for at least 5 years. Then Rosetta is mentioned. If they care about all MAC users, they should know that Rosette with MACOS 27 coming this year is DEAD, no Rosetta support!!! I am considering testing Roon, but only supporting legacy hardware is absolutely no go. I have the feelings that Roon do not want to invest what they have to to keep the MAC users. The newest and only informations I have found in this forum is 4 years old. In times where MAC is growing, Linux is growing and Microsoft is loosing market share, is that a good strategy?
Roon supports the latest Apple devices, e.g., Mac Mini M4.
Native binaries were released in 2022:
Also mentioned in the help, https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/faq-setting-up-roon-on-macos
Hi @Gert_Agerholm, if you let me know where you were looking … if it’s managed by Roon I’ll speak to Roon to get those information sources reviewed / updated to include Apple Silicon references.
I have seen that, thank you for very fast answer.
You mark it you self, running under Rosetta 2.
If you not are familiar with Apple, that is a translation layer that allows running Intel applications on Apple Silicon. The Intel code will first time you start it be “re compiled” as good as possible to run on Mx CPU as Apple Silicon is 0% compatible. This is not native Apple Silicon (ARM) code, it is still Intel code.
I can see that Apple now still is supporting Rosetta in MACOS 27, but from 2028 they will not…
… they have changed that, last status was that it would disappear in MACOS 27.
We therefor still need a version compiled for Apple Silicon, Rosetta 2 and therefor Intel code is a dead end.
It also says explicitly „via native“
I am familiar
Um, see the release notes I posted:
The clarity of the documentation has room for improvement, but the native code has existed since 9/2022. It’s a “universal” app, meaning that the binary includes both the native code for Apple Silicon and the Intel code. This is easily verified by checking Get Info of the Roon app binary:
The page is
… mentioning Rosette 2, that is not native code but Intel code being recompiled by Apple Rosetta 2.
On
… Intel i3 is the only CPU for Mac, that again means Rosetta 2.
Great info, I didn’t se or overlooked that, my fault, thank you very much. Great work. 
And yes, they could improve the information about requirement. Under CPU mention “i3 and Mx native”. I think people will understand that. Talking about Rosetta and Universal code can confuse main user when the computer “only” is a tool for running applications.
You are conflating two points. The table is for the desktop interface and shows the minimum requirements, i.e., as long as your remote meets these requirements… Likewise, for servers, there are many subscribers that continue to use Intel and macOS, and the guide states that these are sufficient for a 100,000 track library (as long at macOS 12 or newer is used.)
Rosetta is neither mentioned nor a requirement in the help articles.
I was looking under “Recommended server hardware” at the top of https://help.roonlabs.com/portal/en/kb/articles/faq-what-are-the-minimum-requirements#Roon_OS. And yes there might be many using intel based MAC. The problem was that I am a new beginner. with Roon but experienced MAC user. I don’t want to have to buy an at least 6 year old computer for using Roon, although it can run under Rosetta on new hardware for today, but not for new OS after 2027.
The “problem” has been solved. Suedkiez forwarded info and showed that the installer is universal code, that means it has both intel AND native MAC silicon code. My concern is therefor solved, they do support native MAC Silicon, only that that isn’t mentioned the requirement page, here they only say i3.
But thank you for the information.
I just installed Roon Server on a Mac Mini M2 with 8 GB of RAM, after running it before on my M2 daily workstation. No issues with running it without Rosetta here.I wouldn’t install the sever on non silicon devices because they will run out of support in the coming years. A M1 or M2 Mac will serve you surely for the next 5 years.
There is clear Apple system warning that Roon will not work at next MacOs system ! So there is nothing to discuss. We are just waiting for native application from Roon! I mean ROON Bridge !
A native app already exists. Please post what you are seeing.
I’m running Roon server on a M2 Mac mini. It shows up in Activity Monitor as a Native application. It shows up in Activity Monitor under Kind as “Apple” which means it’s running native (otherwise it would be shown as “Intel” if it was via Rosetta 2).
Also just a small pet peeve, A MAC = Media Access Control and is the 12 digit hex number assigned to your ethernet controller (your NIC). A Mac is your type of computer.
Yes, I know, a “type error (MAC/Mac)” from me 
MAC is the physical address that exist for all base communication on the network, not the IP.