JetBrains IDE on Apple Silicon: macOS shows "Support for Intel-based apps is ending" notification

Symptoms

When launching a JetBrains IDE (WebStorm, IntelliJ IDEA, PyCharm, PhpStorm, GoLand, RubyMine, Rider, or other) on an Apple Silicon Mac, macOS displays a system notification with text similar to:

Support for Intel-based Apps is ending This version of "<IDE name>" contains a component that isn't compatible with a future version of macOS. Learn how to update to a version for Apple Chips.

The notification appears even after installing the Apple Silicon (ARM64 / aarch64) build of the IDE.

Environment

• Customer type: Personal and commercial customers
• Region affected: All regions
• Product affected: All JetBrains IDEs on macOS
• macOS version: macOS 26.4 and later (Rosetta is largely removed in macOS 28)
• Hardware: Apple Silicon (M1, M2, M3, M4, M5, and later)

Cause

The notification is issued by macOS, not by the JetBrains IDE. It is part of Apple's Rosetta deprecation announcement: Rosetta remains available through macOS 27, and is removed from macOS 28 (expected fall 2027) except for a narrow set of legacy frameworks.

macOS raises the notification for a given app in any of the following situations:

• An older Intel-only build of the IDE is still installed on the Mac (typically in /Applications or ~/Applications), even if a newer Apple Silicon build is also installed.
• macOS has previously launched an Intel build of the IDE on this machine and continues to associate the app name with that past run. Migration Assistant copies make this especially common: even after the old Intel IDE.app is deleted and the Apple Silicon build is installed in its place, the LaunchServices database can keep the old association and macOS keeps re-issuing the notification.
• The currently installed app bundle contains an x86_64-only helper binary (CLI tool, native plugin library, or third-party component shipped inside the .app). Recent JetBrains IDE builds ship Apple Silicon native binaries for core components, but some bundled third-party tools may retain x86_64 slices.

Resolution

Step 1. Confirm the installed IDE is the Apple Silicon build

1. Open Finder, locate the IDE in /Applications.
2. Right-click the application and choose Get Info.
3. Check the Kind field:
   • Application (Apple Silicon): correct native build, no further action needed for this copy.
   • Application (Universal): supports both architectures; native on Apple Silicon.
   • Application (Intel): Intel-only build running under Rosetta; this is the build triggering Apple's warning.

Alternative check inside the IDE: open the About dialog from the application menu (for example, WebStorm | About WebStorm, IntelliJ IDEA | About IntelliJ IDEA) and verify that the Runtime version line contains aarch64.

Step 2. Remove any remaining Intel-only IDE installations

If Get Info identifies an Application (Intel) copy that is no longer needed:

1. Quit the IDE.
2. Drag the .app bundle to Trash.
3. Empty Trash.

Configuration, projects, plugins, and caches are stored under ~/Library/Application Support/JetBrains/ and ~/Library/Caches/JetBrains/ and are preserved when the application bundle is removed.

Step 3. Install or re-download the Apple Silicon build (if needed)

Download the Apple Silicon (.dmg with aarch64 in the filename) installer from the product's download page, or install via the JetBrains Toolbox App which auto-selects the correct architecture for the host machine.

Step 4. Refresh LaunchServices for the IDE bundle

If Get Info confirms the installed copy is Application (Apple Silicon) but the notification keeps appearing, ask LaunchServices to re-read the bundle so any stale association left over from an earlier Intel install (including one carried over by Migration Assistant) is replaced:

/System/Library/Frameworks/CoreServices.framework/Frameworks/LaunchServices.framework/Support/lsregister -f /Applications/WebStorm.app

Adjust the bundle path to match the IDE in question, e.g. /Applications/IntelliJ IDEA.app, /Applications/PyCharm.app, /Applications/PhpStorm.app. The command writes nothing on success and finishes in a second or two; no admin rights and no logout are required. Launch the IDE again and the notification should no longer appear.

If the bundle lives outside /Applications (for example, under a Toolbox-managed location or on the Desktop), pass that path instead. To find where the IDE is installed, run mdfind -name 'WebStorm.app' (or the equivalent name) and pass the result.

Step 5. Handling residual notifications

If Step 4 does not clear the notification and Get Info still confirms Application (Apple Silicon) with the About dialog showing an aarch64 runtime, the notification is residual: macOS keeps issuing the warning for the app name based on past Intel launches. The installed IDE is the correct Apple Silicon build and the notification can be safely ignored.

If the notification names a specific component inside the current Apple Silicon IDE bundle, attach a screenshot of the exact notification text to a support ticket so the bundled binary can be identified.