Is my Mac Apple silicon or Intel?

1Three ways to check

About This Mac. Apple menu → About This Mac. Chip = Apple silicon; Processor = Intel.

System Information. Hold Option, open the Apple menu and choose System Information. Under Hardware, Apple silicon Macs show a Chip line.

Terminal. This prints the chip's name:

sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string

Or ask for the architecture: arm64 is Apple silicon, x86_64 is Intel.

uname -m

2Every Apple silicon chip

Apple started the switch in November 2020 with the M1 and finished it with the Mac Pro in 2023, so every Mac from 2023 on has Apple silicon. The MacBook Neo (2026) uses the A18 Pro, an Apple silicon chip from the iPhone family (MacRumors, 3 June 2026). Pick your M chip to see its memory, speed and the Macs that use it:

3Is my Mac too old to update?

Intel Macs: macOS 26 Tahoe is the last version that supports them. macOS 27 drops Intel completely, and Apple says Intel Macs will keep getting security updates for three years (MacRumors, 3 June 2026).

Apple silicon Macs: macOS 27 runs on Apple silicon MacBook Air and MacBook Pro from 2020, iMac from 2021, Mac mini from 2020, Mac Studio from 2022, Mac Pro from 2023 and the MacBook Neo (MacRumors, 8 June 2026).

To see what your Mac can install, open System Settings → General → Software Update.

4What your chip can run

Apple silicon shares one pool of fast memory between the processor and the graphics, which is why Macs run large AI models well. How much a Mac can run depends on its chip and memory:

• What can my Mac run?: every chip and memory size, with the models that fit.
• Compare models and Macs: speed and memory side by side.
• How much RAM does an LLM need?

MLX Node needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later. It doesn't run on Intel Macs.

5Questions

Is my Mac Intel or Apple silicon?

Open the Apple menu → About This Mac. Chip with an Apple M name means Apple silicon; Processor with an Intel name means Intel.

Is my Mac ARM or x86?

Apple silicon Macs are ARM (arm64), Intel Macs are x86 (x86_64). In Terminal, uname -m tells you, unless Terminal runs through Rosetta; sysctl -n machdep.cpu.brand_string always shows the chip's name.

Is my Mac too old to update?

Intel Macs stop at macOS 26 Tahoe and get security updates for three more years. Apple silicon Macs from 2020 on can install macOS 27. Check System Settings → General → Software Update for your Mac.

Which Macs have Apple silicon?

Every Mac with an M1 or later chip: MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and Mac mini from late 2020, iMac from 2021, Mac Studio from 2022 and Mac Pro from 2023, plus the MacBook Neo with its A18 Pro chip. Every Mac sold since 2023 has Apple silicon.

Can I run MLX Node on an Intel Mac?

No. MLX Node runs AI models with Apple's MLX, which needs Apple silicon, and it needs macOS 14 or later.