Starting with the 2020 Apple Silicon computers, Apple now uses their own processors instead of Intel ones, which used to be the heart of Apple computers and desktops till 2020.

Considering the 4K Download software is designed for Intel processors, some of our users, whose Mac computers run on Apple M1 and M2 processors, encounter difficulties with launching our apps on their devices. However, it doesn’t mean our apps cannot work on Mac M1 computers. They can, but with this little nuance we’ll talk about below.

This guide will help you solve this issue and smoothly run the 4K Download applications on your M1 or M2 Apple device.

How to Install 4K Download Software on Apple M1 Devices: Use Rosetta (Super easy, we promise!)

The 4K Download software is made for Intel-run devices. To allow each and every Apple M1 user to smoothly install our apps on their devices, our engineers would need to rebuild the apps’ architecture and make a native M1 and M2 app, which is too time-consuming to do in a short time period.

Alternatively, there’s an easier and quicker way to install Intel apps on Mac devices with M1 — installing Rosetta on your Mac.

It may sound difficult like you need to install a third-party application to use our own; however, this isn’t true.

The app can be installed right when you try to launch an Intel app on your M1 device. You can’t install it from the Apple store or any other repositories. Rosetta is developed by Apple, so it’s absolutely safe to use.

What Is Rosetta 2 & How Does It Work?

Rosetta 2 is an emulator developed by Apple to let M1 and M2 computers run Intel software with no need to rebuild the software’s architecture and make it compatible with new Apple processors.

Rosetta is a background app, so its work is invisible to you: you can’t download it, launch it or interact with it. It doesn’t influence the app’s performance either. Its instalment and usage require almost zero steps from your end, so you won’t need to be tech-savvy at all.

How to Install Rosetta on Apple M1 Mac

Literally, one step is required from you here.

Rosetta 2 is available only for Mac M1 and M2 devices. To install Rosetta, you’ll be asked to do so upon your first launch of the Intel app. Simply click Install and enter your username and password to proceed. It’s completely safe since Rosetta is developed by Apple.

Now download the 4K Download applications as you normally would.

If Rosetta is already installed, you won’t be asked to install it again, and the launching process will go just fine.

Tip: To check if you already have Rosetta on your Mac, choose any native Apple app, right-click and select Get Info. If you see the Open with Rosetta option, it means you already have Rosetta on your Mac.

How to Launch the Intel Version of Universal Apps Instead of the M1 Version on Apple Silicon Mac

This point has nothing to do with the 4K Download apps, but it’ll be helpful if you want to launch the Intel version of a universal app (i.e. made both for M1 and Intel). This might be useful if the app has Intel-based features that aren’t available in the adapted M1 version. If you don’t need it, just skip this part and save the above guide.

To check if the app is universal or Intel-based only and whether it can be launched with Rosetta, do the following:

Find the app in Finder.
Right-click to select Get Info or use the Command-l hotkey to open the app’s file menu.

Right next to the app's name, you’ll see its type — Intel or Universal.

Intel means the app supports only Intel processors and needs Rosetta to work on a Mac with M1.

Universal means that the application supports both Apple M1, M2 and Intel processors and launches the M-chip version by default. To run such an app, you won’t need Rosetta but can switch to it if the app has Intel-based features unavailable on M1 and M2.

Check the Open with Rosetta option.

Intel apps don’t have this option because they’re opened with Rosetta by default (4K Download apps are Intel-based, so you won’t see this option next to them).