X-Plane Connector for MacOS, Apple Silicon

[eklynx]

Trying to load the X-Plane Connector in X-Plane 12 on an M4 Mac mini, but it looks like the X-Plane connector isn’t built for ARM64 (M4 Mac Mini). Is there an update in the works to have it work with the Arm architecture?

From X-Plane’s Log.txt

dlerror:dlopen(/Path/To/X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/X-Plane-Connector v7.0.1.xpl, 0x0006): tried: '/Path/To/X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/X-Plane-Connector v7.0.1.xpl' (mach-o file, but is an incompatible architecture (have 'x86_64', need 'arm64e' or 'arm64')), '/System/Volumes/Preboot/Cryptexes/OS/Path/To/X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/X-Plane-Connector v7.0.1.xpl' (no such file), '/Path/To/X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/X-Plane-Connector v7.0.1.xpl' (mach-o file, but is an incompatible architecture (have 'x86_64', need 'arm64e' or 'arm64'))

[Support BRUNNER]

Hello
Have you done the steps here..
https://cls2sim.brunner-innovation.swiss/linuxmac.htm
Not all mac systems are supported, tell us the version you have installed so we can check
Thanks

[eklynx]

Yes I have. The issue is the CPU architecture; Apple Silicon (M-series chips) use ARM64, not x86_64 (also referred as AMD64 sometimes) architecture. The error line I included in the original post mentions this explicitly: but is an incompatible architecture (have 'x86_64', need 'arm64e' or 'arm64'). I am running X-Plane 12.1.4-r3-c8d19b62 using the X-Plane-Connector v7.0.1. Running X-Plane through Rosetta has a noticeable performance decrease, so I’m hoping for an ARM-compatible build.

[eklynx]

For information purposes, according to the X-Plane Development SDK, ARM support was added in version 4.0 to match X-Plane’s native ARM support. X-Plane 12 supports the new 4.0 API, and the SDK adds support for ARM64 Macs.

[ibeam711]

I am also having the same issue. I’m using a 2025 MacStudio running X-Plane 12.
Resources/plugins/X-Plane-Connector v7.0.1.xpl’ (mach-o file, but is an incompatible architecture (have ‘x86_64’, need ‘arm64e’ or ‘arm64’))
Failed: X-Plane 12/Resources/plugins/X-Plane-Connector v7.0.1.xpl. (This file is missing, not a DLL or could not be loaded due to another missing DLL.)

[Support BRUNNER]

We have checked again, and at the moment, we do not support ARM64 Macs. Currently, we support x86-64 Linux or Windows systems only.
ARM64 Macs might be supported in the future; we will continue to monitor the market situation

[eklynx]

If someone decides to build an unsupported beta in the mean time, I’d be interested in testing it out. Or if the Connector’s source is publicly available so we can build it ourselves…

[ibeam711]

I too would be happy to assist! It is blocking me from running X-plane natively on my Mac. I will have to run it inside a Windows virtual machine if we don’t get this resolved.

[eklynx]

You don’t need a virtual machine. Install Rosetta (softwareupdate --install-rosetta from the command line), then do a “Get Info” on the X-Plane executable and check “Open Using Rosetta”. That should make it run in x68_64 mode and let you use any plugins not updated for ARM64. there is a performance hit, but nowhere near what it would be running through a full VM. You’ll still have to run CLS2Sim in a VM or a windows machine, though.

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