The new malicious programs for the Apple M1 are not fundamentally new they’re modifications of old ones. Are older computers immune to M1 malware? But it is always more convenient to work without an intermediary, which is why some virus writers adapted their handiwork for the Apple M1. Rosetta doesn’t distinguish legitimate programs from malicious ones it runs x86 malware as readily as any other app. Roughly speaking, it translates old program code written for the Intel x86 series into a form that the M1 can digest.

Apple uses the Rosetta 2 system to make the transition from one platform to another seamless. Unfortunately, malware adapted for M1 is an addition, not merely a replacement. Does that mean old malware doesn’t work on computers with the Apple M1? Essentially, the M1 adaptation drive is just more evidence that virus writers are motivated to keep their creations up to date. Developers recompiled their code and adapted the malware to the new architecture to make it work more efficiently. It can run natively on Mac computers with M1 chips, that’s the difference. In terms of malicious functionality, absolutely nothing distinguishes M1 malware from “regular” malware.

Bad news: Just a few months after the release of the first Apple M1 computers, virus writers had already adapted several malware families to the new processor.

Leaving aside the current pros and cons performance-wise, we took a look at the innovation from a security perspective. If everything goes according to plan, Apple will be able to switch completely to its own processors and unify its software under a single architecture. In essence, the Apple M1 is a direct relative of the iPhone and iPad processors. The chips are notable for being based on the ARM architecture instead of the x86 architecture traditionally used in personal computers. A few months ago, Apple unveiled three series of computers powered by its own M1 chip, designed to replace Intel’s processors.

X86 architecture pros and cons