Is Quicken going to make the full version of Quicken for Mac run on ARM chips?

Micro151

How do we encourage Quicken to make Quicken for Mac run on iPads? Now that Apple is switching to their own "Apple Silicon" it seems a no brainer that Quicken should make their IOS app fully featured so they are ready for the transition. I hate having an old laptop on my desk for the sole purpose of running Quicken when I do everything else on my iPad Pro.

Chris_QPW

There isn't any connection between Apple going to ARM on the the Mac to being able to use Quicken on an IPad.

The hardware chip set is only one factor in whether a program can run on a given device or not.

The Mac uses MacOS and the IPad uses iOS.  And each of these have different libraries with different functions.

Changing from Intel to ARM should be relatively straightforward.  Apple will have put out a new compiler that takes the existing Mac source code and compiles it for ARM.  To the programmer this appear not much different than building for 32-bit or 64-bit, pretty much nothing changes in the program.

But iOS uses completely different libraries and as such functions.  And that means that now you have different names and arguments for functions to do this or that.  Not to mention the layout of the GUI which is completely different.  And of course throw in what is needed for touch.

Micro151

I just want Quicken to make a full featured version of Quicken for Mac, that will run on iPad, and then use Mac Catalyst to make it compatible to the Mac. If you’ve looked at the Big Sur update you’ve seen that a Catalyst App like Messages can actually be an improvement over what is on the Mac now. My travel computer is an iPad Pro and I have an iMac in the living room for video work but would prefer to run Quicken on the iPad Pro. A man can always dream! :)

jacobs

iOS to Mac is a somewhat easier transition to make. But Quicken is a complex app with many, many screens, panes, panels and interface elements, so it's not as easy as many simpler iOS apps. But going the other way -- macOS to iOS -- requires very significant re-writing.

Quicken has thee mobile app and web browser interface for iPad users to be able to do some Quicken work, and their new Simplifi web-based cloud application for those who want to be able to access their financial data from any device. I have no knowledge of their plans, but I wouldn't expect to see a native iPadOS version anytime soon. 

Tim3

It would be nice for Quicken to address this sooner rather than later - are they planning another rewrite of Quicken Mac and if so, are they doing so as to avoid similar challenges Quicken Mac experienced when Apple moved from PowerPC to Intel chips?

If they are planning a rewrite, which is a considerable undertaking, will they use the opportunity to leverage Apple’s cross platform coding tools (Catalyst) to open up a fully functioning iPadOS version?

I understand Apple just made the ARM transition official, but support for legacy software is not guaranteed. At minimum, it would be appreciated to hear from Senior Leadership at Quicken that they acknowledge this change and what Quicken is doing to ensure an uninterrupted future for Quicken Mac users.

Chris_QPW

@Tim I would fully expect at the "right time" Quicken Inc to come out with an ARM compatible version of Quicken Mac.

It should not require a rewrite.  All it should be just be a recompile.
At least that is the hope, as in hoping that Apple isn't insane enough to change all its Mac libraries just because it is switching processor types.

What I don't think Apple has announced yet is if it is going to keep all the Mac libraries compatible at the programmers level, but it really should be staying the same.

When they changed from PowerPC to Intel I think there was two things going on.  First off Apple wanted to dump the old libraries and two the change in processing power, number of bits and such was radically different.

I don't think Quicken Inc has "big enough pockets" to do what Intuit took on for a full rewrite and not have any revenue from it for that many years.

Chris_QPW

Of course another approach Apple could take is putting in a virtual layer and then the programs could even run unchanged (but at a slightly slower speed).  Of course even if they did that recompiling for the new hardware would be available.

jacobs

@Tim  Quicken rarely pre-announces anything regarding updates, new versions, and OS changes. They don't like to say "We'll be compatible on Day One" only to get caught fixing last-minute issues that delays their ability to release something. But as Chris says, Apple's whole approach to this change is that existing apps will just run. Whether there will be any performance hit or not, we'll have to wait and see. But you can feel certain Quicken will run on the new Macs, if not on Day One, then within a short time. 

Meanwhile, for people whose use of Quicken is crucial, the best strategy is to plan to not be the first on your block to purchase a new ARM-based Mac. Let others deal with any early glitches and gotchas.