Apple silicon Compatibility
As of Orka 3.6, MSDC host nodes default to macOS 26.6.2, the current recommended host OS for new deployments and upgrades. macOS 15.6+ remains the minimum required host version to run a macOS 26 Tahoe guest.
startosinstall) still installs the macOS version you request, but it now downloads the newest firmware/recovery bundle Apple serves for virtual Macs, which is macOS 27.0’s, instead of the one bundled with the 26.x installer. A freshly installed 26.x guest carrying that firmware never completes its first boot. This isn’t Orka-specific, it affects any Apple Virtualization.framework guest, and it doesn’t matter what macOS version the host itself is running, confirmed to still fail even on a host already on 26.6.2.
Workaround. Inside the guest, before running startosinstall, block the hosts Apple uses to serve that firmware bundle so the installer falls back to the one it ships with:
/var/log/install.log for No SFR update was found on the server, using bundled SFR to confirm the fallback took effect. The VM reboots into the new version in about 15–20 minutes.
Remove those six lines from
/etc/hosts once the upgrade completes, otherwise Software Update and other Apple downloads inside the guest stay blocked.M4 Compatibility Requirements
- Recommended Host OS Update: MacStadium recommends upgrading Host OSes with M4 to at least macOS 15.2. This resolves compatibility problems with older VM OSes.
- Known Issue: If the Host OS is earlier than macOS 15.2, VM OSes older than macOS 13.4 will not start.
- Alternative Solution: If upgrading the Host OS to 15.2 is not possible, use namespaces or tags to differentiate hosts with M4 from those using M2 or M1. Then, route workloads requiring VM OSes older than macOS 13.4 to compatible hosts.
OCI Image Overview
The Open Container Initiative (OCI) is an open standard for container formats and runtimes. MacStadium provides OCI-formatted images for Apple silicon-compatible virtual machines, which are available on OrkaHub. You can deploy VMs using compatible images from public or private registries and store your own images in any OCI-compliant registry. For more information on OCI Images, see OCI ImagesIntel Compatibility (Legacy)
Orka 3.6 is the last release to support Intel. Apple’s optimization for Intel effectively ended with macOS 14 (Sonoma), and Intel support in macOS is being phased out. In line with this trajectory, future Orka releases will not support Intel Mac hosts.MacStadium will continue to support Orka 3.6, including its Intel code paths, for MacStadium deployments through March 2028. During this window we maintain existing Intel functionality but do not plan further Intel performance improvements or optimizations. Intel guest OS support is validated through macOS 14 (Sonoma); macOS 15 (Sequoia) may run but carries known performance limitations that we will not address, and macOS 26 (Tahoe) and later are not supported on Intel.If you still run Intel workloads, we recommend planning your migration to Apple silicon and completing the transition by December 2027.
- Note: macOS 26 (Tahoe) will not be supported on Intel.
Intel Image Format (Legacy)
Intel images are available through a remote network storage mount within MacStadium’s infrastructure. These images are designed for Intel-based virtual machines, and can be accessed directly from the mounted storage.Intel-Related Networking and Performance Improving Features (Legacy)
- By default, GPU passthrough is disabled for VM configurations and VMs. When you enable GPU passthrough for an Intel VM, this automatically disables VNC for the VM. Make sure that you will be able to access the VM by SSH or Apple Screen Sharing before enabling GPU passthrough.