A simple utility to check if a machine has an Apple (arm64) processor; useful for npm/developer scripts.
npm install is-apple-siliconThis Node.js module provides synchronous utility functions for detecting Apple Silicon CPUs and assessing Node.js binary
compatibility. It is particularly useful for ensuring that node_modules with native add-ons are correctly compiled for
the target architecture, especially when working with Docker containers on Macs with Apple Silicon.
- Installation
- Usage
- Examples
- Expected Outputs
- Testing
- Contributing
``bash`
npm install is-apple-silicon
The module exports three functions:
- isAppleSilicon(forceCheck?): Determines if the system has an Apple Silicon CPU.isNodeNative(forceCheck?)
- : Checks if Node.js is running natively on the system's architecture.isRosetta(forceCheck?)
- : Identifies if the process is running under Rosetta translation on Apple Silicon.
Each function includes an optional forceCheck parameter, set to false by default. When true, this parameter bypasses the cached results and forces a fresh check of os.arch() and os.cpus().
`javascript`
const {isAppleSilicon, isNodeNative, isRosetta} = require('is-apple-silicon');
`javascript`
import {isAppleSilicon, isNodeNative, isRosetta} from 'is-apple-silicon';
Node.js 16+ is required for Apple Silicon support. Node.js 14 and earlier only supports x86 (it will always
return false for isNodeNative() on Apple Silicon).
#### On a MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon and Node 14 (no arm64 support):
- isAppleSilicon() === trueisNodeNative() === false
- isRosetta() === true
-
#### On MacBook Pro with Apple Silicon and Node 16+ (arm64 support):
- isAppleSilicon() === trueisNodeNative() === true
- isRosetta() === false
-
#### On Intel MacBook Pro with Node 16+ (x64):
- isAppleSilicon() === falseisNodeNative() === true
- isRosetta() === false
-
#### On a non-Apple machine:
- isAppleSilicon() === falseisNodeNative() === true
- isRosetta() === false
-
The module includes a test script that can be run with npm test`.
Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit pull requests or open issues for any bugs or feature requests.