Anaconda install on Intel-based Macs

Product Help Anaconda & Miniconda
1

I teach a course with around 75 students. Apparently a few of them still have Intel based Macs.

It’s very easy for a relatively novice user to select the wrong install version from the download site and attempt to install the Apple Silicon version. I don’t recall encountering this in previous years, so I’m guessing that a dedicated Apple Silicon install for Anaconda is relatively new?

Instead of checking and immediately aborting the installation, the Anaconda install continues and eventually fails with a very generic “failed to install” message. It is not clear what causes the error.

The Apple Silicon installation should immediately check the CPU type before installing. If the CPU is not Apple Silicon it should immediately abort and inform the user that they are attempting to install the wrong version.

2

Hello @rswitt ,

Thank you for this feedback! I will make sure it gets to the right people on our installer team.

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3

Thank you @rswitt for your feedback! I just created a PR to add architecture checks: Add architecture checks for macOS installers by marcoesters · Pull Request #1153 · conda/constructor · GitHub

I don’t think that the PKG interface allows us to customize the message, but the check will be conducted right when the installer file is opened.

This feature should be available with the next installer releases.

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4

@MarcoEsters Awesome, that sounds great! I was surprised to encounter Intel based Macs in my class, but apparently some college students come in using laptops half as old as they are!

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