● Covered by 1 source · 1 reportMedium impact1 neutral
Oracle to Deprecate macOS/x64 Port in JDK 27, Citing Maintenance Costs
Key points
- macOS/x64 port will be deprecated in JDK 27.
- Oracle engineers will cease maintenance of the port.
- Deprecation is due to Apple's AArch64 transition and maintenance costs.
- A build option will temporarily suppress deprecation warnings.
Deprecation of macOS/x64 Port
Oracle has announced the deprecation of the macOS/x64 port for the Java Development Kit (JDK), with plans for its removal in a future release. As of JDK 27, Oracle engineers will no longer maintain this specific port.
Motivation Behind the Change
The primary reasons for this deprecation are Apple's shift to the AArch64 processor architecture for its hardware products and the substantial maintenance costs associated with supporting the x64 port. Maintaining the x64 port has become a significant burden for Oracle.
Build Configuration Impact
Attempting to configure a macOS/x64 build will now result in an error message indicating the port's deprecation. A new build-configuration option, `--enable-deprecated-ports`, can be used to suppress this error and proceed with the build, though there will be no guarantee of functionality or successful compilation. The macOS/x64 port will also be disabled by default in the JDK repository’s GitHub actions to avoid blocking mainline development.
Documentation and Alternatives
Relevant JDK documentation will be updated to reflect the deprecation of the macOS/x64 port and its related features. Oracle has stated that if a group of developers expresses a clear desire to maintain the port, the deprecation could be withdrawn or reverted through a follow-on JEP.
✨ This summary was generated by AI from the outlets' reporting listed below. It is not independently verified and may contain errors — check the original sources. How BrevFeed works →
The daily brief
One email each morning: the day's tech stories, clustered across outlets and summarized. No account needed.
One email a day. Unsubscribe in one click, any time.
Today's brief
Spend a few minutes, get the whole day. Every topic's top stories in one hands-free rundown — listen, watch, or read the transcript.
▶ Play today's brief
New every morning, and the back catalogue is archived by date.
Reporting from
Oracle engineers will stop maintaining the macOS/x64 port for JDK as of version 27, deprecating it for future removal. This change is due to Apple's transition to AArch64 architecture and the significant maintenance burden of the x64 port.