0 has removed support for Intel-based Macs, and will no longer publish an installer. Podman Desktop is adjusting how we bundle the engine so Apple silicon, Windows, and Linux users can move to Podman 6 without leaving Intel Mac users with a broken install experience. This change shipped with Podman Desktop 1. Here is what is changing, why, and what to do next. Podman Desktop bundles Podman so developers can install a working container environment from a single download.
On macOS, Podman runs inside a lightweight virtual machine, and Podman Desktop has shipped a universal installer supporting both Apple silicon and Intel hardware. That made sense when Intel Macs were still common in the field. With Podman 6 now released, there is neither support nor an installer for Intel Macs, so we need a clear plan for the developers still on that hardware. Starting with current Podman Desktop releases, not every download ships the same Podman version : Intel Mac users will continue to receive a Podman Desktop installer, but it will bundle Podman 5 , not Podman 6.
The universal macOS installer includes both architectures, so it installs Podman 5 on Intel Macs and Podman 6 on Apple silicon. Everyone else moves to Podman 6 with their next Podman Desktop update. If you are on Apple silicon, your Podman Desktop macOS installer bundles Podman 6 . You get the latest engine improvements, and your upgrade path is unchanged. Install or update Podman Desktop as you normally would from the downloads page . Podman Desktop follows the Podman project's support policy for the v5. As documented in the Podman README : After the release of Podman 6.
0, the Podman maintainers have decided to extend upstream support of the v5. 8 series of releases until the 2nd week of June in 2027, one year after the release of Podman 6. This support will only include CVE fixes and critical bugfixes. We are aligning with that policy. We will continue to provide a bundle for Intel-based Macs until the Podman team ceases support in the second week of June 2027. After that point, Intel Mac users who remain on that hardware will rely on previously released Podman Desktop versions or external Podman installations rather than current installers.