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I'm currently running macOS 10.14 Mojave and I see this warning when I start the EV3 programming software:

LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Home Edition.app is not optimized for your Mac and needs to be updated.

Will it stop working if I upgrade to Catalina?

Is there an alternative?

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  • Just to clarify, the reason it won't work is because most of the software in the package is 32-bit only, and macOS is dropping 32-bit code support. They will need to recompile the software for 64-bit.
    – Alexander O'Mara
    Commented Jun 29, 2019 at 17:51
  • I have downloaded the early release version, and am really struggling to get much of it to work. Not very impressed with Lego, a huge company, who should have been better prepared than this.
    – Spence
    Commented Nov 6, 2019 at 11:02

2 Answers 2

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I just updated to Catalina Beta 10.15 and as expected, the software no longer starts.

LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3 Home Edition.app needs to be updated

The same happens with both the Home and the Education version.

Source: https://education.lego.com/en-us/support/mindstorms-ev3/software-launch-issues

Alternatives

  • If you are an existing EV3 Desktop software user and depend on being able to use existing programs or curriculum, it is highly recommended to either not upgrade macOS or to install a macOS or Windows virtual machine, such as Virtual Box, on your Mac to run the old version of the LEGO EV3 desktop software. There is no direct replacement for this software and no way to automatically convert programs to any of the new software alternatives.

  • At the end of November 2019, LEGO released a macOS version (English only) of their new programming software based on the Scratch programming language. This software is good for basic programming, but lacks advanced features like data logging, file access, brick-to-brick Bluetooth messaging, and 3rd party sensor support. Home. Education.

  • For users needing advanced features, the LEGO Education MicroPython for EV3 is the recommended solution. Download.

Info below is kept for historic record.

Updated LEGO announcement (September 2019)

LEGO has made an announcement about a replacement software.

The current version of the EV3 Lab software is not compatible with the upcoming release of Apple’s operating system for Mac computers, called ‘Catalina’. We have therefore decided to replace the current EV3 Lab software and EV3 Programming App with a completely new app, called LEGO® MINDSTORMS® Education EV3 Classroom. Featuring a coding language based on Scratch, EV3 Classroom will initially launch for macOS in November 2019 and in spring 2020 for iOS, Windows 10, Android and Chrome. EV3 Classroom will offer a consistent experience, features, and content across all devices. The first release of EV3 Classroom will be in US English, followed by the other 15 EV3 languages in spring 2020.

To continue to enjoy an uninterrupted EV3 experience, we recommend that you upgrade to the new EV3 Classroom app before updating to the new OS version. For further questions and support, you can to reach out to Technical Consumer Service at https://education.LEGO.com/en-us/support.

Original LEGO Education announcement (June 2019)

The LEGO Education website says:

Attention Mac Users: This Software will not work with future versions of MacOS. We are aware of this and we are looking into a solution.

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  • Waiting 6 months to upgrade to Catalina may be a good idea in general, but this adds to the reasons. Let's see how they do on bug fixing.
    – chicks
    Commented Oct 11, 2019 at 22:23
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    Since the information here will keep changing for a while, I've changed this to a community wiki answer, so please feel free to update as more information is made available from LEGO.
    – David Lechner
    Commented Oct 12, 2019 at 18:38
  • I went to the sources in your post and it looks like the information about this new software has been removed. Any new information?
    – Vapidant
    Commented Dec 2, 2019 at 20:21
  • Yes, the macOS version was officially released at the end of November. Only the the US English version was released. So on the download pages for both the home (retail) version and the Education version, if you select the macOS download and English, you will get the new Scratch-based software.
    – David Lechner
    Commented Dec 3, 2019 at 0:12
  • Seeing as you've been the one to keep this up-to-date @DavidLechner, it seems fair that you get the recognition for it ;)
    – Zhaph - Ben Duguid ♦
    Commented Dec 3, 2019 at 16:21
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In the meantime you could use the early release of the new version, made available for the home edition of the EV3.

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  • Thanks, is there any info about how the features in this version match up against the existing software?
    – Ken Williams
    Commented Nov 3, 2019 at 21:17
  • Mind sharing where you got access to this early release? So we can find more updated versions in the future? I've searched around but not been able to find much information from Lego.
    – Vapidant
    Commented Dec 2, 2019 at 20:20
  • EV3 Classroom should work: education.lego.com/en-us/downloads/mindstorms-ev3/…
    – Jason Lydon
    Commented Feb 21, 2020 at 4:10

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