# Build 3D Slicer for MacOS arm64?

**URL:** <https://discourse.slicer.org/t/build-3d-slicer-for-macos-arm64/35699>\
**Category:** Feature requests\
**Tags:** macos\
**Created:** [April 24, 2024, 3:58am UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/build-3d-slicer-for-macos-arm64/35699 "2024-04-24T03:58:06Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 7

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**Author:** ![jamesobutler](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/user_avatar/discourse.slicer.org/jamesobutler/32/7511_2.png) [@jamesobutler](https://discourse.slicer.org/u/jamesobutler)\
**Post date:** [July 16, 2025, 10:04pm UTC](https://discourse.slicer.org/t/build-3d-slicer-for-macos-arm64/35699/7 "2025-07-16T22:04:30Z")

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@GeneRisi There are some various scripts around that people have tried to build Slicer from source to build a ARM64 variant, but nothing official yet such as Slicer preview build of such a version.

The below issue is still in progress and various Slicer developers have been actively working on a long chain of dependency updates including Qt5 → Qt6 that is part of bringing in ARM64 support across all the various libraries that Slicer uses. It is currently being worked on and I expect it to continue for a month or two.

> <https://github.com/Slicer/Slicer/issues/5944>
>
> \## Steps to reproduce
> 
> I followed all the instructions from the \[docs\](https:/…/slicer.readthedocs.io/en/latest/developer\_guide/build\_instructions/macos.html#prerequisites) to build slicer from source. 
> 
> Build halts with the following error while trying to build DCMTK:
> 
> \`\`\`
> make\[2\]: \*\*\* \[DCMTK-prefix/src/DCMTK-stamp/DCMTK-configure\] Error 1
> make\[1\]: \*\*\* \[CMakeFiles/DCMTK.dir/all\] Error 2
> \-- OpenSSL: Errors detected - See below.
> 
> ld: warning: double slash removed from -install\_name (/Users/kliron/opt/slicer/OpenSSL//libcrypto.1.1.dylib)
> ld: warning: The i386 architecture is deprecated for macOS (remove from the Xcode build setting: ARCHS)
> ld: warning: ignoring file /Users/kliron/opt/slicer/zlib-install/lib/libz.a, building for macOS-i386 but attempting to link with file built for macOS-arm64
> ld: warning: ignoring file /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX11.3.sdk/usr/lib/libSystem.tbd, missing required architecture i386 in file /Applications/Xcode.app/Contents/Developer/Platforms/MacOSX.platform/Developer/SDKs/MacOSX11.3.sdk/usr/lib/libSystem.tbd (3 slices)
> 
> Undefined symbols for architecture i386:
> 
> "\_\_DefaultRuneLocale", referenced from:
> \_CONF\_parse\_list in conf\_mod.o
> "\_\_\_bzero", referenced from:
> \_ASN1\_BIT\_STRING\_set\_bit in a\_bitstr.o
> \_asn1\_item\_embed\_new in tasn\_new.o
> \_addr\_strings in b\_addr.o
> \_mem\_ctrl in bss\_mem.o
> \_BLAKE2b\_Final in blake2b.o
> \_BLAKE2s\_Final in blake2s.o
> \_bn\_div\_fixed\_top in bn\_div.o
> ...
> 
> \[...an extensive output of a lot more missing symbols...\]
> 
> ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture i386
> clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)
> make\[4\]: \*\*\* \[libcrypto.dylib\] Error 1
> make\[3\]: \*\*\* \[build\_libs\] Error 2
> 
> CMake Error at /Users/kliron/Projects/slicer/CMake/ExternalProjectForNonCMakeProject.cmake:104 (message):
> OpenSSL: build step failed with exit code '2'.
> \`\`\`
> 
> \## Expected behavior
> 
> A successful build.
> 
> \## Environment
> \- Slicer version: latest source tree
> \- Operating system: MacOS Big Sur 11.6
> 
> Has anyone been able to compile slicer from source on a M1 Mac? How do I bypass the missing i386 openssl library?

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