Mac CPU Architecture Detection

2024-04-10 17:22 UTC gpt-4 Open in ChatGPT ↗

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I want to detect in VBA excel for mac, what is my cpu architecture. apple silicon on intel

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To detect the CPU architecture of your Mac (Apple Silicon or Intel) in VBA for Excel, you can use a combination of VBA and AppleScript. This method leverages the ability to execute AppleScript from within VBA, which can then query the system information to determine the processor architecture.

AppleScript has a system command arch that returns the architecture of the processor. For Apple Silicon (ARM architecture), it returns arm64, and for Intel processors, it usually returns i386 (for 32-bit) or x86_64 (for 64-bit).

Here is a step-by-step method to implement this in VBA:

1. Enable AppleScript Execution in Excel for Mac: First, make sure that your Excel for Mac version supports AppleScript. This feature is generally available but may require adjustments in security settings to allow scripts to run.

2. VBA Function to Determine CPU Architecture:

   • Open the VBA editor by pressing Alt + F11.
   • Insert a new module via Insert > Module.
   • Copy and paste the following VBA code into the module:

Function GetCpuArchitecture() As String
    Dim script As String
    Dim appleScriptResult As String

    ' AppleScript command to get CPU architecture
    script = "do shell script ""arch"""

    ' Running the AppleScript command from VBA
    appleScriptResult = MacScript(script)

    ' Interpreting the result based on known outputs
    Select Case appleScriptResult
        Case "arm64"
            GetCpuArchitecture = "Apple Silicon"
        Case "i386", "x86_64"
            GetCpuArchitecture = "Intel"
        Case Else
            GetCpuArchitecture = "Unknown Architecture"
    End Select
End Function

This function GetCpuArchitecture executes the AppleScript command arch via the MacScript function in VBA and then checks the output. Based on the output, it returns whether the CPU architecture is Apple Silicon, Intel, or unknown.

3. Using the Function in Excel:
   • Now, you can call this function from any other VBA code, or you can even use it directly in your Excel sheets if you wish.
   • To use it directly in Excel, you can enter a formula like =GetCpuArchitecture() in any cell to get the CPU architecture.

Remember, running scripts and macros can sometimes pose security risks, so ensure your VBA project is safe and trusted. Also, due to macOS security settings, you may need to adjust permissions to allow Excel to run AppleScript commands.