RStudio Desktop Apple Silicon Won’t Launch — Frameworks Only Show Electron

RStudio IDE
1

Hello,

I’m having persistent issues installing RStudio Desktop on my M4 Mac. Despite multiple clean installs, RStudio will not launch, and the app bundle seems incorrect.

Details:

  • Mac model: Apple M4 MacBook Air
  • macOS version: 13.x Ventura
  • RStudio version downloaded: 2025.09.2-418 Apple Silicon (Desktop) from https://posit.co/download/rstudio/
  • Installation attempts: Deleted old apps and DMGs, manually downloaded DMG, mounted, and copied RStudio.app into /Applications at least 20 times.
  • Problem observed: Inside /Applications/RStudio.app/Contents/Frameworks, I only see:
Electron Framework.framework
Mantle.framework
ReactiveObjC.framework
Squirrel.framework

There are no Qt frameworks (QtCore.framework, QtGui.framework, QtWidgets.framework), which are expected for the full Desktop build.

  • Symptoms: RStudio bounces in the Dock but never opens. Running the binary in Terminal does not produce output.
  • Attempts to fix: Cleared quarantine flags, re-signed the app, removed old DMG mounts, verified DMG file size (~626 MB).

Question:
Has anyone seen this issue before? Why would the official Desktop Apple Silicon DMG produce an app bundle that contains only Electron frameworks and never launches?

I can provide screenshots of the frameworks folder and any console logs if helpful.

Thank you!

2

RStudio Desktop doesn't use Qt, so it is expected you won't find any evidence of it in the app bundle. RStudio switched to Electron several years ago.

I am able to download and run on Apple Silicon, so this is something specific to your system.

What version of R do you have installed?

3

The M4 MacBook Air was released in March 2025 with macOS 15 (Sequoia). Your computer is running the older macOS 13 (Ventura)? This may not be related to your current problem, but you may want to install a newer macOS anyway. Daily builds for 2025.12.0 (Apple Blossom) now require macOS 14 or higher.