CONFIRMED
Raspberry Pi has released a fully updated Raspberry Pi Desktop for PC and Mac, now built on Debian 13 Trixie and available to download now. The catch for owners of very old hardware is that the new image is 64-bit x86 only, so 32-bit-only machines are left behind.
What we know
Raspberry Pi confirmed in an official news post that the PC and Mac edition of its desktop now sits on Debian 13 Trixie. How-To Geek, reporting on that announcement, gives the date as 6 October 2026 and lists the key points: Trixie base, 64-bit x86, a Raspberry Pi Connect client, and immediate availability.
The biggest change is the architecture. Raspberry Pi says the new image uses 64-bit Debian (amd64) instead of the older 32-bit build, because Debian stopped supporting 32-bit on PC architectures. According to Raspberry Pi, most PCs from roughly the last 15 years and most Intel-based Macs should run it.
Apple Silicon Macs are out. Raspberry Pi says Debian support for Apple Silicon is still experimental, so those machines are not supported. The Register says the same. Some commenters read “PC and Mac” as covering M-series Macs, but that reading is wrong.
Installation is simple. Raspberry Pi describes it as a live Debian image: you flash the .iso to a USB stick and boot from it. If you are coming from an older 32-bit install, The Register reports that a fresh install is required. There is no in-place upgrade path from 32-bit.
The desktop itself carries over the recent look from Raspberry Pi OS on Pi hardware. The Register reports that the mainline Raspberry Pi OS update of 15 September 2026, whose splash screen reads version 6.3, added an optional icon dock, an app launcher and a reworked Control Centre. The PC/Mac image inherits those changes. Raspberry Pi’s own post on the new look describes a Dock page in Control Centre for colour, position and icon size, plus a Widgets page.
What we don’t know yet
The version number for the PC edition is not nailed down. The 6.3 label comes from The Register’s coverage of the mainline Pi OS release, and The Register notes Raspberry Pi doesn’t emphasise version numbers. We have not seen Raspberry Pi’s PC/Mac announcement state a version explicitly.
The kernel is also unverified. Secondary outlets say the PC/Mac image ships Linux 6.12, while the Pi hardware release moved to 6.18 LTS. We have not checked the 6.12 figure against Raspberry Pi’s download page, so treat it as unconfirmed until we do.
What it means
For makers with a drawer of retired laptops, this is good news with a hard line in the sand. If the machine has a 64-bit CPU and dates from the last decade and a half or so, Raspberry Pi expects it to work. If it is a 32-bit-only box, this release will not run on it at all.
It also ends a long gap. Hackster.io reports the previous PC/Mac release landed in July 2022 on Debian 11 Bullseye, and The Register says the PC edition skipped Debian 12 entirely. Raspberry Pi OS 5 arrived in 2023 on Debian 12 with no x86 build, and Pi OS 6 moved to Trixie in October 2025, so x86 users have been running an older base for years.
The project has deep roots. It started as a bootable DVD bundled with The MagPi at Christmas 2016, gained an installable edition in 2017, and was later updated for Buster and Bullseye. This release brings it back in step with the Pi itself.
The practical upside is consistency. Teaching a class on a mix of Pi boards and old PCs gets easier when every screen shows the same dock, launcher and Control Centre. The Connect client adds remote access on the x86 side too.
Our advice: confirm your machine is 64-bit, back up anything on an old 32-bit install, flash the .iso to a USB stick and try the live session before committing to a full install.
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