[Solved] How to fix Xcode Linker Error: ‘Undefined symbols for architecture arm64’ caused by Missing universal arm64 binary slice in legacy CocoaPods or precompiled dylib frameworks on MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max

[Linda Alexander]

Diagnostic Hardware Specs: MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max (64GB) | OS Version: macOS Sonoma 14.7 + Xcode 16.0 | Archive Source: Apple Support Community #256519213

I am running into a persistent issue on my MacBook Pro 16″ M3 Max (64GB) running macOS Sonoma 14.7 + Xcode 16.0.
Whenever the machine encounters Missing universal arm64 binary slice in legacy CocoaPods or precompiled dylib frameworks, the following diagnostic log appears in Console:

ld: symbol(s) not found for architecture arm64; clang: error: linker command failed with exit code 1 (use -v to see invocation)

I verified that hardware connections are intact and tested across different power sources. What is the verified diagnostic procedure to permanently eliminate this symptom?

Mac Studio M2 Ultra (128GB) | ASUS ProArt PA32UCG-K | OWC ThunderBay 8 | San Diego, CA

Final Cut Pro / DaVinci Colorist & Editor | "Verified Apple Discussions Archive"

[Janet Schneider]

Apple Recommended / Verified Community Solution

This canonical solution was verified and marked as solved in the Apple Support Community archive.

Inspecting binary slices via lipo, updating dependency architecture flags, and cleaning derived data.

Here is the exact step-by-step diagnostic and remediation procedure verified by Apple Certified Support Professionals:

1. Verify slice architecture:

   lipo -info Pods/TargetFramework/TargetFramework.framework/TargetFramework

2. In Xcode Build Settings, search for Excluded Architectures and ensure arm64 is NOT excluded for Any iOS/macOS SDK.
3. Purge build cache:

   rm -rf ~/Library/Developer/Xcode/DerivedData/* && xcodebuild clean

Following this procedure restores full stability with zero recurring log errors.

MacBook Pro 14″ M4 (24GB) | DJI Mic 2 | Anker Prime 27,650mAh Bank | Helsinki, FI

Apple Certified Support Professional (ACSP) | Digital Nomad & Travel Filmmaker

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