Why does MATLAB R2023b crash on my Apple Silicon Mac after installing a Java 8 JRE?

I'm encountering a crash with MATLAB R2023b immediately after its installation. How can I resolve this issue?

Answer 1

[MathWorks Support Team]

When you installed MATLAB R2023b, it may have inherited Java settings from a previous release that are not compatible with native MATLAB for Apple silicon. You can resolve this issue using the following steps:

1) Install Amazon Corretto 8, if you have not already done so, and make a note of the installation folder. Amazon Corretto Java 8 is the only officially supported version of Java for native MATLAB on Apple Silicon. 

The default location for Amazon Corretto 8 is: /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines

The following page provides information about MATLAB on Apple silicon Macs and the Java requirements:

https://www.mathworks.com/support/requirements/apple-silicon.html

2) Run the following command from a Terminal (not MATLAB). This command will set MATLAB to use the specified (Amazon Corretto) Java, even if there is another Java version installed (e.g., Oracle).

./matlab_jenv <path to Java jre>

Note: You may need to navigate to the <matlabroot>/bin directory to execute the command above.

If Amazon Corretto is installed in the default folder, then <path to Java jre> is expected to be /Library/Java/JavaVirtualMachines/amazon-corretto-8.jdk/Contents/Home/jre

You can list the installed JVM on your machine with the following command:

/usr/libexec/java_home -V