After a few months in beta, Adobe has launched a version of Photoshop for Apple’s M1 chip, bringing a major speed boost to the popular photo editing software. However, it also includes a few limitations that might make users want to stick to running the Intel version in Rosetta 2.
Photoshop For M1 Chip
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Photoshop only supports the new plugins (based on UXP, under Plugins in the menu) natively on Apple M1. If you want to use legacy plugins (under Window in the menu) run Photoshop in the Rosetta mode. If you are a developer, check if you can migrate your plugins from CEP to UXP. Adobe Photoshop Express is an excellent free photo editor for desktops and mobile devices, and Adobe Photoshop Express Editor makes all of its tools available from the convenience of your web browser. Adobe has launched the 2021 editions of Adobe Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements, offering professional quality image and video editing to novices and hobbyists alike. Photoshop running in the Rosetta 2 emulation layer on M1 Macs is already competitive with the results from many Intel Core i5- and Core i7-powered laptops running Photoshop natively. This means that laptops equipped with Apple’s silicon offer an unquestionable advantage over competing machines for creative pros who use Adobe’s products.
Adobe says the M1 native version is 1.5 times faster than “similarly configured previous generation systems,” so users should definitely feel the difference. The app will update via the Creative Cloud updater and will seamlessly switch to the new version when relaunched. Adobe says legacy versions of Photoshop prior to 2020 will not support the M1 chip.
PetaPixel ran some speed tests comparing the Rosetta version to the native M1 app, and the speed boosts are very noticeable. In their testing using PugetBench, the Mac mini running the Apple Silicon-optimized Photoshop recorded the second highest overall score they’d ever seen.
However, the M1 version of Photoshop for M1 MacBooks and the Mac mini isn’t identical to the Intel version. Here are the features that aren’t available in the M1 version yet, according to Adobe:
- Import, Export, and playback of embedded video layers
- Shake Reduction filter
- Preset Syncing
- Share an image button / Quick Share
- Create new Library from document / Libraries Panel menu command
- Home Screen > Shared with you and Invite to edit / Collaborative Editing features.
- Opening or placing U3D formatted files
- Starting Bridge from Photoshop menus
There are also a handful of known issues Adobe is working on including Issues when exporting SVG files and a black screen when viewing a 3D document. Adobe offers workarounds while it works to fix the problems.
Macbook Pro M1 Photoshop
For most users, these won’t be debilitating limitations, but if you need any of the features here, you can always switch to the Rosetta version. Head to your Applications folders, right-click on the app icon, and then “Get Info” to bring up details and options about the app. Finally, check the “Open in Rosetta” box to force the Intel version to launch.
Photoshop M1 Beta
Update 11:50AM ET:Added a link to PetaPixel’s testing.