Adobe Photoshop updated for native Apple Silicon support - with caveats

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AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in Mac Software edited March 2021
Adobe has updated the venerable Photoshop app for Apple Silicon -- but it also says that there are "minor feature differences" when running natively.




With the March 2021 update, Adobe claims that the Apple Silicon version of Photoshop runs at "1.5X the speed of similarly configured previous generation systems." But, there are missing features, and some issues with work-arounds.

Adobe has provided a list of the features that are not available to Apple Silicon Mac users.
  • 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
In addition to the features that aren't available, Adobe is aware of known issues with the M1 version of Photoshop.
  • Issues when exporting SVG files

  • Merge to HDR Pro workspace is too large when maximized

  • Adobe Stock purchases will take place on the Adobe Stock web site

  • Multi-app workflows, such as Copy and Pasting or Editing in Photoshop from Lightroom, between native and Rosetta emulation versions of Adobe applications will not work

  • 3D features are not optimized for native performance
  • Black Screen when viewing a 3D document
Adobe suggests using Rosetta workflows to deal with 3D performance issues, and SVG export. Contradictorily, it also says that the company recommends against running Photoshop in Rosetta for one workflow and natively for another.

Furthermore, Adobe says that even running under Rosetta, there are some compatibility issues. Specifically, there may be differing selection results when using "Select Subject," some formats like GIF and SVG cannot be export targets, appearance of magenta artifacts when using some filters, and crashes with some actions and tools.

The company notes that unsupported and legacy versions of Photoshop were not "designed or tested" to work on Apple Silicon, and compatibility is not guaranteed. In regards to the "minor feature differences," the company says it is "hard at work to reduce these feature differences in future updates."
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 21
    Fred257fred257 Posts: 285member
    In other words it doesn’t work yet natively.  Premature announcement makes me not trust this company in the least
    macpluspluscornchiplkruppJinTechdysamoriawatto_cobra
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  • Reply 2 of 21
    bulk001bulk001 Posts: 817member
    Fred257 said:
    In other words it doesn’t work yet natively.  Premature announcement makes me not trust this company in the least
    You mean like Apple saying that the switch would require minimal work on the part of developers and many could get it done in, I think Cook said, a day? Even with an apparent collaboration between the two companies it appears to be a major undertaking. If you use photoshop in any serious way you are still using the released production version and not a beta version released for companies that want to at least start testing the required change in workflow. Most don’t just wake up in the morning and randomly start installing beta software for production use! You should trust companies that make this possible more, not less!
    elijahg
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  • Reply 3 of 21
    EsquireCatsesquirecats Posts: 1,268member
    The missing features are relatively minor and unlikely to get in the way of most user's workflows. The Beta from last year however was embarrassingly short of common features.
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 4 of 21
    KidGloveskidgloves Posts: 37member
    To be honest I would just be happy if they would fix the years-long file saving bug that highlights both the filename and file extension when you save. It might sound like a minor thing but you have to type out .psd .jpg .png etc... every single time you save a file. When you save a load of files per day it drives you CRAZY and slows down production hugely. Thousands of people have been complaining about this since back in Mojave and it's still not fixed. 

    Photoshop is just a 30-year-old bag of spanners at this point. I think the time is now right for an alternative.
    cornchipubernautravnorodomdysamoriawatto_cobra
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  • Reply 5 of 21
    godofbiscuitsgodofbiscuits Posts: 249member
    bulk001 said:
    You mean like Apple saying that the switch would require minimal work on the part of developers and many could get it done in, I think Cook said, a day?

    Nope. That’s not what he said. 
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 6 of 21
    cornchipcornchip Posts: 1,954member
    Clowns. Affinity suite is 77 times better. Adobe should be ashamed of themselves. I’m excited to see what the affinity team has up their sleeves as far as future products, but their current offerings are solid. 


    KidGloves said:
    To be honest I would just be happy if they would fix the years-long file saving bug that highlights both the filename and file extension when you save. It might sound like a minor thing but you have to type out .psd .jpg .png etc... every single time you save a file. When you save a load of files per day it drives you CRAZY and slows down production hugely. Thousands of people have been complaining about this since back in Mojave and it's still not fixed. 

    Photoshop is just a 30-year-old bag of spanners at this point. I think the time is now right for an alternative.


    Try the Affinity suite.

    edited March 2021
    JinTechKidGloveswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 7 of 21
    sirdirsirdir Posts: 203member
    bulk001 said:
    You mean like Apple saying that the switch would require minimal work on the part of developers and many could get it done in, I think Cook said, a day? Even with an apparent collaboration between the two companies it appears to be a major undertaking. If you use photoshop in any serious way you are still using the released production version and not a beta version released for companies that want to at least start testing the required change in workflow. Most don’t just wake up in the morning and randomly start installing beta software for production use! You should trust companies that make this possible more, not less!
    It does require minimal work if you use modern APIs and write modern code. If you of course use APIs from the original mac os and have a lot of code that was originally written for the 68k, it may look differently :) (only slightly exaggerating). Ever noticed that it's ALWAYS is Adboe that take forever with everything they do?
    JinTechkingofsomewherehotGG1killroywatto_cobra
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  • Reply 8 of 21
    hammeroftruthhammeroftruth Posts: 1,376member
    Adobe software is so old, it’s just now having it’s midlife crisis. 
    ubernautjas99killroywatto_cobra
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  • Reply 9 of 21
    ubernautubernaut Posts: 28member
    KidGloves said:
    To be honest I would just be happy if they would fix the years-long file saving bug that highlights both the filename and file extension when you save. It might sound like a minor thing but you have to type out .psd .jpg .png etc... every single time you save a file. When you save a load of files per day it drives you CRAZY and slows down production hugely. Thousands of people have been complaining about this since back in Mojave and it's still not fixed. 

    Photoshop is just a 30-year-old bag of spanners at this point. I think the time is now right for an alternative.
    yeah been doing almost as long as the no palette bug that lasted for like 5 or 10 years
    killroyKidGloveswatto_cobra
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  • Reply 10 of 21
    killroykillroy Posts: 293member
    sirdir said:
    It does require minimal work if you use modern APIs and write modern code. If you of course use APIs from the original mac os and have a lot of code that was originally written for the 68k, it may look differently :) (only slightly exaggerating). Ever noticed that it's ALWAYS is Adboe that take forever with everything they do?

    Yep NAS and 64bit was up hill for them.
    kingofsomewherehotwatto_cobra
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  • Reply 11 of 21
    JinTechjintech Posts: 1,092member
    sirdir said:
    It does require minimal work if you use modern APIs and write modern code. If you of course use APIs from the original mac os and have a lot of code that was originally written for the 68k, it may look differently :) (only slightly exaggerating). Ever noticed that it's ALWAYS is Adboe that take forever with everything they do?
    You took the words out of my mouth. If Adobe kept up with the (development) times, they would have been able to update their apps within no time but instead, they give little attention to the development of the Mac versions of their software. It's a shame because Apple probably contributed to much of their success in the early days of Adobe as Macs were the default standard for desktop publishing.
    edited March 2021
    kingofsomewherehotGG1watto_cobra
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  • Reply 12 of 21
    mcdavemcdave Posts: 1,927member
    bulk001 said:
    You mean like Apple saying that the switch would require minimal work on the part of developers and many could get it done in, I think Cook said, a day? Even with an apparent collaboration between the two companies it appears to be a major undertaking. If you use photoshop in any serious way you are still using the released production version and not a beta version released for companies that want to at least start testing the required change in workflow. Most don’t just wake up in the morning and randomly start installing beta software for production use! You should trust companies that make this possible more, not less!
    Many other companies did convert their products very quickly, Serif converted the Affinity suite almost immediately. The difference is these companies write real macOS apps, ones that actually engage with the OS & use 1st-party frameworks like Accelerate & Metal whilst following interface guidelines. Adobe doesn’t.
    Given much of Apple Silicon is only available via Apple software frameworks, Adobe is likely to lag behind and become a productivity risk to anyone using their products.
    kingofsomewherehotGG1watto_cobra
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  • Reply 13 of 21
    roundaboutnowroundaboutnow Posts: 766member
    sirdir said:
    It does require minimal work if you use modern APIs and write modern code. If you of course use APIs from the original mac os and have a lot of code that was originally written for the 68k, it may look differently :) (only slightly exaggerating). Ever noticed that it's ALWAYS is Adboe that take forever with everything they do?
    Avid is right up there with ProTools. Still no Intel Big Sur version, never mind M1. Even Catalina version says "support for some file types, plug-ins, and functionality are not yet available due to the 64-bit transition."
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 14 of 21
    hexclockhexclock Posts: 1,345member
    Avid is right up there with ProTools. Still no Intel Big Sur version, never mind M1. Even Catalina version says "support for some file types, plug-ins, and functionality are not yet available due to the 64-bit transition."
    Yeah a lot of the people on the Logic forum I read are staying with Catalina for now because their favorite plug-ins are still 32-bit, and Big Sur just isn’t compelling enough for them to upgrade.  

    edited March 2021
    watto_cobra
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  • Reply 15 of 21
    bulk001bulk001 Posts: 817member
    godofbiscuits said:

    Nope. That’s not what he said. 
    Sorry you don’t know how to read intent. Remedial classes for you!
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 16 of 21
    bulk001bulk001 Posts: 817member
    sirdir said:
    It does require minimal work if you use modern APIs and write modern code. If you of course use APIs from the original mac os and have a lot of code that was originally written for the 68k, it may look differently :) (only slightly exaggerating). Ever noticed that it's ALWAYS is Adboe that take forever with everything they do?
    So Apple doesn’t know how to code their own code
    as they are collaborating with Adobe. You think coding small little hello world app is the same as coding an app that has been around for 30 years and he is composing that they released a beta that doesn’t have all the features working. Come back when you are all grown up. 
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 17 of 21
    ravnorodomravnorodom Posts: 729member
    KidGloves said:
    To be honest I would just be happy if they would fix the years-long file saving bug that highlights both the filename and file extension when you save. It might sound like a minor thing but you have to type out .psd .jpg .png etc... every single time you save a file. When you save a load of files per day it drives you CRAZY and slows down production hugely. Thousands of people have been complaining about this since back in Mojave and it's still not fixed. 

    Photoshop is just a 30-year-old bag of spanners at this point. I think the time is now right for an alternative.
    It started in Catalina, not Mojave. Photoshop in Mojave works fine.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 18 of 21
    gatorguygatorguy Posts: 24,719member
    The missing features are relatively minor and unlikely to get in the way of most user's workflows. The Beta from last year however was embarrassingly short of common features.
    Extensions are not supported for Mac's using the M1 processor. That's probably not a minor issue for daily users.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 19 of 21
    dysamoriadysamoria Posts: 3,430member
    Sounds like an incomplete product. A beta. In other words, typical computer industry crap.
     0Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 20 of 21
    fastasleepfastasleep Posts: 6,468member
    It started in Catalina, not Mojave. Photoshop in Mojave works fine.
    Is it fixed in Big Sur? That one drives me batshit insane when I'm cranking out a bunch of files. I'm still on Catalina, waiting or MOTU to release Big Sur compatible drivers for my midi interface.
    watto_cobra
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