14 DAY TRIAL // Apple launched its very own custom chip powering a new series of devices earlier this month, and naturally, software developers out there are now working around the clock to optimize their software for the M1 processor.
Adobe is obviously one of them, especially because its suites of tools are super-popular on Apple devices.
And unsurprisingly, Adobe has already started the work on optimizing its software for Apple Silicon, with the very first beta of Photoshop for M1 processors now available for download.
First and foremost, it’s very important to keep in mind that this is early software, so you aren’t recommended to install it on your productivity device unless you just want to experiment with it. However, given it’s an unpolished build of the app, it could obviously come with unreported issues that could affect the way it runs.
Some features are also missing, and Adobe explains that it’s working to bring them to the app as soon as possible. The purpose is to offer Adobe Photoshop on Apple Silicon without any kind of feature gap, so all versions on Apple devices should be pretty much the same, regardless of the device they are supposed to run on.
“This early version of Photoshop for Apple Silicon offers many of the core Photoshop features that you've come to rely on for your day to day editing needs, and we'll be adding more features in the weeks to come. Note that Beta software is not officially supported yet by Adobe, but we want to hear from you, and this is the place to let us know how it's going,” Adobe says.
“This Adobe Photoshop for ARM BETA will only install and work on ARM hardware that meets the minimum system requirements. If you have qualifying ARM hardware and you do not see the installer, check manually for an update (Help > Check for Updates). If it still does not appear, try logging out/back into the Creative Cloud Desktop application.”
There are obviously several major features missing in this release, including Microsoft Dial support, share reduction, the OilPaint filter, camera RAW support, the file info panel, and several content-aware operations.
At the same time, importing from Lightroom Photos via the home screen doesn’t work, and Adobe says that all 3D-relatedcapabilities are currently limited.
“Filter Gallery functions may seem to hang but will eventually succeed,” Adobe says. “All 3D-related functions are limited; either very slow or not fully rendering 3D content; includes 3D printing, 360 panorama editing, normal and bump map filters, Lighting Effects.”
The very devices running on Apple Silicon are the new MacBook Air, 13-inch MacBook Pro, and Mac mini, which are already available for purchase from the Apple Store.
Apple specifically praised the capabilities of its new CPU when it comes to photo editing, explaining that the processing power is insane on Apple Silicon.
“M1 features an 8-core CPU consisting of four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores. Each of the high-performance cores provides industry-leading performance for single-threaded tasks, while running as efficiently as possible. They are the world’s fastest CPU cores in low-power silicon, allowing photographers to edit high-resolution photos with lightning speed and developers to build apps nearly 3x faster than before. And all four can be used together for a huge boost in multithreaded performance,” the company explains.
Adobe hasn’t provided a specific ETA as to when Photoshop for Apple Silicon is supposed to be ready for prime time, but given the company is already working on the update, it’s obviously just a matter of time until the announcement is made.