[BUG] Premiere Pro 26.2.2: Program Monitor frozen during playback (Audio plays, Video static) - Mac Studio M1 Max

System Specifications:

• Machine: Mac Studio

• Processor: Apple M1 Max

• OS: macOS Tahohe 26.3.1(a)

• Premiere Pro Version: 26.2.2 (Issue occurs here) / 26.0 (Stable)

The Issue: After updating to version 26.2.2, the Program Monitor fails to refresh the image during playback. When I press "Play", the audio works perfectly, but the image remains static on the current frame. The visual only updates once I stop playback.

Key Observations:

• Renderer Blocked: In Project Settings > General, the "Renderer" dropdown is greyed out and stuck on Metal. I cannot switch to Software Only or any other option.

• Hardware Decoupling: Even with "Hardware Accelerated Decoding" disabled in Preferences, the issue persists.

• UI Issues: Resetting workspaces or clearing media cache through the UI did not solve the freezing.

Troubleshooting steps taken (failed):

1. Resetting preferences on launch.

2. Giving Premiere Pro "Full Disk Access" in macOS settings.

3. Changing playback resolution (1/2, 1/4).

4. Cleaning Media Cache manually from the ~/Library/Application Support/Adobe/Common folder.

The Workaround: I downgraded back to Premiere Pro 26.0, and everything is working correctly again. This confirms the issue is specific to the 26.2.2 update and its interaction with the M1 Max architecture/Metal renderer.

Is anyone else experiencing this on Apple Silicon? Any official fix or patch expected for this build?