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Nikki Lou
Participant
November 18, 2020
Answered

Will Adobe Illustrator be compatible on the new Macbook Pro with the Apple M1 chip?

  • November 18, 2020
  • 15 replies
  • 43231 views

Hi, Looking to purchase the new Apple Macbook Pro with their new M1 chip. I use Adobe Illustrator for my work and I'm conserned about if the software will still run on this new M1 chip and if I will still be able to access all my saved files. Can anyone give any detail?

Thanks

    This topic has been closed for replies.
    Correct answer Srishti Bali

    Hi all,

     

    Sorry about this trouble. As of now, Illustrator on M1 devices doesn't work natively, but it runs using Apple's Rosetta 2 technology which may cause few performance issues. For more details, please take a look at this help article (https://helpx.adobe.com/download-install/kb/apple-silicon-m1-chip.html).

     

    We have recently released an update for Illustrator 2021 (v 25.1) which contains some stability fixes. If you are not already on v25.1, then we recommend you to update to latest version and let us know how it goes.

     

    Regards,

    Srishti

    15 replies

    Show previous replies
    Doug A Roberts
    Community Expert
    Doug A RobertsCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 24, 2020

    If anyone is reading this and planning to get a new Mac, I would read Ashutosh's link and wait until next year when wider native support is more likely.

      F
      future-astronauts
      Participant
      November 25, 2020

      I bought an M1 13" MBP and found Illustrator to be nearly unusable. Photoshop was no picnic either. Lightroom worked fairly well, but had a few hiccups. To be fair, I had plenty of "Application not responding" issues with native Apple apps, too. All said, the combined issues were disruptive enough for me to ship the laptop back to Apple. Hoping it was a lemon. Ordered a new unit, due end of December.

      Meanwhile, it's a bummer to realize Adobe's timeline is so incomplete. As one of their engineers said to me a few years ago, "We develop in silos here," expressing his disdain for the lack of communication between Adobe app teams. I'm guessing that hasn't changed. All that money and no means of more effective development, and/or collaboration with Apple. We need competition for Adobe (and Apple).

        M
        marcossilva-BRA
        Participating Frequently
        November 28, 2020

        I had the same issues with other apps, but I realized that once I restart my mac and never open Adobe apps, everything else runs pretty fast and smooth. So I think Rosetta 2 is causing these issues. I won't open Adobe anymore on the M1 until they release the updates. Luckily I still didn't sell my old MacBook.

        M
        marcossilva-BRA
        Participating Frequently
        November 23, 2020

        I just bought a new MacBook pro M1 today and I'm so frustrated because I use to work with AI, PS and IN all at once but seems to lag and keeps crashing all the time. I even thought it may be the memory but my old MBP 2015 had only 8gb and handled two users with all office suite and Adobe open altogether. I hope they fix it soon or maybe I should return the M1.

          K
          kieramarina
          Participant
          November 23, 2020

          Having the same issue right now. I don't even need native support immediately, I just need it to run with any semblance of stability through Rosetta. Every other CC app I've tried runs flawlessly, and I know it's not because I don't have enough RAM. It's borderline unusable not because of how it runs (it runs amazingly when it works), but because it randomly decides to crash. So frustrating. This really needs to be an urgent fix.

            T
            tiffrenee87
            Participant
            December 9, 2020

            Out of curioustiy.. how much RAM do you have?  I bought the new macbook pro with the M1 chip - only 8 GB of RAM because they didnt have the 16 in stock.  Adobe Illustrator gives me the beachball of death every time I use it... and its the ONLY program I am running.  I was wondering if it is the program or if it is because I dont have enough RAM?

            Ashutosh_Mishra
            Ashutosh_Mishra
            Inspiring
            November 22, 2020

            Hi there,

             

            Thanks for reaching out. Adobe is actively working to build apps that run natively in Apple computers using the Apple Silicon M1 chip. Please find more information about M1 support on this help article.

            Hope it helps.

             

            Regards,

            Ashutosh

              J
              Jeet5D9B
              Participant
              January 20, 2021

              I heard this in November 2020 when I first purchased my new laptop and now in Jan 2021 it's still the same.

              When can we expect AI to work well on the new M1 chip devices?

              chanaart
              Community Expert
              chanaartCommunity Expert
              Community Expert
              November 20, 2020

              just saw this article. Not sure it will help..

              https://www.dpreview.com/news/2882680958/adobe-apps-not-officially-supported-on-apple-silicon-using-rosetta-2-native-versions-coming#:~:text=The%20new%20MacBook%20Air%2C%2013,compatible%20with%20the%20M1%20chip.

               

              But you might want to research it! I know PS is planning to support it!

              R
              RAC0917
              Participating Frequently
              November 20, 2020

              I just purchased the mac mini M1, I am able to use illustrator and other adobe products with no issues. That being said, your workflow may be different and results will show. But so far, nothing bad, everything works. Actually, it's running much faster and smoother than on my macbook pro.

                A
                Andrew5CFC
                Participating Frequently
                November 20, 2020

                @RAC0917 any luck with adobe xd?  Waiting to buy until i hear its working...

                R
                RAC0917
                Participating Frequently
                November 24, 2020

                Hi @Andrew5CFC , I have tried XD and works fine, I actually just finished building out three pages and a system of UI/UX elements and prototype without any issues.

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