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InDesign unusable with MacBook m1 chip??

Forum|Forum|4 years ago
March 10, 2021
3 replies
1001 views

So I've had this problem since the start, but updates would fix it, I thought...

Whenever I use InDesign (but some other Adobe programs and even Word..? as well), my whole MacBook freezes and won't work again until I restart my laptop. Now this happened again, with having only one page open that has some pictures in it. I think I used it for 5 minutes before it completely crashed.
For the rest, I have (quite) some safari pages open, but since I have 16 gb RAM and nothing else open, this should be totally fine.
Are other people experiencing this as well? I've read on forums that this is indeed a problem because of the rosetta thing, but I can't believe I'm unable to use my €1700 MacBook...

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Correct answer Ashutosh_Mishra

Hi there,

Sorry about the inconvenience caused. The first Beta release of InDesign for Apple silicon M1 is now available to download. Please try installing by following the instructions on this page and share your observations with us.

Regards,

Ashutosh

Ashutosh_MishraCorrect answer

Inspiring

Hi there,

Sorry about the inconvenience caused. The first Beta release of InDesign for Apple silicon M1 is now available to download. Please try installing by following the instructions on this page and share your observations with us.

Regards,

Ashutosh

E

Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Apple decided to move away from the x86 architecture which the Intel and AMD chips use.

Most software doesn't run natively on the M1 chips - mostly only Apple software - and Lightroom is working natively on the M1 Chip.

Apple are using Rosetta 2 to emulate the x86 architecture to run software that is designed for that architecture.

Unfortunately, Adobe are playing catchup - like other software developers - in making their Software run natively on the Apple new architecture.

As of now - InDesign is not really supported on the M1 chip - there's a list here.

https://helpx.adobe.com/ie/download-install/kb/apple-silicon-m1-chip.html

Dov Isaacs

Legend

It isn't a matter of playing "catchup" in any way. Apple released new, incompatible hardware (not just the CPU, by the way), totally new program development tools, a problematic Intel instruction emulator, and very few prototype systems for application developers to work with prior to releasing all of this. Oh, and by the way it was accompanied by a major new incompatible OS release.

Contrary to the religious beliefs of some of the fanboys, no application developer is sitting on their tuchas and holding back on developing ARM-chip native versions of their applications. We have no incentive to do such foolishness.

On the other hand, based on the 38 year history of the Macintosh and the continual dramatic, incompatible hardware and software changes made by Apple over that time, it should be apparent that being “the first on the block” to acquire the latest shiny new toy from the Cathedral of St. Steve-the-Infallible and trying to use same for production work is just not prudent.

FWIW, today, March 10, 2021, Adobe did release an ARM-native version of Photoshop for MacOS. Other applications such as InDesign will follow when they are ready!

- Dov Isaacs, former Adobe Principal Scientist (April 30, 1990 - May 30, 2021)

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Eugene Tyson

Community Expert

Playing catchup was a poor choice of term. Thanks for the clarification.

It's a very common topic these days, and finding a balance in the correct phrasing is always delicate.

Scott Falkner

Community Expert

I haven't noted any problems running InDesign on a new Air. Photoshop doesn’t seem to play well with an external monitor when the primary screen is the laptop’s screen.

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