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Participant
July 31, 2022
Answered

Are Lightroom Classic and Photoshop ready for the Apple M2 chip?

  • July 31, 2022
  • 6 replies
  • 15960 views

I am interested in upgrading my old Macbook Pro with an Intel chip to a new Macbook Air with the M2 chip.  Is Lightroom Classic and Photoshop ready for the new Apple M2 chip?  Or would I have to run in Rosetta?

This topic has been closed for replies.
Correct answer Conrad_C

Was it a copy of Lightroom migrated from a much older Intel-based Mac? Because an old Lightroom version might not run on a newer Apple Silicon-based Mac.

 

The last several versions of Lightroom Classic and Lightroom run very well on Apple Silicon (many of us here use it every day on M1/M2), so it might be that all you have to do is upgrade.

6 replies

Participant
March 20, 2024

Does the M2 require an uninstall the intel based app, then reinstall for m2 app or will an update work?

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
Community Expert
March 21, 2024

You do not need a reinstall nor an update. These apps contain the binaries for both Intel as well as Apple Silicon.

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga
Participant
November 7, 2023

I just purchase a macbook air with an M2 chip and LR will not run on it, is there an upgrade available and if so how do I find it ?

 

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
Community Expert
November 7, 2023

Lightroom Classic runs fine on M2 MacBook Pro's for most people. What exactly does (not) happen when you try to run it?

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga
Participant
March 21, 2024

Initlally Lightroom seem to work but would hang on Quit. (I used Migration Assistant, hard drive backup, to move from an Intel iMac to an M2 MacStudio). Also, the Creative Cloud app would not work at all: Rosetta required! I figured there must be M2 native apps available so my plan was to delete old apps, install new. However the creative cloud cleaner would not run: Rosetta required! After an unsatisfactory interact with Adobe Support ( although they did provide a link to a universal installer for Lightroom), I wiped the apps and attempted to run the 'universal' installer. OOps, install failed, NO error code. What's up with that? I'm in a real WTF mood at this point. You would think a multi-million dollar corp would have this sorted out

Participant
February 17, 2023

I received my new M2 
Apple Macbook Pro 2023 yesterday, and after hooking up the tethering cables, LRc requests Rosetta. Click to re-start under emulation.  Click,  LR re-starts and the entire operation starts again.  Tetheriung requires Rosetta, but re-startingLightroom Classis does not download nor re-launch it with Rosetta on board.  I'm stuck,  I really want to tether!   Bob O'Lary

aceb12068212
Participant
April 16, 2023

Im having the same issues, I upgraded to a M2 pro and tethering crashes the app completely everytime I press "ok" to tethering. 

Ian Lyons
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 1, 2022

Just to clarify what Michael and Conrad have already indicated, LrC no longer requires Rosetta 2 except for camera tethering. Therefore, if you don't need/use tethering Rosetta 2 won't be used.

 

If you haven't already done so, I recommend that you watch the M2 related videos at https://www.youtube.com/c/ArtIsRight/videos 

Participant
August 9, 2022

Thanks for the link to the YouTube.  It was very helpful and the moderator showed that Lightroom Classic does run on the M2 chip.

Conrad_C
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 1, 2022

@michaelm50945980 wrote:

Or would I have to run in Rosetta?


 

The Rosetta Translation Environment is only for apps written with Intel code. Because the current versions of Lightroom Classic and Photoshop are already rewritten for Apple Silicon, they will already work with M2 which is still Apple Silicon.

 

It is possible that there might be some minor optimizations that could be done for the M2, but on the whole it’s so similar to the M1, M1 Pro, M1 Max, and M1 Ultra that there should be few to no problems. Lightroom Classic and Photoshop are two of the most frequently shown applications in the many videos and articles by people doing M2 reviews and performance tests.

Participant
August 9, 2022

Thanks, Conrad.  You got me going in the right direction.

Michael J. Hoffman
Community Expert
Community Expert
August 1, 2022

Lightroom and Photoshop both run on the M1 chip, and therefore will certainly run on M2. That said, the M2 systems are brand new, so at this point, I'd say you would be on the cutting edge, using an M2 for real work with PS and PrC right away. There are likely to be hiccups and gotchas until we see a couple of updates. It's up to you and your appetite for discovering new issues before anyone else...

Participant
October 3, 2022

so to cut to the chase....LR and PS DO run with the M2 chip on an Macbook Air?? Yes???

 

JohanElzenga
Community Expert
Community Expert
October 3, 2022
quote

so to cut to the chase....LR and PS DO run with the M2 chip on an Macbook Air?? Yes???

 


By @Terry26411434udlv

 

Yes. Is "Thanks for the link to the YouTube.  It was very helpful and the moderator showed that Lightroom Classic does run on the M2 chip." still not enough for you to believe it?

 

-- Johan W. Elzenga