2018 CC Apps Compatibility with High Sierra - Can I Upgrade?

[iPirate727]

I've been searching the forums and Google for what seems like weeks trying to make sure that everything is going to be compatible with High Sierra before I pull the trigger and upgrade.  All of the threads are clogged up with people using old version of either CS or CC before the latest app releases.  So the question I and everyone I know wants to know is:

Are the 2018 CC apps that Adobe just released compatible with iOS 10.3 HIGH SIERRA?  Should I Upgrade if I have a CC all apps membership?

My goto apps are: Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign & Premiere.  Can I make this happen?

Thanks in advance for your help.

[Convergnt]

Another troubleshooting step could be to uninstall your CC apps, disable System Integrity Protection, and reinstall them.

My basis for this is the difficulty I have had installing CC apps while SIP is engaged. I believe there is a risk something important could be getting blocked -- however such an obstacle should have been obvious to Adobe or Apple tech support in a persistent, at-launch, crash report.

[gillianf8497600]

I have had Adobe CS since its inception, and I have an iMac 27". I use mainly Adobe InDesign, Photoshop, occasionally Illustrator. Use Adobe Acrobat a lot. No problems until the last few months (so I have Adobe CS 2018 and also have High Sierra). I have republished a number of books, the last one three volumes and about 850 pages. Fortunately, I finished them. Then Adobe CS crashed twice on my main computer and I had to restore. I was doing a history project where I used screen shot a lot, and I figured it was a memory problem. I had 2 x 4 GB of memory, do I added the same. But it was short-term memory that seemed to be the problem. The computer became extremely slow. A friend who is digitally gifted took it and found the hard drive was in a real mess—information and files all over the place. Tried dozens of ways to copy the hard drive (but it was in iCloud so not a problem). Then began using my husband's computer which has less memory, but is newer (Mac 21" screen). OK. without Adobe CS, but needed it so restored it onto this computer. Now, it is behaving exactly like the last computer. I have uploaded the lates updates on High Sierra. I PRESUME (I am 74 and have used these programs for many years, including the old Pagemaker &c.) there is an incapability with High Sierra and its upgrades, the huge amount of date in the programs and files for Adobe CS, and iCloud possibly trying to copy everything on my two iPhones, iPad and iMac. I am going to have to call an expert in and see if he can sort it out. My impression is that Adobe CS has done something to the storage on my iMac. That's my experience so far. This computer was fine until I downloaded CS on it (without all the data that was on my first computer. Help!

[Nancy OShea]

Creative Suite is not certified to run on Sierra, High Sierra or the latest Mojave.  You use Creative Suite software at your own risk because it's no longer sold, supported or updated.  If you want to keep using legacy software, you should keep an older and compatible OS on a Virtual Machine or 2nd computer.

[Colin Holgate]

Although the spirit of what you say is correct, having a CC subscription does give you the option to install CS6 versions of the apps. There can be issues in running with APFS formatted drives, where you can work around the issue by putting the application onto an external non-APFS drive. Also you are likely to need to install the legacy version of Java.

But, Adobe do still provide CS6 to people who are paying them for a CC subscription.

[Nancy OShea]

Right but the CS6 contained  in Creative Cloud Plan is different from the boxed disk versions sold on perpetual license.  CC users received more software updates than perpetual users did.   

[Colin Holgate]

The CS6 version of Flash Professional you can install from the CC menu, as an example, is 12.0.0. You can then update it to 12.0.2, but I think you would just end up at the same place that someone who bought the boxed version would be at.

gillian, Apple switching Java versions and changing the hard drive format, might have been hard for Adobe to predict. I agree that it would be nice if Adobe could issue patches to cope with those changes, but as you have the option of using older format drives, or earlier system Macs, you have a way to get the software working again. The current 2019 CC apps can work in Sierra, as can the CS apps. If you need to stay with the CS versions you may need to stay with Sierra.

[gillianf8497600]

Thanks Colin, a lot of what is said is difficult for me to understand because I am job focussed. I have to say, I had no problems at all until a month or so. It was a recent update of High Sierra, not the original installation that was a problem. My programs behaved impeccably until the hard drive went down (computer bought 2013). With the next computer (bought 2014 and not used as much), I had no problem until I installed Adobe CS, and then it did the same thing. Seems the hard drive(s) couldn't cope with all the memory involved. So all other programs on go slow as well. But what you and Nancy have said is very helpful and thanks for taking the time.

[Colin Holgate]

High Sierra defaults to making you update the drive format to APFS, which comes with its own set of problems. Unfortunately, you can't easily get back to HFS+ (or whatever the non-APFS is called). If you have an external drive it could be the simplest solution to the issue. Put CS6 applications on that external drive, and they may yet still work ok.

[gillianf8497600]

Nancy, how can a company do this and not notify its paying customers? I had no idea of this (not compatible with High Sierra. and how could Apple in all conscience put in a system that can't maintain CS when Adobe has been the industry standard for a long time. Maybe it isn't any more, and I just don't know enough. I re-subscribed in good faith a couple of months ago ( didn't have problems with High Sierra, it seems it's a problem with the upgrades. And not knowing this has ended up ruining two computers (fatally damaged the hard drives). I am not in the publishing industry though years ago I was. But at my age with an ailing husband, it is hard to keep up digitally. So I am pottering on publishing books and paying my dues, and this happens. It is devastating. Shame on Adobe and Apple if this is the facts..

[Nancy OShea]

Nobody is standing still anymore.  Not Google, Apple or Microsoft.  Maintaining backwards compatibility indefinitely is not how companies innovate their  products.  Adobe announced a while back that Creative Cloud will no longer support Windows 8, 8.1 or Mac El Capitan. 

Upcoming Changes to Creative Cloud OS Support for Windows and Mac | Adobe Blog

So to get the most out of modern software, you must have a compatible OS.  Likewise, if you use older software, you should keep an older OS to support it.   There is no shame here.  This is just how things work.