Install and Adobe CS6 Suite on mid-2012 and late 2020 Intel MacBook Pro (macOS Mojave and Monterey)

[Gerard Crean]

Adobe will say that these programs are no longer supported. Maybe from their perspective...but... The CS6 suite applications all work perfectly for me on my mid 2012 MacBook Pro using Mojave macOS 10.14.6 and also on an Intel MacBook Pro 2020, using Monterey macOS 12.3 running Mojave 10.14.6 as a virtual machine under VMware Fusion. (VMware Fusion is FREE for a single user NON-COMMERCIAL licence).

*** Adobe CS6 Suite Installation procedure notes on macOS Mojave 10.14.6 or Monterey macOS 12.3 (using a Mojave 10.14.6 virtual machine). ***

1. Start up your Mac or the Mojave virtual machine if you are using Monterey.

2. Install Java for OSX (available from Apple).

3. Install your CS6 suite from the Adobe .dmg image using Terminal:

(Double-click .dmg file > Double-click on the ‘CS6 suite/application name’ file to open it > Right or Option-click on ‘Install > Show Package Contents > Contents > MacOS > Install 

This is a UNIX installation script that terminal will use.

The Adobe Installer will start installing the applications.

4. Supply your valid serial no etc at Adobe Installer prompt.

5. After the Installer has finished, start up each application for the first time and then try to use Adobe Application Manager to update the application(s) if you want.

6. If any of the applications fail to update using Adobe Application Manager, use the relevant stand-alone manual updater for the CS6 Mac applications listed at the end. These are still available, but not necessarily from Adobe any longer.

7. If the stand-alone manual updaters fail, uninstall the CS6 application in question and then re-install that application only. Then use the stand-alone manual updater straight away; don’t use Adobe Application Manager. The update should then work.

Of course, you can choose to run the applications ‘as-is’ without updating them…!

All my CS6 applications run absolutely fine.

***

The last versions of CS6 suite applications I know of:

Adobe Acrobat X Pro 10.1.16

Adobe Bridge CS6 5.0.2.4

Adobe Dreamweaver CS6 12.0 Build 5861 (Actually 12.0.3 but that doesn’t show!. This is normal, apparently - you will see before updating that 12.0.0 has a lower build number)

Adobe Illustrator CS6 16.0.5

Adobe InDesign CS6 8.1

Adobe Photoshop CS6 13.0.6

All the genuine Adobe stand-alone updaters to bring your applications up to the above versions are available, but sadly, most not from Adobe any longer as CS6 is no longer supported by them. Contact me if you’d like to know where you can get them.

…so much for Adobe forcing us into a subscription model when these CS6 applications give most 'normal users' the necessary features and functionality we need…!

[Test Screen Name]

Still, of course it's the end of the line if you buy a new Mac with an M1 chip. In this case you need to budget for new software.

[Gerard Crean]

Yes, that's a good point. I wonder if any new version of VMware Fusion for Apple Silicon will also faithfully recreate an 'Intel' Mac running a compatible OS? If they aren't planning to do so, it might need to go through Rosetta 2... emulation on top of emulation perhaps?!! The mind boggles.

[Test Screen Name]

I don't think we'll see emulation of Intel-on-ARM in VM. I was disappointed, it means I have to keep a lot more old computers around than I wanted. While Parallels on M1 exists, and VMWare on M1 is in development, there is no prospect of running VMWare or Parallels under Rosetta 2: "Solved: Can VMware Fusion run 10.14 in Rosetta 2 mode in a... - VMware Technology Network VMTN"

[Gerard Crean]

Thanks for this - very interesting as I didn't know that the VM couldn't emulate a different chip architechture. Oh well, I suppose my latest Intel MacBook Pro will stay around for 10 years, like my 2012 model where PS CS6 starts in 3 secs; mind you, it has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD(!). I will wait around for an M2 or higher. There is a white MacBook from 2008 here running Windows 7 Pro very nicely when it's needed).

[Lumigraphics]

You are missing not only all the new features but all the security fixes, and trying to keep something going that is barely functional. And at some point, you won't be able to verify the installation (either Adobe will shut down auth servers or the installer keys will expire.)

[Gerard Crean]

Yes, that's true, but you can also activate a copy offline if the scenario arises where the activation server is not available. You can provide a valid serial number and using the Adobe validation service,  that returns a suitable 'key' for activation. My licence codes are printed on the packaging and never actually expire to the best of my knowledge. Not all of us need upgrade for features we won't use and if we have decent antivirus software, all is fine.

[Lumigraphics]

You cannot activate anything older than CS5 at present, and presumably CS5 and CS6 will have the activation servers turned off sometime in the future. FYI.