GPU View Disabled on MacBook Pro M4 – 3D Effects and Embedded Images Not Working

[Ahmed_el-Banna5052]

Hi everyone,

I'm using a MacBook Pro M4 (2025) with the latest macOS and Adobe Illustrator (v2024/2025). I'm facing several serious issues with Illustrator:

• "View using GPU" is permanently greyed out

• 3D and Materials effects throw errors or fail to apply

• When I embed any image, 3D effects completely stop working

• Some keyboard shortcuts randomly stop responding

• GPU preview is missing completely, even though the M4 supports Metal 3 and is fully functional on other apps

 What I tried so far:

• Clean install of Illustrator

• Resetting preferences

• Creating a new user account

• Full clean macOS install

• Installing older Illustrator versions (2024, 2023)

Notes:

• I’ve tested the exact same files on other MacBooks (M2 & M3), and everything works fine

• The problem seems specific to M4 or how Illustrator detects the GPU

• The issue with embedding images breaking 3D seems unique to this device as well

Anyone using an M4 MacBook facing the same GPU/3D issues?
Is Adobe aware of any compatibility limitation with Apple M4?

Would appreciate any help or confirmation if this is a broader issue!

[creative explorer]

@Ahmed_el-Banna5052 I wonder did you check your Illustrator Preferences 'Enable GPU Performance'? Command K to open the preferences. Look for a section titled Performance. Ensure that the box next to "Enable GPU Performance" is checked. If this box is grayed out or unchecked, that would explain all the issues you're facing. 

[Ahmed_el-Banna5052]

Hello dear , i've enabled this and still same issues 

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Ahmed_el-Banna5052,

I'm sorry to hear the suggestions shared earlier did not help. We will need some more information to be able to help you with this scenario:

For macOS computers:

1) AISniffer file

- Close all Adobe applications

- Navigate to the Illustrator Preferences folder and copy the AiSniffer file to the desktop from this location: Users/YOUR USERNAME/Library/Preferences/Adobe Illustrator #(version Number)Settings > AISniffer

2) System Report

- You can generate it from the Apple icon > About This Mac > System Report > Save to the desktop.

Please upload the files to Google Drive/Dropbox/etc. and share a public link here or via DM so that we can investigate this further.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Anubhav

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @Ahmed_el-Banna5052,

Thank you for sharing the details and screenshots. I completely understand how difficult it must be to work without GPU preview or functional 3D effects. 

Could you please confirm your exact macOS version and Illustrator version? Also, let me know if the same behavior occurs when no external monitor is connected, or if the issue is only present when using one.

Additionally, please share the AiSniffer file, so we can review the GPU detection. Steps here:

1. Close all Adobe applications.

2. Navigate to Users > [Your Username] > Library > Preferences > Adobe Illustrator [Version Number] Settings.

3. Copy the file named AiSniffer to your desktop and share it with us.

Once we have this, we can look deeper into the GPU detection issue.

Looking forward to your update. 

Abhishek

[Ahmed_el-Banna5052]

i've uploaded Aisniffer and system report on this drive link 

https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/folders/14s6rjJ6B2wU3-z6qfbRcR7ZkGMPpQG3v

[Anubhav M]

Hello @Ahmed_el-Banna5052,

Thanks for sharing the files. Kindly allow me some time to check this with the team.

Anubhav

[Ahmed_el-Banna5052]

Thanks dear ,take your time  

[Bill Silbert]

You say that "View Using GPU" is permanently greyed out (I assume you mean under the View Menu) yet one of your screen shots shows that GPU Performance is indeed turned on in your Illustrator preferences (settings). If that is the case then the only option that should be showing under the View Menu would be "View Using CPU". The GPU option would not be showing at all.